Chieftain No. 34

[Charles A Stewart]

Evening everybody, finally started to some work on the internals, only the exhausts for now though. I didn't like the look of the white plastic so ratched out some copper pipe & fittings. The system is not totally soldered yet as I may need remove it/modify it at some stage.

Have a good evening all

Cheers Charles

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi again.

Just to say last since last post I have redone exhaust, didn't take long & less round the houses. Photo soon.

Charles

[Richard Goodwin]

Just to say last since last post I have redone exhaust, didn't take long & less round the houses. Photo soon.

Nice work Charles. How about another pic?

[John Clarke]

Nice plumbing. Nothing like polishing your copper pipes Charles.
I do think the shorter route the better and prefer plastic in this instance all improving thermal efficiency.
But ......there's nothing like seeing some shiny copper bits glinting though the louvers in the sunshine

[Charles A Stewart]

Thanks for the comments Gentlemen

John , "shiny copper through the engine louves...", you forgot to mention the bright ali & bass bits of the smoke unit.

So here is the result of the alteration, just don't look to closely at the soldering.

Some adjustments can be made but I will wait and see after a test of the system, at some point

I know I have a lot to learn building these things, but really enjoying the process, despite the hiccups along the way.

[John Clarke]

Looks great Charles, certainly better looking than my home built effort which sits on a tray under bench waiting for that wonderful day when it splutters into life.
The wife's given me fair warning not to use it in the garden if she's put the washing out on the line.
Especially my special brew, 50% baby oil, 50% diesel for that authentic aroma.
I call it "Macho" Cough!

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi John. Thanks for input.

Remind me to be up wind when I am near your vehicle. I will try your mixture, we have been running Tesco baby oil on the running tanks, the garage smells "lovelerly". It is pretty windy here and what with all diesel vehicles & local farm traffic, who will notice .

Take care and have a good weekend.

Charles

[Charles A Stewart]

Evening folks.

We are back to Pistenking winky pots ! I have taken the step of investing in some, certainly not cheap by the time you clear HMRC & a jack up from Parcel Force.

The way forward is with Richard's idea. Hi everybody in Germany hint hint .

I have this video of the dry fit and I am happy with it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7hA2bLCC9AM?feature=share

Take care

Charles

[Vince Cutajar]

It looks great sizewise.

Vince

[John Clarke]

Certainly looks the part Charles.
Just pleased I don't need one for my desired camo job in Canada.. Maybe I'll just make a dummy one and chuck in the commanders bin

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi John/cheers Vince.

Yes, probably the cheapest option john.

Charles

[Kevin Hunter]

Well done Charles. Looks good too.
All the best
Kevin

[Charles A Stewart]

Good evening all.

I hope you have all voted for the CVR(T), sorry snoozed off this afternoon, must of been dreaming. Anyway two good choices .

Post snooze, I continued with this weeks on & off tasking: engine hatches & commanders hatch. I built the engine louvres soon after receiving the kit but struggled to get them to fit properly. What a difference a year makes, I don't know why they were a struggle to fit It may have had something to do with a small(very small, honest) hammer

They now drop into place beautifully, although this is only a dry fit. They will have to be stripped down for painting & fitting of the mesh.

Take care and have a good weekend.
Charles

[John Clarke]

Enjoying seeing the detail going on Charles, with so many castings/parts that could labelled up, there'd be enough reading material to install the model in the WC.
Recently found a casting mark on the glacis plate, difficult to see due to paint, denoting, well, it looks like a Soviet star or is it a Starfish, a makers mark?
I'm finding so many differences, local mods and the use of materials that don't seem to be standard. For example, I've noticed on many tanks the wading rail can be seen to have been cut away in areas around the rear deck. Presumably to aid drainage. Pity the poor driver during the rainy season.
Would anybody know if this sort mod have been done during service?

[Mark Heaps]

Hi John,
can you post photos or provide links showing the difference between a standard rail & one that has been cut-away ?
Mark