Chieftain References

[Stephen White]

References for the forthcoming Chieftain Mk 5. There isn’t wasn't much! A new Chieftain monograph by Richard Kent (ex-RTR) was announced in the last couple of days in celebration of the new Armortek model:

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Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Mushroom Model Publications (28 Mar. 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8365958295
ISBN-13: 978-836595829

MMP are highly respected and this will be one to look at.

There are a few other sources.

1. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chieftain-Main ... 1785210599 - Written by a serving RTR officer with a wealth of experience on Chieftain. (He was one of my warrant officers in Second Tanks). Best of the bunch. Widely available. Recommended

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2. https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/book ... jYEALw_wcB

Ditto but by the late Lt Col George Forty, former Director of the Tank Museum and RTR officer. Pretty superficial. Dated and probably not worth getting.

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3. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1841767190/ ... th=1&psc=1

Simon Dunstan is well known author for Osprey, best known for his expertise on Centurion. This is a competent book but there isn't much in it for the modeller, except for some colour plates of possible colour schemes

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4. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chieftain-Rob- ... 1861264380

Rob Griffin served on tanks and is a well respected author. This book is well written and takes a different approach to the usual development histories. Rob has used the Chieftain technical publications to describe the tank from the crew's perspective and it gives a good feel for what Chieftain was like to operate. It's out of print but available. Recommended

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5. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chieftain-Main ... 8362878525

Rob Griffin again, this time with a photo essay published by the Polish company Fotosnajper. Lots of good illustrations, including some 3-view colour schemes. Worth getting. Recommended


That's about it for published sources. The Tank Museum Archive has full sets of the Chieftain Technical Publications. Some are available online from sources such as Scribd. For example, Pamphlet 33 or to give it its full title "Royal Armoured Corps Training Volume 3 - Armament, Pamphlet 33 Chieftain" issued in 1980 is online. It's the gunnery manual we all used and describes the equipment and firing techiques in detail.

The best online resource is on Facebook:

Chieftain Tank Appreciation Society

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tankie/

Lots of photos for reference.

There are other groups and of course all the modelling pages, where there are a build reports for all the Takom kits. Google is still your friend.

If you know of any other good references, please add them to this post.

Thanks.

Stephen

[Adrian Harris]

Thanks for the run down Stephen - I have some already in my library but need to pick up a couple.

It pays to shop around, as the PhotoSniper book which is £95 on Amazon is £19.99 at Bookworld Wholesale.

I've these pamphlets in my collection as well:

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They run to 26 pages each, split roughly 50/50 between Chieftain and Leopard.

"#18 - Development" plots the development of each tank, and includes quite a few photos of prototypes and trials.
"#19 - Description" is more of a crews eye view of each tank.

There's no date on them, but they must be from the early 70's, as there is a statement in one which says:
"a much improved Mark 2 version of Leopard is planned for production in 1975."

Interestingly, the blurb inside is prefaced by "Major Michael Norman, RTR", while the cover states the author as "Lieut.-Colonel Michael Norman, RTR", so he was obviously on his way up the ranks

Adrian

[Alex Easten]

Excellent range of sources there guys. It always interests me how many books and other items are released in the wake of a new Armortek announcement. Now we just need a new 1/6 British cold war tanker figure...

I noticed that this book is available to pre order on Amazon for £14.99, not sure how good a source it is though.

Cheers,

Alex

[Adrian Harris]

I've had a few titles from that series for my Secret Santa this year.

They run to 60 odd pages. The first half is history of the tank, marking etc.
The second half is reviews on 1/35th kits and after-market parts of the subject.

Probably OK as an introduction to the tank and for ideas of markings and paint schemes.

Adrian.

[Richard Goodwin]

Here's a possible for the Berlin Brigade colour scheme.

https://www.bookworldws.co.uk//tankogra ... -7606.html

Richard

[Richard Goodwin]

Another potential source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chieftain_(tank) even includes the good old C42 although I don't recall what a B47 was

Richard

[Kevin Hunter]

COMMANDERS MG MOUNT

I'm finding decent references for the commanders GPMG mount to be somewhat elusive!
Royal Armoured Corps Pamphlet 33 (Chieftain) describe it as one of 3 variants: Mounting 7 62-mm MG (L37A 1) No. 10, Mk 1 or No.2 Mk 1 alternatively No.8 Mk 1. Differences appear (from the descriptions given) to be slight and at 1/6 scale I imagine irrelevant? (I may be wrong).
Regardless, I have been unable to find quality photos or better still drawings/exploded diagrams of any of these mounts. Does anyone have something they'd be happy to share in this references section, be it internet link, pics etc?
Many thanks
Kevin

[Phil Woollard]

I think we are all going to struggle with decent photos and line drawings Kevin, I'll keep looking and post anything of interest. Without Mr SW we would be stuffed for sure

[Kevin Hunter]

Appreciate that Phil and yes, if anyone has a suitable pic/drawing, chances are it would be Stephen.

However, it also looks like Mr Dibb is riding to the rescue........
Kevin

[Phil Woollard]

Come on Dave! We all need you now as there are no other aftermarket manufactures of this kinda stuff in the entire World we need you more than ever I'm doing my bit with an engine and gear box.
How about the immediate hatch detail areas in sheet form, just average detail hangings bonded to the inside surface, maybe 3d printed or the usual cast resin?

[Stephen White]

Kevin, all. I’ve had a computer meltdown which Apple can’t fix until next week, so my reference docs and photos are inaccessible (as are the backups because Mac OS and Windows of course require different and incompatible formatting). I’ll look out what I’ve got as soon as the bytes align. I did have a good chat with Dave about what might be viable for him to do.

[Kevin Hunter]

Thanks Stephen,

Dave is now posting separately following your conversations. We'll keep an eye on his post "Chieftain Stuff" in the Craftsmen's Market section.
Regards
Kevin

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi All,

Commanders sight, searchlight and GPMG mount are a definate along with the wiper assemblies. These are the sort of details I actually enjoy making . We are looking at some basket stowage items and also trying to find a way with currently available uniform parts on putting together at least a passable crew set. Will keep you posted on progress and if it works out will share links etc.

Cheers

Dave

[John Clarke]

What about this too?
The Comet came with a good Armorpax turret detailing kit.

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I've made the 25ltr oil cans, but I'm not sure how deep the baskets are compared to the relative height of the can. The cans compare well with the metal Jerry cans and the Armorpax water container but that's no guide if the depth and width of the baskets is not comparable.

[Stephen White]

New Chieftain publication, due mid March.

http://www.tankograd.com/cms/website.ph ... eftain.htm

Looks useful. Stephen