00 FD 96 John's Main Contender

[John Clarke]

Its a bit later.

Before Xmas I started on the grills openings on the rear deck, I enjoyed putting them together and then thought of putting a bit of detail on them to give them a bit of a 3D effect. What struck me was that the engine/radiator grills were quite short (Look how far the grill hinges are away from the fuel filler caps on the model compared to the original) and constructed in such away that they have a flange on both ends making the grills themselves even shorter.
This meant the builder had to choose where to put the detail parts. The pull up handle for example. Hard up against the Tee piece or hard up against the grill, either way there would be a space.
The other way round it, would be to build all new grills.

I chose hard against the grill.

Worse was to come, because the sizes of the engine/radiator grills are so short, the gearbox outer grills are really narrow to match them.
I had hoped to fit posts that protect the long boxes where the grills rest on them when they are open like the original (a bit more detail). But not sure I should now, because the outer gearbox grill is approx 16mm narrower than I think they should be and when open it'll be about 32mm from where they should be on top of the long box.

An inquisitive mind might point to the grill rests and ask "what they for Mr?"

Ermmm " go forth and multiply" may come to mind.

The really good builder would have his work "cut out" to put the grill problem right (pun intended).

Gauntlet thrown

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[Richard Goodwin]

Despite the scaling inaccuracies, its looking really good John! Keep up the good work I'm sure I'll be checking your posts out more closely once I do restart again to see what i'm missing

[Phil Woollard]

Compromise compromise compromise JC! I will promise to tap the like button on your thread, that's the little button that not many can be bothered to tap these days, mind you it does take some effort!

[John Clarke]

Well illustrated Phil, there I am laying back chilling. you forgot the mug of coffee and a packet of gingernuts.

But..... "Compromise".......Phil, when do you Compromise?, each build you publish is better than the last. Unique, uncompromising brilliant. You push the boundaries and many of us I'm sure are each time we turn the page.

You could say compromise is detailing, adding detail, improving. Fancy paint jobs. But scale is scale, as a community we expect the very best.
That what it says on the "box". It's at the top of the page too.

Scale doesn't just mean Height length and width, we all know a card box can do that.

I look at Chieftain rear deck detail and see something that is a least 30mm or 1 1/4inch (old money) plus short overall width wise.
The only way it can be put right is to open up the openings, make 12 new grills, re-profile the deck and construct a new Tee Piece etc.

Sadly I don't have the skills, equipment, or wish to invest the time.

Yes, you could say don't look so closely, leave off with the measuring stick.

But isn't that what we do?

Scale tank and military vehicle model builders.

[John Clarke]

Before I can fit the false polycarbonate floor, I have to start fitting the bogies otherwise it makes it difficult to bolt them in. At the same time, I'm doing some PM work or Preventative Maintenance.
Several builders have noticed slight edge wear on the inner road wheels caused by the Bazooka skirt support bracket bolt heads. Any slight wobble on the wheel could rub on these bolts heads. So I opted for changing the steel bolts to stainless and skimming the bolt heads to maximize clearance.
Hope it works when I get to putting on the wheels.
I must add to this. This is why it's so important to keep up to date with other builders, experience of others willing to share is priceless, even though it will be some time before the wheels go on, their'll have a fair chance to keep their shape and paint on

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[John Clarke]

A while back I felt some negative vibs over Wallace and Grommet support in the garage (CS).
I like to think there's a bit of both in all of us. After all Wallace is a scratch builder and Grommet the practical influence.
Introducing the dark side with the evil Penguin probably didn't gel either.
Sponge Bob, he wouldn't do. (reserved for maritime interests).

So now there's a new/old kid on the block. Chip Hazard, Chewing gum and kicking A$$. And he's all out of gum.

So moving forward, actually backwards. I've decided to cut out the etched netting supplied for the grills with the kit and replace it with finer detailed steel netting brought from Wicks DIY.

The netting is actually supposed to prevent spent commander MG cartridge cases falling into the Engine and Gearbox compartments, causing more problems on the L60, if that were possible.
So the books tell me.

The New netting is much more in keeping with grills
Only twelve to do.

The waste brass will be weighed in and should be worth a pretty single "penny"

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[John Clarke]

Now where was I?
Well, I've been salivating over the three main Chieftain builds currently running at the moment together with all the other wonderful builds going on.
It was enough to make me want to take up tools again.

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Nope, saw this thing on the bench, turned round, lights off in the garage and did a runner.



Problem is, I thought I'd got a plan, but the darned thing fights you all the way. There's very little space inside the hull for what I want to do.

In Centurion you can stand the main batteries up, so floor space is great. the turret transverse motor gearbox is to one side and doesn't interfere with the floor space and anything on it. The 105mm gun and recoil unit on Centurion elevates perfectly well with a full 360' clearance.

But with Chieftain, oh no, the main batteries have to lie flat, otherwise the gun clouts them, taking up twice as much floor space, and turret transverse motor gearbox is mounted just slightly off middle forward, just away from the turret ring ball race and on top of that the floors not flat!

