Andreas @AKirchhoff , just for you …
Does that look like you imagined it ? 
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Hi John,
well, it is YOUR vehicle build…What I forgot when suggesting these markings was, did the vehicle you crewed have these markings…From my point, it looks interesting because it brings some more eye-catching details and together with other BATUS markings would look interesting though-so i hope YOU like it too!
Beautiful build so far!
Andreas
To be honest Andreas I can’t remember if we had the white stripes or not, so it’s fine either way and I do like the look of it. Like you said, it shows a different scheme.
One thing I was trying to check up on, which I was able to rework out, were my time frames of various call signs.
I was going through some old Regimental Journals and I did get some dates mixed up. My last chieftain was a TOGs Mk 11 which was c/s31, the Mk 10 I was in on our last tank tour of BATUS was actually 22 and not the other way round like I initially thought, so that was a happy find, so this one will be my ride, less the correct number plates
Added some PE wing mirror arms from a C1 set I didn’t use and made some rear tow rop securing clamps and painted those. Also painted all the wiper arms on each sight or vision block.
Have also painted up an Accurate Armour oil drum which will be marked up for OMD (oil mineral detergent) 80 which will end up on the RH Rear next to the small bin. And I noticed 2 small patches that I missed when painting it 
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More ordering on the way lol
Did a bit of fettling earlier. Attempted to make the securing clamps that were missing from the recovery ropes.
The Accurate Armour ends only had one and there is actually one at each end and are positioned just as the cable goes into the eye piece.
In the end I just used some PE that were bent to shape and then 2 wing nut ends from a Panther fret.
You can see the wing nut a bit better in the top one as I had to use a new one. The one in the bottom pic has been painted.
In the end I had to use one of the made up securing clamps on the front on the RH side, and the kit one is at the rear. That’s due to when you make the cables and join them to the eyes, they are one sided only, so if you put the kit ones (securing clamps) both at the front on either side, one has to go on reversed and it loses all its detail, so it’s easier to place it at the back so the detailing is visible…
Also did a bit of minor touch up painting all over, tracks, spare links, front support arms.
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Great attention to details as usual. 
Olivier
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Excellent detailing there John, you’re getting on well with the fiddly bits.
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Thanks for the support as always Matt. Like I said before, a lot of these little extras are just down to the fact that I know they should be there or fitted a certain way etc …it does make it more enjoyable even if it adds a bit more time to it all…
Thank you Olivier, it’s great your still after your very lovely Mk 10 you showed us
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Just a very small addition tonight. Oil can and holder attached.
A regular extra on exercise, each troop would usually have say 1 or 2 cans of OMD 80/90 and a can of OEP220 split between the wagons.
This can is from Accurate Armour, very nicely detailed and with some nice readable decals as well. The holder is just a cut length of PE sprue bent to shape. The real holders were usually lengths of Main engine multi V fan belts cut to length and bolted onto the bins.
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Looking really good John, really good. Just one thing, is OMD 80 common to all marks?
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Johnny,
For those of us that had to walk everywhere, what is this magic OMD 80 and how exactly does it appease the machine spirits?
Also, seems like a daft place for an oil can when people are shooting at you.
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Yes it was, I’m not sure when the cross over happened and it changed to 90, but we definitely had it on Chieftain and Challenger 1 while in Germany. Even when it changed to OMD 90 we still had old stock of 80 and used it.
OMD is Oil Mineral Detergent. That’s the main engine oil used on pretty much every UK military vehicle. It was actually a very high end oil and very good.
OEP is Oil Extreme Pressure and usually used in gearbox’s.
The oil being placed there wasn’t really a problem and it has a very low flash point anyway so wasn’t a real danger either way. You could also see the cans carried in the baskets, but for ease of use they were easier to have there at the back to get to when you needed to top up the engine or gearbox as you need to be gun rear to get the deck ups to do your checks etc and if they are in the baskets you have to get up over the turret and then carry the can back with you … Easier just to lift if out near the back
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Thanks for that; I’ve been dithering over depicting a Mk 5 set in BAOR say, around the mid to late 70s. I hope to utilise a CVR(T) too (to try and deplete the stash) with possibly a 3rd vehicle - possibly a Bundeswehr umpire. All a bit ambitious on an A3-sized base - we’ll see.
Anyway, I just wanted to confirm possible stowage and the like, and I have the AA set amongst my stowage items.
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I was more concerned about the effects of 7.62x39 on flimsy tin cans 
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You could try a scene at a road junction. We would have some Recce Pl CVRTs as route markers with their barrels facing the way we (in MBTs) had to turn/go etc
If they got brassed up in BATUS and the oil drained we could just use them as large shower heads lol
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