Chieftain build by Phil Woollard.

[Phil Woollard]

You have a nice collection John, the stolly did have water jets as well as relying on the tyre tread, didn't it?

[Phil Woollard]

I'm in the process of moving to a bigger workshop, same place just bigger for the longer projects in life.

[Phil Woollard]

Today's work.

[Phil Woollard]

Whilst waiting for the Italian post office to deliver the L60 engine I've made a start on the mud medium, I do enjoy this part but you must not get carried away or it will look pants!
It's difficult to see but I have painted the shading/weathering around all the suspension boggies, nuts and bolts everything that's bolted to the hull sides.

[Stephen White]

Phil, you certainly have a novel way of asking. Others who aren't Stephens but have been there may want to comment

BATUS was a place of all pervading dust but very little mud. The prairie soil is poor, very fine grained and frangible and the climate is dry. The battle group rotations took place during the mainly dry season. So I have no recollection of the sorts of mud accumulations we saw on the suspensions in Germany. On the other hand, everything was covered in a thick layer of light coloured dust. That is not to say it didn't rain. It could be very wet indeed and dramatic electrical storms were frequent. The MSR back to Camp Crowfoot, Rattlesnake Road, was prone to becoming very muddy but it dried very quickly and the soil being so fine, mud tended to flake off as quickly. The dust on the other hand mixed with oils and fluids and left a sticky mess over most of the wagon. So I'd suggest you put away your secret mud potion and get out the pigments. I've enhanced a few photos below to show some conditions. You'll perhaps be surprised at how clean the vehicles looked, which is the effect of the dust being washed off by rain and dried by intense sun.

There was one type of terrain to be avoided. The prairie was dotted with dried lake beds. The winter water quickly evaporated leaving a white, treacherous hard crust with glue underneath. When commanding the OPFOR, I deliberately ran CVR(T) across a lake bed, knowing we'd have to recover them but in doing so we created tracks across directed at our positions. The exercising battlegroup took the bait and launched an attack across the lake bed and got a large number of vehicles comprehensively bogged. I was not popular. One of the photos below shows a CVR(T) in the bog. That did leave a very white mud but unless you want to model a bogged Chieftain, it wouldn't be a common sight.

All the best and looking forward to seeing your secret finishing technique.

[Stephen White]

One more, shows you how little mud there was on the running gear and the overall clean look after three weeks on the prairie.

[Phil Woollard]

Thanks for that Stephen, so not to much mud then, some but more grayish dust mixed with oil in oily places, the horizontal and associated surfaces around the running gear would have a good layer of detritus, ie mud grass small stones dust Ford Orion windscreen glass stuff like that which falls from the tracks just like my swing shovel does.
Now if I give away my secret finishing technique it wouldn't be secret now would it? mm

I will soon need to think about unit markings any ideas?

[Phil Woollard]

Sorry guys it's just boring running gear photos right now but that's what I'm working on.

[John Clarke]

Don't forget the odd squished gopher in the tracks Phil. Though a favorite has got to be Spongebob.
The Stolly water jets on the model kind of worked, but like the DUKW on water, they never behave like the real thing shifting tons of water to move though the waves. The models have passed on, but I still have a passion for water jet boats, I must have, I've got four of them.

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[Charles A Stewart]

Hi all

Wonderful works going on, impressed and i am learning so much ( copying). The CVR(T) photo with all the compo, would a Chieftian 's food box be as full?

I have done one lot from Armopax, do I need more!?

Good weekend to you all.

Charles

[Stephen White]

The CVR(T) photo with all the compo, would a Chieftian 's food box be as full?

Crews varied. Some didn't break the packs but simply opened and used them. Organised crews decanted a couple of packs into the left front hull bin, which was the larder, keeping the other rations in their boxes in the turret basket. We generally held four days worth on the tanks and a further three days worth in the echelon (resupply). So on a typical Chieftain, you might get two days worth in the bin, loose cans, and two or three packs, unopened in the basket. The CVR)T) had a problem with stowage, so crews were much more likely to decant rations and chuck the boxes. The picture you're looking at above shows one of my OPFOR crews who were particularly organised. Because we built the surrogate vehicles to our own design, we were able to add extra bins for stowage. When Armortek makes the CVR(T), we'll all be able to follow suit.............

Love the secret painting technique Phil, it's already looking like an authentic BATUS wagon.

[Phil Woollard]

More weathering and we now have x2 tweeters in the rear of the engine bay, 3 if you include the woofers own tweeter .

[Phil Woollard]

A little more progress today.

[Phil Woollard]

I'm looking at buying a new small lathe, any of you guys have a sealey sm27, is that model any good at £1495?

[Stephen White]

Phil

If you have a look around on here, there are a few threads discussing machine tools with advice. Mine for what it's worth is that there are much better value lathes around. Unless you want to pay silly money, you're looking at an oriental machine. That comes with some issues. There are a number of brands in UK all re-badging the same machines. With one exception, the re-sellers are unlikely to have commissioned the machine to check, clean and lubricate the bearings, to certify run-out is within limits and to provide after-sales service.

I'd wholeheartedly recommend Warco. They sell machines from over there but they bring them in, commission and certify them and they hold spares. They sell new and have refurbished machines, so you might get a bargain from them. I can't see the swing over the bed on your Sealey machine but it looks a bit small. I also can't see whether it comes with any change wheels which means your ability to cut threads could be limited.

The machine which seems most popular among our members is the Warco WM180 which sells for under a grand. I've got one and it's been perfect for me. I could go to a bigger machine but the only job that has been beyond my machine was the replacement 20pdr gun barrel for my Cent. I had to compromise and turn it in three sections.

Your Chieftain is looking great. I see you've selected C/S 11B, which is a battlegroup commanding officer's tank. I know how some "advice" can miss the point but I'd just comment that your callsigns are much too small on both the bazooka plates and NBC pack. They were intended to allow safety staff to identify a vehicle at a distance and weren't at all tactical. The tank also needs a zap number (three/four digits in white on a black background) on the front bazooka plates on both sides.

All the best.