A Chequered Chieftain at #10

[John Clarke]

Impressive stuff Richard, your deck is beginning to look like a true Mk5 Chieftain.

I've no doubt I'll be making the same changes you've trailblazing, which are particularly important to me to improve to look of the rear deck and accuracy of the model. (Why it was not supplied like this I don't know)

The picture showing the rear deck with some of the covers fitted is brilliant as it shows the definite changes made to the Chieftain from the Mk3s onwards.

It has occurred to me with these changes you could make to the model to make it more accurate, it should have been called the Challenger.

Hummm

[Richard Goodwin]

Thanks John, I am trying with my limited knowledge and tool set. Am trying to get as much relevant and visible detail as I can so its close to the real thing. I just hope that the models reliability is better than the real thing though!

Came across this on FB btw..........https://www.facebook.com/wade.pendley.7 ... 8581791067

Funny enough, it broke down as well but did get going again reasonably quickly...

and hows this for a little neutral turn action........https://www.facebook.com/1050460668/vid ... 7405139147

Loving that engine note!!!

[Richard Goodwin]

Ooops, might have gone a little too far with the rear end and deck mods

[John Clarke]

I've got nothing

[Adrian Harris]

You're all right, that's just the mods needed at the front end

Adrian.

PS: I actually know of someone who's done that to their kit

[Richard Goodwin]

It would be good to see some pictures of that Adrian? I am of the firm opinion that when eventually us chieftain builders finally all meet up, not one Chieftain will be the same! Anyone else share that view?

Right onwards and upwards, so carrying on with the rear deck, I've added some support brackets at the front end of the T section to support the wings. These brackets have elongated slots so they can varied in height to ensure the mid section aligns with the outer wings........

You can also see from the above picture that I have removed the centre tab that was filed to within an inch of its life and replaced it with a length of 1 inch 'L' section with a slap of 4mm glued to one edge to allow for tapping of holes.

Either end of the T piece has been secured with M2 bolts (4 per end). I have also added the filler caps on the T. You'll note that one of them has been moved to a position more appropriate for a Mk5! I still have a lot to do with the T piece which may also include extending it but I need a picture of one to see what the end nearest the turret looks like and in addition, where it sits in relation the the louvers and the turret overhang. If anyone has any pictures, I would be grateful if you could share?

Looking from the front, you can see the three screws holding the T section down at the front. These have purposely been finished flush bearing in mind they would need to be removed when the t section requires removal!

That just about completes the rear deck at this moment in time so its off with turret tray and rear deck.......

Now the rear tray has been cut up, it will be necessary to provide some support for the turret tray. Now L angle can be used as demonstrated by others but I prefer something more solid......bring on a 400mm length of inch by inch and a quarter!

With the bar cut to width, the offcut was cut into two to form the side supports......

The sides were secured to the hull side with two M4 screws....note that one of the mudguard securing holes is central to the block. This will need tapping to either insert a stud or take a boly....not sure which just yet!

A little shaping of the mounting blocks and a couple more screws and its done.....

With the rear deck and tray on, it looks like this.....

A little painting tomorrow then starting to add the drive train to the hull....the intention is to get this moving under its own steam by Monday...good intentions and all that

[John Clarke]

Excellent access there Richard for the motor and gearboxes, great work on supporting the turret ring too.

Alway's thought turret ring could do with a bit more rear support under the turret tray, not so much ordinary driving round but while transporting the model and bouncing around in the back of the transport.

Really looking forward to the first excursion.

[Richard Goodwin]

Thanks John, so am I!

Not much done today, had other stuff to do but I did get to install these little beauties.......

my stub axles - installed and painted....

I also permanently fixed in the support legs for the turret tray beam, filled them in and put the first coat of primer on the underneath and sides....

Tomorrows plan is to install the bogies whilst I wait for my Loctite 648 to arrive. This is for the final drive in the gearbox to secure the shaft to the inner bore of the bearing. I'm not sure though if its both bearings it should be secured to or just the rearward one??? Can anybody advise; did you do both bearings or just the one?

Many thanks

[Manny Leung]

Are those stub Axle's part of the kit? They are not in mine nor they are mentioned in the manual and parts list. Great build BTW

stub1.jpg (136.98 KiB) Viewed 2200 times

[Richard Goodwin]

Thanks Manny The stub axles are not part of the kit. I've made them from threaded stainless steel bars turned down on a lathe.

[John Clarke]

Super detailing Richard, M12 if I remember correctly, I did a set using M10 first, Doh!
If anyone wants the M10's they'll "slide" in nicely

[Richard Goodwin]

Correct John, M12 they were.

