Chieftain build by Phil Woollard.

[Stephen White]

Phil, the panniers were fully enclosed so you would see nothing of the fuel bags from the engine compartment. I’ll have a look tomorrow at whether I’ve any manufacturing drawings which show the internal layout of the back half, although I don’t recall seeing one.

[Stephen White]

Right Phil, here we go. As I said, the panniers were enclosed by armour to protect the fuel, unlike Soviet tanks which had exposed fuel cells. There is an internal armour wall to the pannier which means you don't see anything of the fuel bags. You can see the internal division in these drawings:

and (just) on these pics:

There were cut-outs in the side wall, forward on the right, for the air intakes to the main engine air cleaner biscuit.

[Phil Woollard]

That looks nice and clear Stephen you must have the entire technical hand book in your possession! So I really only need to add the armour pieces that close off the panniers sides, to include the Louvers next to the air filter. I shall take some measurements.

I've been busy since stupidoclock adding details and have applied some of the weathering to the awkward places.

You guys may find locating the heavy turret onto the three vertical studs a pain, I am, so I'm working on a solution, this may just be longer studs so that you can actually see the holes and studs, and therefore line them up so the turret sits down nicely!

[Ray Brown]

G'day Phil,

I've been a long time admirer of yours and Stephen Whites work and see you using a number of tech manuals. Two questions if I may,

1. where do you get your tech manuals that provided so many images, and
2. how do you get your measurements without actually measuring, i.e the engine bay stuff.

cheers
Ray

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi Phil,

You may have done this but if not a tip when applying decals, gloss varnish where the decal is going, when dry apply the decal with something like Microsol then matt varnish over after. It gets rid of the raised decal edge and miss match in colours/sheen.

Cheers

Dave

[Stephen White]

Ray, it's called research. I've found some of the Chieftain technical manuals online, some are available to purchase, some I stole from my time serving but the vast majority of my information comes from time spent in archives and museums. I've spent a lot of hours in the UK National Archives and in the Archives at the Tank Museum in Bovington. I've also had to measure, photograph and film Chieftains wherever I can find them.

To get accurate measurements, you either have to have the original manufacturer's blueprints or be able to measure directly. Both are surprisingly difficult. In the case of blueprints, the originals were usually converted to microfiche and many don't have an accurate scale. You therefore have to establish a known dimension and then use a drawing programme to extrapolate. In the case of photos, there is the problem of perspective, because you're trying to measure a 3D object in a 2D image. That said, if you establish a known dimension, eg by including a tape measure, you can get close. Sometimes I establish a margin of probability ie I work out what the max and min of an unknown dimension might be and then I try to refine from there.

Or you can do the whole thing by eye, which is much quicker, simpler and probably just as pleasing. The difference is probably only known to the builder. It's really a matter of how you want to spend your time. It might explain why Phil has achieved so much in so short a time and I took five years to do the Centurion. Work expands to fill the time available......

[Phil Woollard]

What e said! I probably spend 80% of my free time looking through my library of relevant books and of course the internet.
Ray, a very quick way of scaling a photo or drawing for that matter, is to take a photo using your tablet say, then find a known part like the barrel id which we know to be around 20mm in 1/6th scale, ( if it has perspective because of the angle then you need to guess a little like Stephen said), then use your rule, vernier what ever to measure the part as you pan in and out using your pinkies on the screen, when it's 20mm it's there! The most useful function on any device by far. Bob's your uncle you have a scaled drawing!

[Vince Cutajar]

Finally finished the Sterling magazine. After many false starts I think I got it "close enuf".

Attached the magazine to the assembly and asked my wife to judge if it's any good comparing to a photo of the real thing. Phew! Got a thumbs up.

Vince

[Phil Woollard]

I like it! Shall we have a go at printing?

[Vince Cutajar]

Up to you Phil. I don't have high hopes about it but would welcome it if you prove me wrong.

Vince

[Phil Woollard]

I would need the stl files though. I will select extra fine and sit and watch it

[Vince Cutajar]

Can I send you all the files in a zip file?

[Vince Cutajar]

Sent you a zip file.
To increase the chances of success all parts have individual stl files so that you can print them individually and then physically assemble them together. You can also add a real spring to the assembly like the real thing. Best of luck.
Vince

[Stephen White]

More than a gifted amateur Vince, that looks superb. Hope it prints well because they're like the proverbial rocking horse ordure on the internet.

[Phil Woollard]

I think best send individual stl files as that seems to work nicely Vince as I've not seen the zip file as yet.