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It`s that Old SOD Conkey again!


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I started this beast four years ago. I love the Conqueror, from my first day at Stanley Barracks I was mesmerised by the hoofing great lump of a gate guard. Later on I got to go inside it, it was awesome, a proper tank. Loved by many of its crews, but not all, loathed by an Army that never got to grips with it logistically, mechanically or tactically. I couldn't wait to get the Dragon kit when it came out , despite its flaws. I intended to build OTB and just correct the major faults.......Glacis height and front roof armour, rear profile of the turret and gun barrel length/fume extractor position. Like I said, that was the plan......Mission creep! I ended up scratching most of the fighting compartment.....It killed my Mojo for Armour. But now its back, and I want this done and dusted!

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Here is the glacis modified.

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This is exactly the same modification as the real tank, when I was researching this build I went to Stanley Barracks and took loads of photos of the real thing and this mod is very visible!

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I doubled the number of engine louvers and replaced the moulded handles with captive wire ones, they lie flat unless I pop them up for photo opportunities!

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Main engine bulkhead, an RBJ and half of the front bulkhead where 14 120mm charges sit! 

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Main engine air cleaners, these go on the aft bulkhead.

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turret internals, loaders side

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Turret turntable/ basket. Gunners platform with seat and Perspex safety shield, gun control equipment and the bottom end of the Molins gear

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FCT interior, commanders seat.

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FCT cupola, with the rangefinder head

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120mm main armament breech and .30cal coax

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Drivers compartment and turntable dry fit.

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Turret guts

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FCT dry fit

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FCT cupola dry fit

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120mm gun barrel, radios, battery box, part of the turret basket, modified drivers hatch, FCT guard, and the gunners traverse indicator. 

Everything else is in the box! So I guess this lot is already in the win column!

I have the stowage to finish off internally, fit the gun in the turret, sort the mantlet cover, fit all the running gear.........it`s a big old list, but I`m two pints of Gin and tonic the right side of overconfidence and up for the challenge!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

 

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Hi, pretty impressive work going on, the interior looks tremendous. 

I'll tag along if I may.

 

Wouldn't have minded a Conqueror myself but the Dragon kit gets such a slating, not sure how it compares to the Amusing Hobby offering?

 

Cheers

Darryl 

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Great to see this one back on the bench, looking forward to seeing it completed.

You have certainly raised the bar with this one

 

            Roger

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Glad to have you back on the dark side Granto. I have to say that this build is as much like OOTB as an Aston Martin Virage is a "nice little runabout". Great work as ever, and glad to see this one moving again.

 

John.

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Lost your mojo for armour ...well i have to say looking at this work that was a very great shame because the standard of modeling i'm seeing says your a natural at this......you said you just want to see it done ...i get that but somebody else here spoke some wisdom to me when i expressed that same feeling with one of my projects "don't rush it" the work you have done so far is stunning so just keep it up and that will be a real showpiece....gonna tag along on this build if you don't mind. 

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So with my enthusiasm boiling over I got cracking on the stowage at the crack of late morning!

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This will be the FCT .30Cal stowage, it goes around the left rear of the turret bustle, this will require some fettling since it is already very tight in there!

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This little stowage box goes on the hull floor just behind the vertical stowage of 8 or 9 120mm charges which stand in front of the 14+ horizontally stowed ones next door to the driver, it is supposed to contain two respirators and a four man 24 hour ration. To the right and left are roughed out 90 degree bends that will connect the main engine air cleaners to the  engine bulkhead/firewall  

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The two main engine air cleaners got some D section rod stuck at roughly 51 degree intervals around the lid, these sections will be fettled to resemble cast bulges which were drilled and threaded to receive wing bolts that hold the cleaner caps on.

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And then I punched out some discs to resemble the flanges of the wing bolts. The charger unit air cleaner I made previously, it sits above the right side one in the fighting compartment.

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Horizontal stowage roughed out. I also cut down (or should it be up) the underside rim of the turret turntable/basket.

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And finally this very indistinct image is of the emergency release/run lever at the base of the gunners safety shield.

