Steve,s Chieftain #46

[Steve Norris]

Chieftain number 46 has now touched down in Manchester !
I will not be starting it for a while as I have a Stug to build first.
Regards
Steve.

[Kevin Hunter]

Looking forward to it nonetheless
Kevin

[Steve Norris]

Before I start my Chieftain build I need to decide on a particular vehicle. I live south of Manchester and wondered if anyone knows of a Chieftain in the North West that could become the inspiration for my build ?
Regards
Steve

[Richard Goodwin]

Hi Steve,

The Armourgeddon Museum in Lutterworth restored a Chieftain without Stillbrew fairly recently. That's about 2 hours away from Manchester if that's any help. Best to call first to check though in case they sold it on!

[Stephen White]

Steve, there's a good list of preserved Chieftains here:

http://preservedtanks.com/Types.aspx?Ty ... oryId=3570

[Steve Norris]

Hi Richard and Stephen
Thanks for the info, looks like I will have to travel a bit if I want to see one.
A few years ago I had access to a Centurion on a farm near Bury which helped when building the Cent kit, there was also a Chieftain mk11 in the same building but I failed to take any photos of it (wish I had now). I believe both have been sold on now.
Regards
Steve

[Steve Norris]

As the Stug is now complete it’s time to start the Chieftain.
I have been following all the other builds and have been inspired by what I have seen so far. One thing that is very apparent is the fact that there is a awful lot of additional work required to add all the additional details that are missing, This is not a complaint as the kit as supplied is superb and is probably the most detailed Armortek kit ever.
Anyway on with the build.

The lower rear hull with modified rear plate, I have added the larger tow points and side plate extensions (bum cheeks as John calls them). Access panels jacking points and some weld details have also been done.

My next step is to modify the exhaust box which needs to be reduced in height and detailed, I will give a update on this when I have worked out how I am going to do this.

Regards
Steve

[John Clarke]

Hi Steve Chieftain looks great. I'm desperate to get the hull right side up, but I'm finding it easier to work on the back plate with the nose plate on the floor, hull rear end up. Nice angle plate mod and the bum cheeks look good too.
I've chomped up the exhaust box quite bit, but it's for the best. I've changed my original cutting points, the new cutting point helps to produce the gap below the box and generate the devision between the boxes welded face plate and bolted face plate. I'll put some pictures on my topic tomorrow so you can see what you think of the cut.

[Steve Norris]

I have been busy working out the best solution to correct the exhaust box height and change it’s appearance to be closer to the real item. I want to do this by minimising the amount of work required and using the supplied parts suitably modified.

First job is to cut 12mm of what will become the bottom of the side plates. Before anyone says I’ve got it wrong and hacked chunks off the top I have deliberately swapped the side plates left to right and right to left, hopefully all will become clean later.

12mm removed from the rear plate and the line for the removable section scored using a p cutter (it’s meant for cutting plastic but does a very good job scoring ally)

The side plates need tapering to get the rear plate vertical when the box is mounted to the sloping hull rear plate

This is the reason for swapping the side plates over. I wanted to reposition the generator exhaust further to the rear and also rais the height of the main exhausts which would have been to low with 12mm removed from the bottom

Next job is to increase the depth of the rebate for the rear plate

Now I have a flush fitting rear plate

A quick test fit and quit happy with how it’s looking. Below the box you can see the original position of the bottom of the box.

Regards
Steve

[Steve Ellis]

Hi Steve
I have Chieftain #19 safely tucked away, I’m currently cutting my teeth on Elefant #19.
Like you I’ve been following the other builds with interest, there is some amazing work going on out there and it’s interesting to see and follow all the different mods that are taking place. Some are way beyond my skill set but will be completing some of the simpler ones.
I have a small library of Chieftain photo from both my time serving and from Bovington which is just around the corner from me.
When things get back to normal I’ll be happy to pop along and take. Pictures you need.

Regards
Steve

[Steve Norris]

Hi Steve
The basic kit will build into a great model with no mods, the good thing is that you can tailor your build to suit your skill level and available tooling. When finished every tank should be slightly different which is a good thing.
Hopefully it won’t be to long before Bovington reopens and we can get back to something like normal.
I have a reasonable amount of Chieftain photo’s that I use for reference plus the Takom mk5 kit.Additional photos are always useful (it’s funny how many kits I have built where the part I am detailing is just out of frame).
Looking forward to seeing your build when started.
Regards
Steve

[Steve Norris]

I have got a bit more done over the last week or so, lots of cutting and filling plus plenty of fiddly bits made.
Progress is a bit slow but there’s no rush and the end result is what matters.

Rear plate fittings ready to install, lots of p-clips and 90 degree elbows

Reworked exhausts

Progress on the exhaust box

All the components in position and the wiring conduits fitted. I still have a lot of weld detail to add before final assembly.

Regards
Steve

[John Clarke]

Looking very familiar Steve. Nice job on the little boxes and the exhaust tail pipes.

[Richard Goodwin]

Nice detail. Loving those couplings! I might consider those when I eventually get to that stage

[mark lawson]

meticulous as usual, I see you managed to find some suitable conduit for the cabling.