Couldn’t stop myself, plus the Friuls showed up and I assembled them while doing online training. Who says I can’t multitask?
I have one magazine model build and one old Concord book with a few pics for reference, so I will be going through this relatively quickly since I don’t have ten pics of every doohicky to refer to. All I have done so far is to cover the deep steps Tamiya put on the hull front with thin plastic card. I know there are some exterior reinforcements on the upper right of the turret, not sure if those are correct for an early tank like this kit is supposed to be.
I’ve has this kit for almost a year, picked it up at the AMPS Austin show last summer, and have had in itch to build it for a while. I think the Challenger tanks look like hotrods, like a big T-72 kind of, but with better proportions. Plus, it’s an older but not ancient Tamiya kit and goes together pretty well, just a few gaps and open sponsons to fill.
I’d like the tracks to be a touch less droopy, but one link fewer won’t fit. Side skirts to the rescue I guess. It looks like it should be squirting a couple of dirt and rock roostertails out of the back…
Chally is looking good. The tracks do a lot to improve it over the Tamiya rubber band ones. I built the MK.3 version last year and the turret had some problems lining up with some small gaps.
Carlos, I guess I’ll take a look, but sometimes blissful ignorance is , well, blissful. I’m finishing several builds that are anything but OOB, and I thought I’d do something less involved, not an excuse but a reason. Thanks for the links though, I’m taking a look as soon as my pasta is done.
Brass showed up, books on the way ( a couple of the Photosniper volumes on the Challenger 1 ) so I did a little more and am waiting until the books show.
I’m really debating on how much of the Eduard brass to use. A lot of it is no improvement over the plastic it’s supposed to replace, but the mesh for the front stowage bin is really nice; essential actually. In fact, the PE set is for the Mk3 kit which has another basket on the turret side and it’s so good I’m considering scratching up the basket frame so I can use it, IF I find any pics of the Mk1 with it fitted. From what I’ve found out so far, Tamiya’s kit is of a very early Mk1, and I need to determine what visible differences there were between the two and if it’s practical at this point to try and do it on this model. I’m already thinking I would have been better off to be using the Mk3 kit, but I got this at a show, pure impulse buy, and it was conveniently cheap.
The differance between the Mk I and Mk 2 was that the 2 had the TOGS fitted. The Mk I had a No 37 swap site but was built to except TOGS when that was ready. But i can’t tell if there are any visible differance between the external apperance of the sites.
The Mk 3 differed internally from the Mk 2 so basically its just the TOGS. Pics of early Chally’s seem hard to find, most are of vehicles in the Gulf.
I’ll be watching with interest, as I have that kit in the stash.
When I went to the Tank Museum at Bovington, there were “student driver” Challys going down the road (we walked to the museum to enjoy the countryside). There was an instructor’s station where the turret should have been. The tanks were remarkably quiet, sounding like a garbage truck, with no “clankety-clank” squeaking of the tracks like you hear in the movies.
They still use those for Driver training. I operated alongside the Chally 2 which was replacing the 1 at the time my battalion went into the armoured role. Its an impressive machine, especially when they are reversing out of trouble and putting donw a smoke screen from the exhaust’s.
When I was in 6th grade, we went to Kaneohe MCAS for a really cool field trip. The first stop was a LVTP7 waiting for us in a field. After we got to clamber around inside and marvel at the dismounted M2 50 Cal machine gun on the troop bench, we were ordered back into the bus, which was parked alongside the amtrack. The LVTP then fired up and drove off. The engine noise was deafening, and the bus windows rattled as if possessed. That is why I was surprised by the Chally’s low sound levels.
We don’t have any M1 Abrams here in Hawaii, so I never got to hear one of those fire up. I understand the turbine sound is relatively quiet, at least for a tank.
Bish: this kit has the TOGS box, so I would think it’s at least a Mk2, sound right? I’m thinking I’ll need to add the scalloped reinforcements along the turret right front joins, and maybe rearrange the onboard tool storage, but I’ll wait to do that until the books show up. I think the turret side stowage box would look good on it too, but waiting there as well.
Regarding noise: I’ve heard M113’s on FMC’s test track, but they were not “stock”, and Merkava’s at about 200 yds distance. The Merks were loud even that far away.
I was watching a Parlimentory Commitee (ye, how sad am i) who were grilling the CDS, General Sir Nick Carter. I found it interesting that they even got down to the level of discussing individual bits of kit, including warrior and its new turret (thats been ongoing for over 20 years) and the new Chally barrel and wheather it would be smooth bore or rifeled. Its shocking how long these things drag on for.
Gary, don’t confuse Challenger Mk II with Challenger 2, completly different beats.
Okay, nearly two years have passed since I shelved this model, and it’s time to finish. First order of busines is to correct the turret stowage bin now that I have decent drawings and a couple of pics. Off came the original bin, and of course Tamiya supplies the same part in the later Mk3 release, so I’ll either modify the “new” part or just scratch the whole thing. As is sits now, after dusting it off and removing the original part:
Thanks Anthony. I decided to scratch the whole part, easier and I’m not trying to add material at the corners. So first I got the turret ready for the new part:
And then I cut the base from .060" stock and built the sides using a couple of Sherman return rollers to get the corners, added a layer of .020" card and filled and sanded.
IMG_1602 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_1603 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