A jolly productive morning, even if I do say so myself! It all goes in the win column!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

 

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So very nice to scratch building hasn't died a death just yet, i love technology and have considered a 3D printer myself especially now there so affordable but on the same scale is the feeling that the same tech will eventually take the skill out of making an accurate model ...... very nicely done and really nice skills on display here.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes it is! Four years! I`m back on it today after a slight delay due to the arrival of our second rescue dog, she has kept me out of my shed for two weekends straight!

 

Granto

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I had hoped to get a bit more done in the last two weeks, however the addition of another rescue dog to our family put paid to that, but the last two days have seen some definite progress!

 

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The curved stowage bin for the FCT .30cal ammunition has been painted and fitted. The three small compartments are for spare episcopes.

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And as I expected, once the FCT is dropped in you can hardly see it!

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The main engine air cleaners have been fitted, each one consists of 43 parts, most of which will not be visible! The stowage bases for four of the 120mm main armament cases have been installed, there will be corresponding upper brackets for these, there are also 7 HESH/Sabot round brackets to go in here, four in front of the bulkhead and three on the left hull wall, plus two, two round Sabot brackets, one on the rear bulkhead the other on the left hull wall and racks for five .30cal boxes. I still have to fit the charger unit air cleaner and the generator blowers above the RHS air cleaner, plus two interior lights and the fire alarm horn

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With the turret turntable in place you can see there isn't much room, virtually the entire left side of the hull is ammunition stowage. There is ammunition stowed on the right side hull wall, but with the gunners platform in place it can`t be seen, so I`m not going to bother with it! I`m still pondering about the drinking water tanks which are in a bracket above the battery box to the rear of the drivers seat.......Typical of British military kit, from personal experience I can confirm there is no unused space!

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There is a stowage for 9 120mm cases in front of the bulkhead, two Sabot rounds on the hull wall, there are another 7 120mm cases stowed vertically on the turntable. Plus the Gun Control Equipment of course!

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And 14 cases and 9 rounds, 6 Sabot, 3 HESH stowed here, you can get two Sabot rounds in a tube but only one HESH. In my opinion it would have been a nightmare to bomb up, Chieftain and Challenger 1 were a breeze compared to this!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

 

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Thank you for the comments Gents,

In answer to Kiwidave4 

11 hours ago, Kiwidave4 said:

How will all that detail be visible when you have finished?

I am going to leave the hatches open! My original intention was to just put enough detail in to draw the eye away from the void, but I got carried away......... Being an ex-Army Tank crewman I don't like seeing models of armour closed down, We rarely did it in my time (70`s-80`s), only on a "Battle run" on the ranges or for NBC guff in "Troop tests", the rest of the time the lids were open, in the summer we got dusty, in all other seasons we got wet, because the engine drew its air in through the turret. Most Commanders and NCO "Bean stealing pad" Operators invested in Barbour Jackets, because they could afford to, Gunners got wet backs, and Drivers would more often than not put a poncho on under their helmet and over the back of the drivers seat to avoid sitting a puddle all day! Drivers also got the added bonus on areas like Soltau, of getting a mud bath when the vehicle in front stopped for whatever reason and his bow wave came back at you, closely followed by your own, which was nice. My Regiment was the first to get Chally 1, we did a lot more closed down driving from then on, but the turret crews were always hanging out the top posing, our immediate action on contact was to high speed reverse out of trouble which was a good test of confidence in your commanders ability to effectively "steer the panzer backwards at 30+mph while controlling the shoot and telling all and sundry on the net that he was about to be on the receiving end of some incoming! Glad I never had to do it for real! But I digress, I think enough detail will be visible through the hatches to make all the blood, sweat and tears worth it in the end!  

 

Granto

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8 hours ago, Valenstitch said:

