Yep, Khalid for Jordan, but apparently held at Bovy.
If you have the Haynes Chief owners worshop manual or Richard Kent’s Chief, Britain’s flawed masterpiece - there is more info there.
Mal
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I’m still noodling on the air cleaners. I hate to hack into the sides of the hull where the fuel tanks are but I’m also reluctant to ignore them altogether.
I did manage to pick up another Tamiya Chieftain last Saturday so I have an early turret if I want to go that way. And I was able to check clearance between the turret bustle and engine cover. It’s tight. I may have to use a shim under the turret ring, maybe .010" to get realistic clearance without the turret being noticeably higher.
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What about vertically on the sides of the hull instead of the bins?
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As always great to follow your builds but just a little question in between, how accurate is this one? As it says in the description “secret IDF test vehicle” ?
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Can’t be too secret if Scalemates knows about it ..
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The IDF actually did a long-term test on two Mk 2’s, don’t think they advertised it. There’s a story about that. There are a couple pics (see above) of them in tan with IDF numbers.
Nikos, I’ve figured I’ll lose one bin per side, just working out the location for the housing without interfering with the fuel fillers.
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They make excallent stowage for the Warrior IFV.
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They might as well have included decals for KZ-99-65 too, then, but I suppose IDF test vehicles are sexier than KL test vehicles.
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So the “secret” IDF Chieftain story supposedly goes like this: Knowing the IDF was testing the two Mk2’s in the Sinai and that war was coming, the British asked the IDF to move the Chieftains away from the border, fearing exposure or capture since the Egyptian Army was there. The IDF is reputed to have replied; “Don’t worry, we moved the border”.
Not mine, it was in a book.
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I knocked up a turret last night, just to check fit. I had to shim it up .040" to get a full rotation without interference. I can’t tell once it’s on, except when viewed from the front. To hide the slight gap I used the two pieces of Stillbrew armor that were in the Takom kit I built the last one off of. Oddly enough, they were a good fit on the Tamiya hull.
Also completed last night were the filter housings and intakes. I think it works. I’ll get pics up tonight.
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Here’s a pic of how I did the filter access. I used some Dragon side-loader housings and just cut the outside off, at an angle so the doors would be vertical when mounted to the hull side. The engine intakes are blower covers from Tamiya M48 turrets.
IMG_4685 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4686 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I can fit a Chieftain side stowage box in front of and behind them. All I have to do is split the kit box in half and close the ends, piece o’ cake.
Then the turret: The Stillbrew turret looks really good, but so does the Tamiya turret. At this point, I’m leaning towards the resin part. It’s very nicely done (thanks Robert!).
More modern?
IMG_4683 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
…or not.
IMG_4684 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Pictured also are the two pieces of Stillbrew armor that were added on either side of the driver’s hatch. The Takom pieces went right on the Tamiya hull. Kudos to Tamiya here I think, for getting it close enough that parts from a kit engineered almost 50 years later fit.
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Thats a nice trade off with how you are doing the air intakes and filter access.
In reality, it would be a workable solution without compromising the front fuel tanks. The new air system in theory could take up some of the space in the small void area between the front and rear tanks, and the front tank could have simply been redesigned to a new shape to allow for the air system, and retaining the front fuel cap.
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Thanks! That’s exactly what I was trying to accomplish.
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I really like your approache.
I would say the resin Turret looks nicer
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Turret is mounted, easy enough since it’s intended for the Tamiya kit. I had to shim it up a bit, mostly since the maker angled the NMC unit down a bit, but it works. I also got a good start on the fenders/mudguards and did the boxes on the rear hull sides.
IMG_4690 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4689 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
More as I can…
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I spy an Urdan style cupola.
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Excellent job Russel
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I thought rhe Urdan cupola would be a nice touch.
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I tried to take one from the same build the smoke dischargers came from but it would not come off.
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No worries, I have several. Those old Academy and Italeri Magach kits are cheap and a good source of parts.
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