Finished rear:
And the front, coming along:
I still haven’t decided if I want to use the blade or not.
And the front, coming along:
I still haven’t decided if I want to use the blade or not.
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10 out of 10 for the work you’re putting in on this one Russ… Blade could be a good addition, something to make it a bit different from the norm…?
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Thanks. This will be the last time I mess with a Trump Challenger, for sure.
Would the blade be fitted on a tank without the additional armor in Kosovo?
As far as I can remember without checking my books, is that all armoured Sqn’s deployed to Kosov had the up armour skirts fitted.
Or did you mean the front armour pack ? If so, I dont think it is fitted with a dozer. The belly plate add on is probably fitted.
Did you mean the skirt armour or the front armour pack ? Im 99.9 % sure all the wagons had side skirt armour, but I dont think the dozer fits with the front armour pack fitted. I would have to check.
Outstanding extra work on this one Russ. All of this is really going to show even when it’s all painted and done. Really sharp detailing. I bet your next Challenger is going to be from Rye Field Models, though!
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My mistake: I have a Star Decals sheet with one Challenger 2 in Bosnia, 1st RTR with SFOR, no additional armor. I meant no nose armor and no additional side armor, just plain skirts. Neither are pictured with a dozer blade. I do understand the dozer would go on in place of the nose armor.
Ah got ya … I would do a generic SFOR wagon then with the dozer fitted.
Hmmm… I just finished doing some work to the lower glacis, hull sides too.
I got rid of a bunch of “Trump bumps” that were supposed to be tie downs, and finished the driver’s area. It’s getting close to turret time.
I suppose I’ll build the dozer and see how it looks mounted.
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Trump bumps, I like that one !
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I’m still piddling along on this, making up more grab handles on the skirts and goofy stuff like that, but I went back to work five days a week, dang it all. I did build up the blade assembly, and boy is it “basic”. If it’s the same unit as fitted to the Challenger 1, I have a couple of pics, otherwise I’m in the dark, but it’s clearly missing a ton of detail. I’m adding lots of sliced rod for the ends of the clevis pins and such and have used up a couple of sanding sticks- not what I’d call Trump’s best effort.
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I got a start on the turret today, beginning with the mantlet and gun tube. While the fit of the tube was okay, molding is iffy. So far I have the back half in primer to check for flaws. The mantlet however is a different story. Fit of the seven pieces was poor, and the shape of the TOGS housing was wrong. Rather than a tapered top, the housing is vertical all the way up. I scored the sides at a panel line, bent them in slightly and adjusted the front and back pieces to compensate. I just used stock for the top and will add details later. If this is indicative of what the rest of the turret is like, oh boy.
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Adapt and overcome, right ? Looks good !
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Your efforts now make me not want to build any Challys. It’s like you are the god of Challengers and I am but a puny mortal. 
I guess when you have first hand knowledge of these beasts its hard to overlook what’s missing or what’s not quite right. Glad I’m ignorant.
Good effort Russ, Trumpy should be hanging their heads in shame… I’m 100% only bothering with the RFM Ch2 from now on…
Heck, I’m just copying from books is all… and comparing parts to Tamiya’s Cr2 when I can. I have zero first hand knowledge of the Challenger, but a lot of people here do and they’ve been very generous with that knowledge.
Just for grins I pulled a super shelf queen down, a Trump/Tamiya Abrams that I started 10+ years ago, something I’ve always wanted to get back to but have been hesitant to since I’m largely ignorant of the things. I thought it might be a nice break before I start the Tamiya Cr2 I have waiting.
Crackin work none the less. Think I must have confused you with someone else.
It’s happened before, no worries.
Lots of “basic” modeling going on now: fixing big gaps, correcting errors as best possible, filling sink marks and fixing tooling marks.
I’m making the dozer blade removable, but will probably use it if I can find a pic of how the hydraulic ram connects to the lower blade mount. Trump just has the shaft point down towards a general area…
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