Chieftain No. 34

[David Battson]

Hi Charles,
A very clever and subtle mod there, I've looked at the post several times and only just realised what you've done - swapping over the bump rails neatly hides the mounting flange, puts the vertical face in the correct position relative to the deck and gives some proper clearance to the wade rail as would be needed for fitting the waterproof covers - nice one.

David

[John Clarke]

Fitting a wading screen to a Chieftain now there's a thought, up there with a DD, but practically speaking the wading rail was chopped, changed and in some cases didn't exist. (on export tanks)
I do some times wounder how much leeway the troops were given and when they made these changes Did it come from a higher office or was it just on the fly?
Was there a amphibious Regiment that kept a fully working wading troop?

Chieftain existed a very long time on front line, new crews probably never saw a wading screen, they could not have been fitted it anyway to many of the vehicles due to the removal of sections usually around the rear end. drainage, access, tripping hazard etc
The kit itself does not supply a complete rail for that matter.
The supplied kit rail is too big, the reversal mod shown by Charles certainly helps the look but it's a tight fit around the turret area as he's stated. I opted for trimming down some channel brought from B&Q. similar to Greg's mod, love to hear more from Greg too. I've still got a bit of chopping to do myself.

Getting the look is all important, so you do what you need to do to make you happy, even if your unhappy about doing it.

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi folks.

Thank you David and John for your feedback, much appreciated.

Hopefully, over the weekend I will have a go at the other side. After which we will see how the long bins will fit/sit/secure

Onwards and upwards, as they say.

Cheers

Charles

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi Folks.

Hopefully fixed the first Gun bump rail in place.

I have managed to fix it with 3x screws directly into the hull:-

Note the Allen keys to aid fixing

I have moved the long part of the gun bump backwards by about a 1/4" overall. At the forward(fwd) end I drilled another hole in the bump guard (allen key is the clue) put an insert into the hull, tapped and used a M2.5 button to secure that end.

M3 button used on the other two and the now separated cross piece.

I hope this makes sense. Just need to look at some weld and perhaps a bit of filler.

Till next time.

Cheers

Charles

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi all.

Just playing around with LED's in the muzzle, to give effect(?). I found a couple of corroded wires recently, so replaced them. then the umming and areing started, could I should I.

Here's a short video:-

As always, your thoughts, observation and recommendations for improvement always welcome.

Cheers

Charles

[Vince Cutajar]

Is that just one LED?
IMHO it looks too white.

Vince

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi Vince.
Yes just one led, cut to fit in the end of barrel. I do agree with you, too white, perhaps yellow filter/lens.

Like John's bright flash, I need to look at a reflector or visit a bike shop.
Cheers

Charles.

[Vince Cutajar]

A coloured filter should improve the situation by reducing the brightness and giving it some colour.
On my 2017 Tiger the barrel light came with the option packs and it consisted of three coloured LEDs as you can see from the wiring diagram.

Vince

[Bryan Brown]

May be of interest to members is that in a few weeks time poppies will be on sale one of them over the last few years has a reflector on it a lot have been used by people putting them on their dogs collars to make them more visible at night. So not only will you get your reflector but will be contributing to the Royal British Legion charity who care for miltary personnel

[Charles A Stewart]

Bryan, Vince.

Thank you for your input. I will be looking for bright, coloured LED's to suit, and the poppy idea is brilliant; pay one's respects to the fallen and up-cycle the poppy afterwards. Lets hope they haven't changed the design now we are on to them.

Thanks guys.

Charles

[Charles A Stewart]

Evening all.
Managed to get my head round this small, arsemungeringly fiddly project. True others have mastered it before I, well done, my respect.

1x set done & card template ready for the other set.

A little profiling with filler next

I have made new brackets too, pinched that from Phil's build, hope you don't mind. The wires are going to go into the hull through the mounting holes and false braided cable fitted to the back of the light units once mounted, well that's the plan

Take care.

Charles

[John Clarke]

It's a better plan than I had Charles. Looking good

[David Battson]

Hi Charles,
Nice work on the headlights the bezel fixings really improve the look, I've just being doing the same detailing on mine and agree with your assessment - very fiddly.
Like you I've also gone for dummy cables coming out of the back which I recon is about 1/2" or 2mm in scale terms - have you or any other builders been able to find a suitably looking 2mm dia. braided cable to use here ?
David

[Charles A Stewart]

Good evening David.

I think it will be a couple of days before I finish them. I have just put some JB Weld on the brass bits to help blend in, so we will see how that looks.

Braided cable:-www.prime-miniatures.co.uk has lengths of a braided cable that might suit. I'll say the 2mm looks enormous but might be suited to the smoke thingy's on the turret. Therefore I opted for the 1.2mm for my light fittings.

Hope that's a help

Kind regards

Charles

[David Battson]

Hi Charles,
Many thanks for the link, help indeed that's just what I wanted - order is in.
They list their sleeve by the internal diameter, so I've gone for the 1.0mm which has an outside diameter of 1.8mm - close enough to 2.0mm I hope.
David