00 FD 96 John's Main Contender

[Charles A Stewart]

Nice mod John.

I used a bit piano wire.

Are you and I the only ones to do this addition?

It certainly makes the basket look a lot more realistic.

Take care all.

Charles

[John Clarke]

Charles I think your righty on the extra basket detail so far. Something that might catch on?

Moving on with basket liner. I don't think the basket liner was an original factory fit, but it was found on many Chieftains, British and Export according to photographs. Measurements don't seem to be common to all, some being high wall, some being low wall, so anything seems to go. Probably made in local workshops for the troops. who may have wanted to improve the storage area. Even the diamond shaped netting goes in different directions on different tanks.
After trimming the basket I couldn't get the fold on the thin aluminum trim I wanted with the basket edging, so I decided to glue a thin strip to both sides of the basket liner upper edge and fill in the gap with JB weld. It makes it strong and ridged around the folded corners, so although it took a bit of time it was worth it. JB weld seems to take about 24 hours to go hard in the cold weather.

The "extra projectile" box that will be mounted on the Commanders basket was supplied by Mr C Stewart as he had couple of spares, I just fitted the hinges, latches (Modified Chieftain model supplied) and brackets.

The original

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[David Battson]

Hi John,
Basket liner looks very good. As you say possibly not a standard factory fit, I can't find any contemporary photos of them on an early MK3 so that's one less detail for me.
Clever idea for making the basket trim - I've had problems with JB weld not staying put and flowing out of the joint before it sets, so maybe the cold was on your side after all.
Cheers David

[Richard Goodwin]

Another excellent mod John Yet another mod to add to my list once i get going on it again.

[John Clarke]

And here's another for you Richard to add to the list . The land line telephone reel thingamy, Original supplied has few details I've added a few more as others have. Lots of filing, not as accurate as I'd like but better than a blank. Not many good pictures of it on the Chieftain, so I used the Centurion for reference which uses a similar reel. ( I think ) This picture is borrowed from Phils excellent Chieftain build. A lot of Chieftains pictured have this thing missing, stolen? probably make good hose reels.

Your right David, JB Weld can be a bit gooey, stringy too. I use masking tape around some joints to reduce the excess, peeling the tape off before it goes hard. Some times it can take up to 12 hours in cold weather before it begins to cure hard enough to remove the tape.

[Charles A Stewart]

Nicely done John, I do like that working handle.

Charles

[Richard Goodwin]

[John Clarke]

Thanks Charles, I wouldn't pull on the handle too hard, but it looks the part. I've got to return to the NBC box at some time, but fancied doing something different over Xmas. I might look at the tiddly TUAM box, well I think that's what it called. It needs some growth pills. I think Richard and yourself may have already done a job on it.

[Charles A Stewart]

I believe we have..

I will post a photo of the unit looking from behind,, it isn’t pretty.


Charles

[Richard Goodwin]

I did indeed John. I made mine to scale, the only thing I’d, it looks to big against the stilbrew armour. Then I remembered that scaling of the model isn’t quite correct if you know what I mean?

[John Clarke]

Brrrrr it's cold out there.
Time for the TUAM or the box on the commanders side of the turret with an ariel on it. I've not seen inside of it and its usually blown off on the down range pictures. The supplied "box" is just large piece of solid aluminum which is small and does not follow the contours of the turret.
A lot of modelers have clad the supplied box to give it the scale size of the original, this allows the extra detail and the fitting of Armorpax's very nice fire extinguisher cylinder and bracket without overhang.
I decided I'd make mine from scratch, cutting and gluing plates together with JB weld. The dimensions kindly given to me by R Goodwin, bolts 10ba. It won't be exact but after several hours of filing it's not a bad fit and now looks the part. It will be screwed and glued into position after painting when the weather warms up a bit.

The original.

[John Clarke]

Armortek machined some nice pieces for the Chieftain, the loaders periscope is designed to be stuck in position as a fixture at 60 degrees off the forward line if you want the mounting holes in the correct place.
Although it has a good look, I felt the fitting was a little small compared to the original. So I rummaged around the scraps bin, got the files out and started looking at Chieftains in the picture library.
Making the new parts and adding them to the supplied mount, the modification allows the periscope to turn freely and can now be turned by radio controlled.

The original

[Charles A Stewart]

Nice touch John, I fitted a shroud to mine too, certainly improves the look

[David Battson]

A clever bit of detailing there John. I hadn't thought of making it servo controlled - but now I can't un-think it....another one for the list.
David