Hi Johnny
Yep that cable is fairly noticeable, seems like a candidate for camo net draping.
The gap between the searchlight & basket seems fairly huge too - to my eye.
Will you be adding casting numbers to turret & hull?
Mal
2 Likes
Thanks Mal @AfvAficionado - the more I see that cable the more I want to change it … I may have to as its going to niggle away at me … There are already some casting numbers on the turret and I wont be adding any more. This is going to be pretty much as is out the box. Only thing I am going to change is the barrel (which result in a donor Chally 1) and the 2 AFV club bins for the turret baskets. The gap between the rear searchlight and front of the basket is fine, and there is a reinforcing / support plate which has to go on to connect the 2 parts. The gap may not be 100% but its within a mm … the guide marks for the searchlight and the rear basket are pretty unhelpful or nonexistent so I had to go from ref pics in the Tankograd Berlin Infantry Brigade book which has perfect side on views, so they are pretty good for positioning 
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Hi Johnny
I’m quite familiar with the feeling, even regarding the same part.
The casting numbers look to be just the Stillbrew casting marks, which suggests it’s an FHL turret - The FHL casting marks are hidden behind the TC’s stowage bin.
That Reinforcing plate
Plus a bit of camo net
Mal
9 Likes
Very nice Mal, Wouldn’t mind seeing some pictures of it so feel free to put some up if you want to as there look like a lot of nice little scratch additions you have added to yours:+1:
As you took the time, and did your cable … I will have to bite the bullet now and do this one small correction from the few inconsistencies I have seen on the kit. I do wish the baskets on the AA turret had just been empty so you could add your own stowage but they are what they are. Thanks for looking on this build as well Mal
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A bit more progress with some pics…
Mostly turret work but I did add the driver’s hatch rest mount and the driver’s hatch locking tab.
And Mal @AfvAficionado … I followed your lead and changed the cable elbow and added new cable and the cable securing tab.
I also added the securing plate between the search light and basket.
The AA piece is actually to short, I used a cut down section from a Panther rear hull bin.
Also added the loaders hatch lock tabs, the handles for the battery cover and metadyne cover and the gunners sight cowl.
Last but not least I put on the bins to the rear of both turret baskets. The bins are actually the ones you’d find on the rear of the hull on either corner.
5 Likes
Hi Johnny
Nice work. Have made the drivers hatch rest but not finished nor fitted as yet, rather exposed piece.
With your reinforcing plate you didn’t need to make up a pair of dummy U bolts holding it in place, nor have to extend the basket so you could fit it
The handles on your battery hatch are more uniform than mine - but now have a tool to fix that - another redo
Had forgotten about lock clasps on the loaders hatch - need to add to the ever lengthening list
The gunners sight
The shutter arm on that is tricky, up to the 5th iteration on that -
Those turret bins - I actually have 4 spare from my Scorpion, but comparing them today, they’re 6mm longer than the ones on my Chieftain, though not tempted to add them.
Added a bipod & bits to the Gimpy
Lengthened the coax, thickened the RMG, mantlet made from pantyhose material, but when adding the bolts, broke the drill bit - not sure how to remove that
Yep, I know the RMG should be welded up, but always thought that was a big mistake, true not as big as the L60, but…
To put things in perspective, one of my MBSGD’s sitting on my Tamiya Chieftain
Probably enough to be going on with?
Mal
8 Likes
Mal, looks really good … love the huge mega scale MBSGD on top of the Tamiya Chieftain… that would certainly kick out a big smoke screen lol. You have put some lovely extra detailing on it which really lifts it up a few levels
Now to be honest I have never given much time to any marks of Chieftain before the Mk 9s so I haven’t seen so many ref pics of those early versions, and being early versions; good clear ref pics are not in abundance. On the Comds GPMG just be wary of having a bipod fitted on an L37 GPMG.
you obviously know about the various Mks of GIMPY, L7 - Ground role light support, L8 - Co-Ax version with different barrel, recoil buffer butt plate and trigger mech and no bipod and the L37 - Comd cupola/external mounted (basically an L8 with tweaks)- this would normally have the L8 barrel fitted with the solid flash eliminator and no bipod fitted. The L37 comes with a pack (Butt, L7 barrel, & bipod) to mod it back into an L7 ground mounted version if you had to.
On the RH TUAAM box and where the ABA mount is, it looks like there is quite a biggish round piece of plastic under the ABA. this isnt there on later Mks for sure and the ABA sits on a very thin flange directly on the TUAAM box. Now Im not 100% sure about earlier Mks like I said, but it may be worth double checking as the ABA is sitting very high.
What Mk are going for with the big one Mal ? If I remember correctly you said you had CVRTs in the same scale ??
