phalinmegob is gonna have a go at a tank,god help me

[phalinmegob]

could not think of anything else to do with the sand bags except turn them into spud bags but dont worry ,i have some ready to be stacked alongside the wall.

 

[Richy C]

This is coming along superbly Andrew , love the fruit and veg bits , don`t worry about the tank covering a lot of details , we know its there and being a diorama its nice to find bits of detail hidden here and there that are not the focal points brings the whole thing to life .

Keep up the good work

Richy

 

[noble]

Andrew this is coming along very nice indeed, you'll be finished yours before i can come up with a dio for mine....... i know it's not a race Lol good work mate lovely fruit and veg.:clap:

scott

 

[phalinmegob]

right guys, a couple of questions i need answering (having never built a tank before). 1. are the road wheels glued in place on the suspension arms because they have little rubber grommets thingies inside them or are they held on by friction .2 assemble whole tank first or paint bits first.

3. i am struggling with tamiyas instructions as they dont seem as clear as the stuff i am normally used to and seem very vague in places but insructions say that all road wheels must be level on ground when put together but as i am going to have the tank on a not so level dio i presume it would be ok when i put the wheels on to follow the contour of the ground rather than flat,will tracks still go ok?........sorry its a long winded one.

 

[backonthecase]

I'm not exactly a museum - class model builder but I hope the below helps....

1 if they have a grommet, it's a standard Tamiya poly cap and will hold the wheel/stub axle in place for you, yet allow wheel rotation if have assembled as per instructions and not got glue in the wrong places (ask me how I know this...)

2 I would leave things like stowage off and paint seperately, tools, boxes etc, EXCEPT if painted the same colour as the tank. The disadvantage of painting then attaching is that you have to work hard not to get glue spots on the finish. Naturally attaching then painting would eliminate this, but make detail painting more difficult. Play to your strengths when deciding this one mate.

3 when fixing wheels in position, fix them as if they were in the tank's final position, otherwise it will look unnatural, as you correctly identified.

HTH

Stuart

 

[andygh]

I prefer to paint as much as possible in situ (you only have to paint the parts you can see) UNLESS it makes things really difficult

As Stuart says, there are no laws to this, just do whatever is easiest for you

 

[phalinmegob]

cheers

 

[Ian M]

If the tracks are of the soft vinyl type, set the wheels how you want them, just make sure they are in line, front to back, if you follow my gist.

AS for the painting bit, as others have said, build up as much as you can and paint in one go, just be extra careful with gaps between things and under things.

I built my Challenger up into sub assemblies and painted them, I actually followed the instructions this time!!! (first time for every thing).... There are a few bits that will need touching in after the few small extra bits are in place, but that's pretty much the norm.

Ian M

 

[phalinmegob]

i have never done a kit with so many parts before, managed to get a few hours on it today but it has not seen a drop of paint yet.

 

[noble]

Andrew you'll get there mate just take your time and you will get there and before you know it it'll be done, howeveri agree with ian on this matter i would bulid up the sub assemblies then paint i found it easier doing it this way myself.

good luck

Scott

 

[phalinmegob]

two questions guys, did challengers in bosnia have front reactive armour or were these only on the desert version, and what colour green is right for the said tanks,tamiya box says xf61 green for nato tanks but echelon decals set says olive drab which is xf62 and i tried with revell black green which dosnt look right either?

 

[geegad]

Hello I use creative models they have a wide range and good prices too that is of cause that's if you can't find anything on The scale models shops that is

Good hunting

Geegad

 

[Ian M]

Andrew: I would say Bronze green or dark olive drab for the greens out there. And Yes the IFOR - KFOR did have reactive armour in this theatre.

A Challenger and Warrior Tank Lead a Kosovo Convoy | Flickr - Photo Sharing! A nice picture of a chally and a warrior

Hope that helps clear things up a bit.

Ian M

 

[phalinmegob]

oh well, i guess i may have fecked things up a tad then, instruction sheet says nato challengers didnt have this, so i carried on building without the front armour and do not think i can get it on now with out hacking some pipes and stuff off which i dont want to do. colour wise i have just been to lms and got a bottle of tamiya olive drab, its very thin compared to my normal revell acrylics.

 

[phalinmegob]

dont forget mine is the challenger 1.

right now no-one and i mean no one is allowed to laugh at this question,which is the front of the tank as this picture has got me thinking silly things and i thought the front was the other end...............no laughing at the back

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[Richy C]

No such thing as a silly question mate , the turret is pointing to the rear of the tank , maybe to save space in transit is my guess , with transport ships they do like to pack things in .

Richy

 

[Ian M]

Ah! Sorry I thought it was a II'er, my bad I could of read the title of the build but that would of been to simple. Right then Challenger I Mk3 then. As far as I am aware they did not have the reactive armour at all so you are in the clear.

The tank in your photo is in transport mode.

Some one with a lot more knowledge that I have will come and give the finer details but in the short version is this. In the Field the turret pointed to the front of the tank, the short end. Under transport and for driving long distances, the turret was turned to the rear and the Barrel fixed in the transport clamp that is in the centre just behind the engine grills.

Still not answered your question though. The front of the tank is the shortest end with the sloping front. The rear of the tank is the longest end with the grills and the square bulkhead.

A quicker way to say it would of been just to say that the drive sprockets are at the back!

Ian M

 

[phalinmegob]

i thought so,just was not sure after looking at the picture..thanks all

 

[phalinmegob]

quick update, i lost my phone and could not taken any pictures (found it now) been cracking on with the challenger,and made a few mistake which i am hoping no-one will notice .my first armour and i have not got a clue about weathering yet, just covered the tank with light dirt wash from flory models which i purchased from john and am really worried.what have i done? looks awfull just hope it will wash off.

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light dirt wash but it does not look like dirt to me....

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[noble]

Don't panic Andrew if you want to weather it a little try this, add some dark yellow paint thinned about 60% thinner 40% paint to your air brush set the compressor to 10 psi and carfully airbrush the centre panels in the olive drab sections then allow this to dry. Take your black paint and add just a touch of white and mix as before then spray the panel centres in the black sections and leave to dry. Now you should have slightly faded look to the paint work, mix up some black paint and thinner about 95% thinner 5% paint and wash the whole tank in this and allow to dry, this will bring te colours together.

I hope this helps.

scott