TAKOM Chieftain Mk.10

[Shermaniac]

TAKOM 03.10.2028

CHIEFTAIN Mk.10

British Modern Battle Tank

I have been fortunate to have received an advance release of TAKOM's new Chieftain Mk.10

Within about 20 minutes of it's arrival I had commenced this build

Ssssh! Don't tell anyone BUT? ...................... It's an absolute corker!

The large kit box measures in at 380x250x85mm and weighs about a kilo. Molded in a light grey plastic and with chunky sprues the parts have good sharp detail.

Care will definately be needed removing the parts from the sprues.

The plastic is 'a little' soft but Tamiya Extra Thin Cement will be my glue of choice and so-far, it's working fine.

It should be noted that although this kit is not necessarily for the beginner, it is not going to be hard work - at least so far?

You will need a fresh, new blade in your scalpel.

The Photo-Etch parts are very fine, detailed and though there looks a lot, there are some large pieces.

The instructions follow the newer exploded CAD view and come in 22 sections across 13 pages. A noticeably smaller manual that would normally be expected.

For the Mk.10 you have to remove a few pre-molded parts like the bullet splashes around the drivers compartment. I used my micro-chisel for this.

This Guys, is a dream build as the parts generally just fall together - kinda Tamiya Quick!

The Stowage Bins though intricate in reality are perfectly atuned to the model builder and the PE is super-fine, so easy to fit and no messing about.

The detail is solid and safe with only 2 plug grab handles (like you get with Tamiya) on the searchlight housing.

A simple cut off and replace with wire took a couple of minutes.

The engine deck grills comprise 6 major parts and 16 assorted PE handles (3-types), easy peazy!

Up to now, I have expended some 10 hours on this build and I have a couple more to go before I move on to paint.

This will be camouflaged in the Berlin Brigade markings - some serious masking off!

This model WILL be on display at the Newark Show on 11th October

This is a build summary as I have been doing progress posts on my Club Facebook page

I have also done a full build blog on my Club website here, should you choose to take a look.

[Dads203]

That does look nice, looks like this could be the kit of the year.

Dan

[Nick C]

That looks awesome!!!

[Shermaniac]

That does look nice, looks like this could be the kit of the year.

Dan

They all are, The Mk.5/5P, Mk.10 & Mk.11 are all officially due out around mid-October and my spies tell me that demand will be high.

That looks awesome!!!

Wait until you build yours, it really is very good.

[Old foxtrot]

Oh wow, that looks stunning..... waiting for mine to arrive from HK. Looks like its time to move on the old Tamiya kits in the stash! Cant wait to see this finished......

[Shermaniac]

Oh wow, that looks stunning..... waiting for mine to arrive from HK. Looks like its time to move on the old Tamiya kits in the stash! Cant wait to see this finished......

Shouldn't be too long, almost ready for paint.

Wheels done and track by mid afternoon today.

[Old foxtrot]

Awesome! I wait with baited breath!!

[feldr]

:thumbsup:

[Shermaniac]

Painting time

Onwards to getting the Track sorted out with some distressing of each of the Track-Pads.

Each of the 6 sprues had a different pressure and texture as they all distress differently.

6 Sprues, 6 distressed finishes using varied grades of sanding stick and file.

For the Chieftain I have chosen to complete the actual Tracks and Track-Pads seperately to the point of weathering.

The Track-Pads were first painted in Vallejo Model Air Matt Black and left to dry for half an hour.

Following this the pads were brushed with Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Rubber and allowed to dry for a further hour.

The pads are now ready and are all placed into a bag

Using my own Black and Steel mix I have coated the track using a standard old paint brush.

Meanwhile, the Tracks are given a wash of Vallejo Model Wash Brown, dried off and then Dark Brown and again dried.

Track-Pads now added. The fiddly touch up with paint actually took longer than building the track.

I then formed a dry powder mix from MiG Pigments and scrubbed them into each pad to help weather in some wear and tear.

In these pictures the tracks are upside down.

The wire affixed to the track tells me which side of the vehicle it fits to.

They relate to the outside front at the Idler.

Moving on to the Hull, Turret and Road Wheels.

The following paints match those needed for the Berlin Camouflage.

Not saying any of them are 'correct' but these are the nearest matches so-far!

Humbrol Enamel:

suggested by Richard Kent in his Mk.11 build
US Ghost Grey (127)
Chocolate Brown (98)
Dark Green (30)

Vallejo Model Colour:

a colour match with the Humbrol colours
Sky Grey 70.989 (154)
Chocolat Brown 70.87 (149)
Gunship Green 70.895 (088)

AMMO from MIG:

from the kit painting guide
Blue Grey A.MIG-210
Medium Brown A.MIG-070
NATO Green A.MIG-084

Edited October 1, 2015 by Shermaniac

[Old foxtrot]

Nice work on those tracks, they look great.

