Grizzly Tank from CnC Red Alert 2

[Karl187]

Well if it isn’t that time again fellas! Gather yourselves round the old modelling bench because it’s time for another tale from the rare ‘aul times.

Yes- we’re going back through the hazy mists of the past to the year 2000!

(Previously in the hazy mists of time.)

Right so let’s get red CD out of the computer and get the blue one in.

This time, instead of fighting at the vanguard of the proletariat for the global victory of communism, we’re fightin’ for:

Freedom

Democracy

President Dugan’s winning smile

General Carville’s Texan wit

Tanya in a tube top

And er…Albert Einstein!

So in the game the Grizzly was the basic Allied tank unit and looked like this on screen.

This is what the game instructions say about it.

It was not very tough but it was fast and could be built rapidly. You needed two to go up against one Soviet Rhino (the basic Soviet tank) but it could get to and from trouble spots quicker. It just had a main gun and was fairly vulnerable but it was essentially the Allied tank backbone throughout the game.

The kit has an option to display it as a kind of stationary gun but this was not a feature in the game.

But enough of the game- on to the kit! Like the previous kit of the Apocalypse tank this can be built glue and paint free if you so wish.

Right out of the box it seems some of the parts are a bit heavy for the sprues and are falling off with at least one broke bit that will need fixed.

First up for assembly is the bottom of the hull tub. It would seem most of the parts here concern the ability of the tank to change into the aforementioned turret thing.

I also built up the rather large and surprisingly weighty running gear.

Next up I’ll be moving on to do the lights and the rest of the hull tub.

Thanks for reading!

[brekinapez]

What would stop one from firing a round up under its chin and popping its turret off? Seems a little risky to leave so much turret ring exposed like that.

Just aim in the center of the three blue headlights. Other than that looks like a tank.

[Karl187]

Being very much a sci fi subject I don’t think the idea of that sort of thing comes into the design- I think its rather more a case of ‘if it looks cool’ etc. The back bit is even more strange though- big U shaped channel where the hull ends but the tracks do not. Almost like one of those catamaran boats.

[Robert_Goldman]

Looks like a defective merkava mk-re-tarded

[Karl187]

I sort of see where your coming from with the turret shape and some of the hull bits. The running gear, judging by the instructions, does look a bit like the early Merkava. The previous build from the game, the Apocalypse tank, had bits and pieces inspired by real tanks.

[Karl187]

Doing the top of the hull meant doing the wiring for the lights first. In the previous Apocalypse Tank kit the instructions for wiring were pretty much non-existent. It was a simple enough business and it is simple enough here too. (Though there is still no decent diagram in the instructions.)

They have, this time, marked the battery direction on the case which tells you where the + and - terminals go.

That being said I still managed to wire them up to the wrong wires! Extricating them shredded the brass so I had to cut the frayed bits off and expose more wire to re-do it.

Then once I had it all wired up I was getting zip…nada…nuthin’! Swapped out the batteries- still no lights!

I had made an assumption which was causing this trouble- it was not the circuit. Silly me had assumed the circuit was touch operated like the Apocalypse Tank’s circuit. So there was me tapping the circuit board wondering why it was not working.

Now, to be fair, the instructions never mention a touch switch. They do mention a magnet and there was a small one in the bag with the lights, and you can see it in the picture of the un-assembled circuit above. However, it’s not mentioned at this stage of the instructions- it is placed later on the turret and I had assumed it was actually to operate the sound system.

So there I am wondering why the circuit is not working and puzzling over this magnet. I decide to touch the magnet to the battery box- still nada! Then I touch the circuit board and bam- they light up!

Let this be a lesson on the dangers of assumptions and modelling!

Once that is sorted you can fit the circuit into the hull.

In fitting the hull top you must pull the two headlight LEDs through the holes up front.

Thankfully in this kit Border explain you can bend the rear legs of the LEDs to get them to fit- I thought in the Apocalypse kit that this would break them but they were fine- as they were here. Though the fit in the headlight housing is not great- they can be pushed back out of position quite easily.

A few more bits on the front and rear and the hull is finito!

Thanks for reading.

[srmalloy]

@Karl187

The back bit is even more strange though- big U shaped channel where the hull ends but the tracks do not.