This is not the model's fault, there plenty of space in the model if you place the supplied R/C components red boxes, speakers, batteries, etc around the hull.
So, what my problem? well, I know the turret is very heavy, so removing it to do any maintenance is going to be painful.

So, I'd like as little R/C equipment as possible under the turret, fitting the R/C control gear in the most accessible place, below the engine deck covers.
Armortek provides a nice little battery display on the power supply red box, so I wanted that accessible too.
Now everything other than the batteries and an auxiliary switch box is under the deck covers.

The R/C gear sits on removable trays under the deck covers together with both smokers, (auxiliary and main) speakers, both amps and motor drive control. The recoil control gear will be transferred to the turret with a second receiver allowing all the whistles and bells that will be controlled in the turret.

The main batteries have been mounted in a battery tray which sits on a false flat clear abs floor, The tray edges keeping the batteries in position were formed with a heat gun and some pieces of wood. Two centrally mounted threaded insulated 8mm pins clamp the batteries down with an abs cover plate. And now finally, I now have a place for the original unused tank registration plate I purchased many years ago. It has to lay flat otherwise it would have interfered with the main gun.
Well, that's the plan. .
This is the first fit of the main batteries. There's a lot more wiring to be plumbed in too.

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[Phil Woollard]

John you say it all so well, very entertaining........now get on with it! Lol.

[John Clarke]

Thanks Phil, But I don't have your motivation's.

Just waiting for the auxiliary smoker to arrive to be plumbed in, it's coming all the way from China, it's been six weeks now, I think it must be walking and swimming here.

This is certainly a good place to have the main sound amp as I can easily adjust the volume control.

Love this sticker 2/3, that's a bit low though isn't it, 2 or 3?

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It won't bother me, with these bad boys in the rear and one up at the front end, it'll do at least 11!

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[Phil Woollard]

Those speakers work a treat! Seeing your fully loaded hull......how the hell did I get all that in the chieftain that I built along with the engine,gearbox,rads,turret interior, high pressure smoker and drivers compartment?

[John Clarke]

Those speakers work a treat! Seeing your fully loaded hull......how the hell did I get all that in the chieftain that I built along with the engine,gearbox,rads,turret interior, high pressure smoker and drivers compartment?

Phil, No one can deny your ability of a Time Lord to squeeze so much great detail into such a small vessel.

I love the internal detail idea, but I like to open plan maintenance idea better at the moment.

Decisions decisions,
I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not sure.

[John Clarke]

Working on the control systems, running up the smokers on test.
They can be run independently with their individual sound systems or both together. but for this run, independently.

First to startup is the APU.

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Throttling up the APU

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Next the main smoker Starting up.

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Throttling up.

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Perfect, thumbs up.

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[John Clarke]

Brrrr it's cold out there!

Fitted the models main on/off switch. Armortek supplied a neat little switch system which can be placed in a inconspicuous place for easy access.
I thought underneath one of the fuel filling caps seemed a good idea. (I have uprated the switch).

Continuing with the rear end, I'm making a few detail parts, the number plate lamp holder fitting and rear, side/brake lamp bracket. Hoping to plumb in the wiring for both over the next few days. The number plate lamp holder was fashioned on the handheld lathe.

The LED used for the side/brake lamp was originally clear and has been dipped in clear red Tamiya paint, I couldn't find a suitable size red LEDs with the right shape. Similar LEDs are used for the front side lights, but this time dipped in clear light grey paint, again from Tamiya paints.

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A bit of thinning to do, and it might take some time to get the Petina correct.

[David Battson]

Hi John,
That LED size and shape looks to be a good scale fit. I'm hoping to make Chieftain my first tank with working lights, so following these details with great interest. Are you able to squeeze an LED into the number plate light housing as well ?
David

[John Clarke]

Yes David you can get micro LED's pre wired from the Component shop.
https://www.componentshop.co.uk
I use them in all manner of things, where previously I may have used a fibre optic. I would normally cut the load resistor off the original wiring extend the wires and place it in a more convenient place allowing the thin wiring to pass un-noticed or with Chieftain through a braided sheath outer.
Easy to fit in tiny places, convoy lamp and number plate lamp. Instead of gluing in the holder, a bit of blue tack should keep it secure. If it did fail simple to replace, pull it out stick another in.
Chieftain's front sides and head lamps are really hard to wire up accurately, with six wires (3 circuits) though a single braided outer at one point.

I think I used a 1.5mm or smaller micro-LED in the commanders GPMG which I'll be able to alternate with the coax MG when I get to the turret wiring, that way the sound module can be used for either MG.

The side and brake 8mm LED lamps I'm using are called Straw Hat LED's, Ebay, flat curved lens, again, warm white, can come prewired and colored, but clear colour paint coating them still works for me.
The 12volt load resistors work perfectly ok on the 6volts that I supply to the lighting circuits. I don't want the LEDs too bright on Chieftain except for the search lights.

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