Made good progress today before rain stopped play!

First, the bogies - I used different size bolts to those stated in the manual and also added a spring washer to most. Each bogie was initially installed as shown below using the bolt lengths indicated......

Note how the top row has not been fully populated since i have chosen to install M3 x 20 hex head bolts here complete with a spring washer and penny washer with the following effect....

These may be a little long.......

before you agree, have a go yourself then you may see why |besides, nothing that a grinder can't reduce
The front bogies were slightly different in the top row configuration as shown below. Note the use of 14mm bolts again with a spring washer!

I feel my mojo returning, its starting to look like a tank now i'm starting to assemble the big stuff instead of doing smaller detail on individual parts....

Now for the idler blocks.....I've not finished the detailing on these but they have to be installed if I'm to meet my schedule. Thanks to Phil's suggestion of using ever increasing lengths of bolts as you go down the block, I decided to do the same using hex heads but added a spring washer to boot. Bolt lengths used are shown in the following picture......

My Loctite 648 turned up today as did my sticky grease so it will be gearboxes tomorrow then on to the paint shop to finish the black areas off before adding the wheels and sprockets. This is because with the change in the weather, the paint takes too long to dry if at all, so I will have to manhandle it into the house and that will be the most I can carry on my own!!!

[John Clarke]

Dog bowls and Sticky grease or is it Tacky grease?

To me the Chieftain looks strange in black, almost stealthy.

Great to see the lengths your going to, building in reliability, shame you didn't work for BL in the seventies .

[Richard Goodwin]

If you've been watching, my apologies for the late update.....better late than never though

So gearboxes........ pic of parts list and parts first....

The brass bush which is part of the motion pack was inserted bevel edge first into its housing secured with Loctite 648. A little gentle and even persuasion was needed to seat it evenly and fully.....

Next the bearings were installed into the housings again using Loctite 648 using the methods I have described previously although this time, the shaft was supported and the body turned......

After etch priming the shells, it was time to Loctite the final drive to the inner bearing bore. First, a spare bearing was used to gauge how far down the shaft the bearing went and a marked appropriately.....

Loctite 648 was applied to the shaft and the inner bore of the bearing; make sure you use it sparingly though! With the shaft in position, it was rotated every minute to ensure that any excess was not locking the bearing up.....

With the Loctite cured, it was time for the grease !!!

Now whilst I've used grease in the gearbox instead of dry lubricant, I will be putting dry lubricant on the toothed cog of the motor as well as grease as a precautionary measure. Once sufficient grease had been applied, the excess was wiped away and cleaned off with degreaser. I then applied some instant gasket.........

This should seal off the gearbox from dust penetration from the outside. Note, the opposite face of the gearbox was given a light coat of oil. This prevents the gasket from sticking should the gearbox need to be separated.......

The two halves were then screwed together using the configuration shown below.....

I've used 12mm bolts throughout, some with nylocs as you can see. Once complete, the complete unit was cleaned with degreaser and re etch primed......

As you can see, I have my quiff wheels ready but won't be installing them just yet!
Finally, the gearboxes were mounted.....

Now its off to the paint shop for a quick undercoat of black primer in specific areas THEN the assembly of the complete lower hull. Weather permitting, that should be tomorrow!!!

We're getting there...

[Richard Goodwin]

So with the gearboxes and the idler boxes installed, a quick coat of black primer followed whereby the road wheels and the idler wheels were fixed into position using Loctite Purple and tghe hub caps installed using a little WD40. This is because I'll need to take them off again for final painting and varnishing.

Next it was the turn of the sprockets complete with the taper lock bushes. Now this is probably stating the obvious but its important that your drive line is in a straight line to ensure the track runs smoothly. If you push the sprocket and taper lock bush too far on the drive shaft, your drive line will not be straight as you can see below.....

This is the correct alignment.......

For me, this equated to the end of the drive shaft being level with the top of the taper lock bush.......

Having never put a taper lock bush on before, I found the instructions within the manual adequate.

Tracks next. Having rolled the chassis off the lift table and onto the workbench, the tracks were rolled out and the chassis gradually rolled over....

With the links joined together to form a continuous track, I had a fair bit of available slack.......

rolling the tank back and forth caused some small scratching of paint in two places on the gearbox. Best to ensure track is always in tension I think.....

The tracks were tensioned using the adjusters.........

but they still seemed a little slack. Now I started with 94 links per track so I released the tension right off and removed a link but couldn't quite join the ends together so reverted back to 94 links. I sure once its had its first run, I will be able to remove a link.
To add some weight, the glacis casting was added....

Just the motors to install now, best get charging those batteries!!