And from the rear view, there doesn’t seem to be any way to transmit the engine power (wherever the engine actually is, since it’s hard to see where it would go) back to the final drives on the inside of the ‘pontoons’ sticking out the back. Rule of Cool, I suppose

[Karl187]

Yes I’ve been wondering about that very thing Sean. I’m guessing the engine is supposed to be in the back of the hull- beneath that circular access panel. At each side the things that look like side-on turbos connect to a piece of hosing on the inside of each of the pontoons- I will show that in my next update. The rear is, at this stage, probably the oddest part of the build.

[Karl187]

The next bit is the long running gear parts on each side.

The running gear fits onto the hull sides which are separate to the hull. They are big, chunky assemblies that kind of blend elements of the M48/M60 and the T-55/T-62. While the wheels and suspension arms have somewhat of a Merkava Mk.1 look about them.

Mounting each side of the tank is a simple affair and reveals the odd shape of the whole lower part.

Tracks are also pretty big consisting of inner and outer faces with tracks pins sandwiched between. They bare a resemblance to various tracks used on US AFVs over the years.

They are easy to assemble, very sturdy without glue and workable. They do take a bit of clean-up and at 72 links each side they also take some time but that is nothing new when it comes to tracks!

Thanks for reading.

[Karl187]

The turret starts with the lower half- putting small Co-ax style guns (or they are possibly sensors- not sure which) into the front. Due to having to still do some wiring I am not gluing the halves together yet.

There are some neat and nicely detailed sensors on either side of the top of the turret alongside extra armor/radiation cladding- again not sure which it’s supposed to be.

Crew cupolas are well detailed and the sound system (a small speaker) can be mounted in the left one if left open. The speaker repeats the unit answers you would hear in the game when you clicked on a Grizzly or gave one an order.

The turret systems and sensors are really nicely done with plenty of details I’m looking forward to painting.

Wiring means I have to keep the barrel separate for now too.

Thanks for reading.

[Karl187]

In the previous CnC kit, the Apocalypse Tank, I had a good idea of what paint and paint scheme I was going to use. With this one I still had not made up my mind even after getting the primer on it.

Pretty much the only thing I had actually decided was to stick with greyish colors in keeping with the on screen appearance of the Grizzly.

As I often do, I looked around for inspiration and of course, found plenty right here on Armorama.

Coming across @iwatajim’s work on his Star Wars Snowspeeder- using Caunter scheme camo- showed that the nice, clean lines of that scheme can work beautifully with a sci fi subject. I’d recently done a truck in Caunter and enjoyed it so I was thinking of a greyscale version for this.

Then I also came across @Spearhead01’s work on his Abrams X - showing just how sharp and futuristic a hard edged, angular scheme can look.

I was also mulling over something like Berlin Brigade camo but in the end I decided on a four color, hard edged scheme in grey colors- mainly because I had never done it and wanted to try.

Having a look at the Swedish style camo also helped as I came up with a plan- drawing out a basic outline of the hull and turret and sketching in the layout.

These are the four colors I went for.

And this was the penultimate painting stage showing the masking.

This is what I ended up with.

I have to recommend Tamiya’s white panel line tape for jobs like this- it is nowhere near as prone to paint bleeding as their regular tape so it works out brilliantly for camo like this.

Right now I’m just finishing up various bits of detail painting and I also put some decals on yesterday- should be getting into the weathering stages soon.

Thanks for reading.

[iwatajim]

A great camo job once again, very pleasing to behold.

I agree about the tape. However I have found that if using normal Tamiya tape cutting a clean edge with a fresh blade before applying really makes a difference.

Have both these tanks in my basket, hoping someone notices in time for Christmas!

Looking forward to further updates.

[SSGToms]

@iwatajim Very true about the tape Jim, as tape rolls are sticky on the sides and collect microdust, which gets under the edge and produces bleed - under. A clean cut edge will produce a sharp line. Best practice is to keep all of your tape rolls in zip lock bags to keep them dust free. For a while now, I’ve been using Frog Tape Delicate Surfaces tape. It’s the yellow one and I swear it’s Tamiya kabuki tape in 1" and 3" widths. It performs superlatively, giving razor sharp lines, and it comes in a plastic airtight container to keep it clean and fresh. Highly recommended. Light years less expensive than Tamiya tape by volume, too.

[Karl187]

Thanks for the kind words guys, much appreciated.

I would also recommend Scotch Blue tape- especially the ‘Sharp Lines’ version- its thicker than Tamiya tape but works just as well. I use it in my Cri-cut to create masks as it puts up with the sharp, small cuts of the blade on the machine quite well.

[Trisaw]

Excellent camouflage patterns and colors…really smooth and superb!

[Karl187]

Cheers Peter!