Thank you for the comments Gents,

In answer to Kiwidave4 

I am going to leave the hatches open! My original intention was to just put enough detail in to draw the eye away from the void, but I got carried away......... Being an ex-Army Tank crewman I don't like seeing models of armour closed down, We rarely did it in my time (70`s-80`s), only on a "Battle run" on the ranges or for NBC guff in "Troop tests", the rest of the time the lids were open, in the summer we got dusty, in all other seasons we got wet, because the engine drew its air in through the turret. Most Commanders and NCO "Bean stealing pad" Operators invested in Barbour Jackets, because they could afford to, Gunners got wet backs, and Drivers would more often than not put a poncho on under their helmet and over the back of the drivers seat to avoid sitting a puddle all day! Drivers also got the added bonus on areas like Soltau, of getting a mud bath when the vehicle in front stopped for whatever reason and his bow wave came back at you, closely followed by your own, which was nice. My Regiment was the first to get Chally 1, we did a lot more closed down driving from then on, but the turret crews were always hanging out the top posing, our immediate action on contact was to high speed reverse out of trouble which was a good test of confidence in your commanders ability to effectively "steer the panzer backwards at 30+mph while controlling the shoot and telling all and sundry on the net that he was about to be on the receiving end of some incoming! Glad I never had to do it for real! But I digress, I think enough detail will be visible through the hatches to make all the blood, sweat and tears worth it in the end!  

 

Granto

Thanks Grant. It seems like a lot of lovely detail to only be glimpsed through the hatches, but you - and now all of BM! - will know its there.

I did a full drivers comp on a Cromwell many years ago complete with driver but all that is visible through the side hatch is the drivers beaming face! Now I go for matt black and an occasional bit of trompe l'oeil painting on bulkheads. 

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Oooh Progress! Things are settling down, the "Leg Iron" is back at work......Just, and moaning that the holidays are too short, which as a teacher she is contractually obliged to do apparently, she's had 24 weeks off, but it`s still not enough, My Lad is starting College, he`s actually looking forward to it, and the two dogs are play fighting all day every day, which means I can get some shed time in! And this is what I did with it!  

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Here is the fighting compartment, main engine air filters are fitted, charger unit air filter is fitted, just a hose/pipe to go, moving clockwise from the left, the boat shaped container on top of the air filter is to hold two thermos flasks, then, charger unit air filter, blower regulators, internal lighting, ammunition stowage 120mm case, gun tool stowage box with 4 x 120mm HESH behind, 2 x .30 cal  box brackets on hull floor, 2 x 120mm Sabot bracket above the left hand main engine air filter, fire horn to the left of it, internal lighting above, stowage for 3 boxes of .30 cal, ammunition stowage along the hull wall (120mm case, 3 x 120mm HESH, 120mm case, 2 x 120mm Sabot and just in shot 120mm case stowage, tool stowage on the hull wall above the HESH stowage! 

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The drivers compartment has now been fitted permanently.

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An overhead view!

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The white stuff all over the walls and floor is Mr Surfacer dissolved putty to give a rougher finish.

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More of the internal stowage in place, Battery box behind the drivers seat.

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And the hull top dry fitted.

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Another two box bracket for .30 cal, to the right of that will go the Co2 fire extinguishers.........possibly!

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And finally the turret turntable dry fitted on the RBJ, there really isn't much room left, so it`s getting there, various straps and clips still to go, but the basic structure is in, I might even get a shot of primer off before dinner!

Still to do, Gunners safety shield, fit GCE on the turntable, fit the 7 x 120mm case ready round stowage on the turntable, fit the radios, and traverse indicator, fit the main armament and make a canvas cover for the mantlet, commanders .30 cal mounting bracket, paint and weather the interior, button it all up, and then get cracking on the exterior..........not much then!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto 

 

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Time for another half bottomed update! 

Working off and on I finally managed to populate the fighting compartment with sufficient bits and get a shot of Stynylrez on it! 

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Across the rear bulkhead are the L/H air cleaner with the Charger Unit air cleaner on top of it, the generator blowers top L/H Ammunition stowage across the front of the access plate, R/H air cleaner surrounded with .30 cal stowage and the vehicle interior lights at the top of the bulkhead.

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This`un shows the L/H side hull wall with all its stowage. the 120mm case clips need trimming back a tad.

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The final addition was the turret basket roller guide.

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On the R/H hull wall are the two Co2 extinguisher bottles.

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And just now I hit it all with silver! Blingtastic!

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The rippling visible on the hull floor is Mr Hobby dissolved putty, not excess paint. Next will be a shot of clear before light weathering and I can button up the interior! Forever! 

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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I couldn't resist a dry fit of the turret bits and removal of the masking tape...........................spacer.png

Turret basket in, guide roller nicely in contact

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Masking tape off!

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Gunners seat in place.............

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Gun control equipment in place...............

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7 round stowage on the turntable, clips still to go on.................... 

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Coming together nicely now!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

 

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