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Hi Johnny
Just the one CVR(T)
I’m going for a late Mk 5, but still with RMG. The ABA - is that the Clansman Aerial base?
If so, that pic was early on & I reduced the height a bit already
Littlefield Mk 6 showing the base less the upper -
With the Gimpy, while I’ve fired a belt, fairly sure I wouldn’t pick all the differences, nor name the differing marks. This photo was the inspiration -
Re the MBSGD, I got an email from BNA Models in Oz yesterday, amongst the new items on offer - a MBSGD for a M1 -
Very nice looking piece, but at that price, someone was breathing fumes.
Their other items weren’t much better
Mal
4 Likes
Really fantastic scratchbuilding there John. And you said you were going for a mostly OOB build! You can’t help yourself. This is a “your ride” build. You have to detail it up because it’s what you know.
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That CVR looks very nice, I think you have shown me that before, but I do love a good CVRT 
Ref the ABA (Antenna Base Assembly) yes that was the bit I was on about and the alteration you have already made looks great with the amount you trimmed off
Regarding the Gimpy pic that one has an L7 ground mounted barrel fitted (with the fluted flash eliminator) which allows the bipod to be fitted which is fitted to an L37 main body. The one I was looking at on the pictures of your kit looks like a scratch built ( ? ) L8/37 barrel with a solid eliminator which you cant fit a bipod onto as it has a different gas plug fitting. To be honest Mal, I wouldn’t worry about any of that as it was only an observation and so you had a bit more info in case you do any more big builds. One other thing I will say is do not trust all the ref pics online showing GPMGs and their designation, as some are marked or identified incorrectly.
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Thanks Matt, luckily it was pretty easy and didn’t take long, but on this one i wont go overboard as although it was my ride, I didn’t command it, and it doesn’t hold the same feeling as my Striker. I was only a driver initially on a Mk 9 and then a loader on Stillbrews. I did command one for a short while but only as the Comd as away on a course. I will be changing the ABAs over as like the CVRT ones, the AA ones are to small as are with the PFEs which I have some nice resin ones and are to scale. And now I have looked at the kit a bit more, there isnt really anything else I think needs to be scratched. The only slight issue I have seen is the LH rear hull has a slight upward bow/kink in it near the rear long bin where the top of the side skirts sit, so not sure how noticeable that is… will wait out on that one.
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Hi Johnny
Yep, have posted that one before, but not these - added the mesh screens using Bondic UV weld -
Going for this look
But the netting needs to be thicker - these are HZH (Hui Zhong Hui) Barrel Wrap camo nets - 60cm & 5cm - Green - when ‘popped’ they become 75cm X 5 cm.
Re the Gimpy, hadn’t taken much notice of the muzzle, just thought it was poorly detailed.
Re the online pics - yep & before them, many a book suffered the same, caveat emptor (buyer/browser) still applies.
Mal
3 Likes
That mesh looks like the perfect thing to have a base layer and build a decent looking cam net around it
Those shots are nice of the Scorp’s … like the one with the mountain backdrop and the middle one shows the cam pattern and colours off very nicely. I never get why crews drape the whole cam net so low around the turrets of some AFVs, I know in your mind you think it gives you a bit of extra screening and even maybe easier to fully put up in a hide, but in reality (especially CVRT) they can be a nightmare getting caught on things (and in the process ripping them to shreds) causing slow turret traverse and turret jams, as externally on the hull around the turret traverse area there are literally a thousand and one things the cam net will get snagged on. Only time we came close to doing anything like that would be to have cam net very tightly wrapped around the top of the turret with no hang downs or we would cut small sections from an old cam net and drape over certain areas.
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You all have done a great job on those Chieftains. I guess my incoming build of the Takom Mk11 will be smoother as I intend to go the from the box easy way 
Olivier
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Will be watching that build for sure Olivier as the Mk 11 TOGs version was my very last Chieftain ride before we received our CR 1s. And will be keeping an eye out for that kit … they seem harder to get hold of now.
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Hi Johnny
Funnily enough, the scale version cam net does the same thing. What it doesn’t do well is ‘drape’ - doesn’t have the necessary weight to sag/drape in a realistic fashion.
My old nets were better at that, as I used RTV silicon, which provided both bulk & weight, but they didn’t fold worth a damn. Can’t find pics at mo, so a couple of others instead
Mal
4 Likes
thank you for your information !
now i can continue to assembly my Khalid tank
I wonder if they know the RH track is the wrong way round on the poppy version ??
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Do you have any shots Mal of the CVRs showing the cam scheme … What colours are they ?
One thing I do not miss about tanks or going on exercise… Is a poxy cam net… Especially a wet one and then trying to put it up or take it down in the dark… Without strangling yourself…or it getting caught on every button on your combats… All at once lol
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