[Dads203]

I would be tempted to leave a pad or two off the tracks,

I know on the 432's we would always throw a pad or two on a road move,

it's been known to a pad to go through a windscreen or two !!

Dan

[Shermaniac]

I would be tempted to leave a pad or two off the tracks,

I know on the 432's we would always throw a pad or two on a road move,

it's been known to a pad to go through a windscreen or two !!

Dan

There's a whole load missing from the top run of track

Some are new pads as well - not sure if I will finish relatively clean or dusty?

[Shermaniac]

Painting of the Berlin Block

Urban Disruptive Camouflage Scheme

The Bazooka Plates

The Process:
* Cut from outline the desired shape - Bazooka Plates - and stick directly to the kit part.
* Next, using a new Swann Morton No.11 blade CAREFULLY, and using a ruler, cut along the pre-determined lines for each colour panel.
* ALWAYS, have a cutting mat available.

* I used a Chisel Head, No.2 brush for applying the paint.

* And, take your time, it's not a race!

I did the Brown first and removed all the panels marked 'B' and temporarily stick in sequence to the mat. Thoroughly mix your paint and apply.

After leaving for a couple of hours to dry, I replaced the panels and removed the ones marked 'G' (Grey) and repeated the process.

Next, I replaced the 'G' panels and repeated the sequence with the 'W' panels. I used Vallejo 70.820 (004) Off White here as pure white is too harsh.

The White is the hardest to apply! BUT, once you're happy with the finish, carefully remove all the panels and VOILA!

(Some minor touch up of the panels may be needed, I used a No.1 brush for this).

The Main Hull

Starting the Berlin Block on the Chieftain Hull - as with the Bazooka Plates, I begin with the Chocolate Brown

The panels were checked with both the paint plan and the Bazooka Plate sections for overlap

Even the rear hull does not escape scruitiny. I free-handed all the panels and only masked off a couple of sections

Turret

Surface anti-slip is provided by Chinchilla Dust which was sprinkled on then secured by dropping spots of glue to seal them - repeat until satisfied.

I did try a couple of test using other methods - sprinkle on wet paint & mixed into the paint - both attempts wee dismal failures.

Again with the Chocolate Brown. I free-handed the painted panels using the painting guide and it is evident that there are anomolies with the plans - Oooops TAKOM!

The Ooooops!

The plan views on the painting guide are confusing as they do not relate to each other -

especially the top (which doen't relate to the real vehicles) and front/side turret views (which do) - there's work to do here!

This error is also noticeable in the painting plans of the Mk.5/5P and probably the Mk.11 as well.

Nothing that can't be fixed!

At least it was spotted before being finished.

[Shermaniac]

The Ooooops! Re-Working

Unfortunately, the painting guide (top view) bares little relation to the actual 'real' vehicles in-service

As reference, Google can still be your friend but you should always try to get archive pictures and not museum examples.

Quite a bit of re-worked painting has taken place this morning to get the turret something-like a proper finish

This grey panel went through 3 variations during the research mods being undertaken

This is much better, and more like it should be.

Though my finish may not be the best overall hopefully, this will give you the information to move along.
Many others over the years have also had this issue with their Tamiya & Accurate Armour (their paint guide looks correct) Chieftain builds.
In many cases, the camouflage paint was done 'by hand', with a paint brush so, I too have followed the same approach with this vehicle.

Masking this one would have been a Royal Pain anyway!

[Shermaniac]

Well! I took this build to the Newark Show too everyones delight and received several comments (mostly good) regarding the build.

The constructive comments were extremely positive too and the advice received vary welcome due to the very poor reference available on the internet.

The Tankograd publication: Berlin Infantry Brigade Group is currently out of print.

Comments indicate that the anti-slip is too pronounced (fair comment) and the Commanders cupola was also painted in the camo grey - result!

I attacked the Chinchilla Dust anti-slip with a cheap screwdriver scraping off all the detail. It already looks better.

Although this left a roughened surface, to do any more would compromise the original kit and ruin the outcome.

Some noticeable updates will appear on my next post here!

Edited October 15, 2015 by Shermaniac

[Shermaniac]

I have received some information which will allow me to correct all the anomolies in the kit painting guide

Watch out over the next few days!

[eoin6661]

Have to agree the anti-slip does look overscale, even on a Merkava. I've used extra fine sieved sand, and even that I wasn't happy with. Some people recommend embossing powder, held with pigment fixer....

[simmerit]

just a quick question as I had the debate with another lad about the the Takom Chiefy. How do you reckon it compares to the AA upgrade if you have looked at it, and how do you reckon it compares to the Tamiya Chiefy? The reason for the question is I have a Mk11 Chiefy from InAccurate Armour to do, and I keep looking at the Meng Chiefy in awe.

Any opinions from what you've seen thus far?