Chieftain Stuff

[Phil Woollard]

I'm feeling very left out Dave Am I not worth replying to?

[John Clarke]

Apologies Phil for butting in.

Pisssssssst (Don't worry about Phil, he gets all the good stuff really early and us mortals have to sit back with and watch.) sorry Phil

Dave, will you be putting together a dedicated "Compact Chieftain pack", I'm sure their be quite a few takers?

There's a lot of gear that needs to be made. if you gauged the interest, as Armortek has done with their next model here I'm sure there'll be a lot of interest.

Maybe ask the owners what they'd like to see in the kit? offer a "do able" and " show able" list.

I realize we're running before we can walk, but Armortek already has one build in the "design factory" and is asking for a vote on a second making Chieftain third on the list.

Armortek thrives on owners builds, making them better for all of us, which I'm sure they'll know, can only enhance the Armortek name.

I think most underestimated Chieftain and were not expecting the demand, it is certainly a refreshing new comer to the 1/6 Tank Scale World.

Thanks for taking the time to help us all create the dream.


PS....Maybe it's just me, but I prefer metal parts to plastic. .................Weight is not and never has been a problem

[Kevin Hunter]

Still not sure where the master for this is

Maybe a flexible re-make......when you do the Larkspur ones?

[Adrian Harris]

> Still not sure where the master for this is

Have you checked your chess board ?

Adrian.

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Sorry Phil, couldn't find any pics of the bits you are asking for in my library Just posted those I could find that might be of interest.

Hi All,

Every possibility of a flexible base option, not sure on what to do for an interior yet but will consider Phil's suggestions. Unlikely I will do a single pack. More likely I'll make whatever has reasonable interest (and I fancy making ) and then people can pick as much or as little as they choose.

Checked the chess board Adrian and all Lord of the Rings pieces, no fuel cap.............................

Cheers

Dave

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi John,

Material choice is more about what I am trying to produce and how much to develop. We do metal where practical but some parts like the ammo boxes and certainly the Bone dome will be resin.

Cheers

Dave

[Stephen White]

Great stuff Dave, crack on. There are something like thirty five separate LRUs in the Chieftain turret so good luck with that one. If you're also looking for the master of the BCF fire extinguishers, I've just finished making it and the decal master! I'll need to speak to you about the mounting bracket though. Now, where were those Larkspur masters....... All the best and see you on Sat.

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Thank you Stephen................feeling a bit guilty now I haven't finished it..................

Best regards

Dave

[Phil Woollard]

Stephen what does LRU stand for? We are all going to learn so much from this release!

[Stephen White]

Dave, one BCF Extinguisher, AFV master for the use of.... Decal artwork follows. The mounting bracket is a bit more complicated.

Phil, LRU = Line Replaceable Unit, my shorthand for a load of electrical boxes, fittings, optics, stowage, radios, gun fittings, boiling vessels, lamps, filters, metadynes, cables, spall linings, hydraulics, seats, ammunition racks.

[John Clarke]

After that last pic from Stephen mine seems a bit trivial, nice work Stephen.

Dave
Totally understand about the materials, the 25ltr oil cans from what I can gather from the net came in various shapes and outside sizes.

These scrap "up cycled" solid aluminum blanks took me several hours to machine on a borrowed lathe.

Getting the aspect right must be another nightmare, too big diameter and it won't fit in the gap beside the reel and basket. (worth a check)

I suppose it all depends where the builder mounts them though. Back mud guards, not a problem.

My cans look a tad skinny and slightly too tall, but that could change if I reduce the height a few mm. They sit nice with one of your plastic water containers.

Good luck with the bone dome, Good news though, dunk the Dragon figures head in hot water to soften and squeeze it in.

Thinking again about the Chieftain detail kits, Your right, "that horse has bolted a long time ago" Lets just hope we can keep you interested.

dux_chieftain_11c (1).jpg (78.73 KiB) Viewed 2537 times

IMG_6872.JPG (144.9 KiB) Viewed 2537 times

[Mark Heaps]

LRUs were Line Replaceable Units and a stock was held at second line ( REME workshops). First line REME support ( the fitter sections ) when needing the item would do a one for one swap. Second line would then repair the faulty item and return it to the available stock.

At times units were told not to demand LRU´s as none were available. QRLs in Grafenwöhr had a lot of tanks non operational as no LRUs were avaialable.
I was just down the road at the time, was controlling the battle pack of LRUs which were at 100% availability, had not been informed that I could not issue, and was bored shitless as I had nothing to fix.

Found John´s Sqn bar and met up with him. Commented that his tanks were doing well as I had no LRUs coming in and was informed that vehicle availability was actually quite low, LRUs were not available. We called the sqn Tiffy over for him to give me his shopping list. Everything he needed I had in abundant quantities and less than a day for me to fix the faulty items.
The other sqn Tiffies were called in to place their shopping lists and a time the following mornng was arranged for someone to get to me.

Battlepack availability never dropped below 70%, but I was not ever asked to report on availabilty at the time.

I have had it reported back to me from John, that when the Tiffies were questioned by the CO how the tanks were being fixed with no LRU´s being available, their answer was "Sir, you do not want to know. Just accept it"

[John Clarke]

Dave

You might consider supplying drivers mirrors and mounts, Common place on BOAR vehicles but not on the BATUS exercises it seems, the ones you made for the Quad made a nice addition. Some vehicles had similar smaller mirrors to the Quad, late models had the larger mirrors shown. Difficult to see when folded down though.

from andyf15.png (625.71 KiB) Viewed 2464 times

[Stephen White]

John, with Chieftain, nothing is quite what it seems. The driver’s mirrors weren’t popular and would most often be “lost”. They were a legal requirement for road driving in Germany but a tank with a mirror is effectively showing a “see me” sign. They could be found on the vehicle but in the bins, where they were readily available for using for shaving etc. The stalks were fitted and usually folded down to avoid creating a nasty surprise for anyone getting on or off the tank. Your first photo shows a trials tank at Bovington, It also has the IR stalk fitted, which again was never seen on operational vehicles as it was useless. The second photo is a modern restoration. The third photo, which does show an operational vehicle, makes my point. No mirrors to be seen and the stalks folded flat. Sorry to disappoint. Stephen

[John Clarke]

Never disappointed

No mirrors, Maybe the reason there's so many pictures like this on the net. So the mirrors are something to put in the Spanners and stuff topic

I had one of those Vauxhall Viva's once, but it was in a lot better condition. "We were drag racing officer.......he lot control... honest"

9074885_800.jpg (103.56 KiB) Viewed 2457 times