discussion Chieftain Mk 10 Berlin Camouflage 1/35 Meng

[Bigfoot57]

so here’s my next project in the continuing saga of British tanks from 1944 through to the modern day this time from the 1960’s to the 80s with the Chieftain and the height of the Cold War were envisaged tank battles in cities hence the colouration of this one then the general colour of the German house namely brick red white and grey. The idea of being that the tank would back itself into a wrecked building. All the stuff would collapse on top of it and it would merge into the background happily this did not happen as in WW II
Anyway the kit itself appears to be very good. The plastic is superior quality and when parts are cut off from the sprue there is very little cleanup to be done. I have already constructed the running gear namely the suspension units which have real springs in them the idler the sprockets and the road wheels which again have polycaps inside them please see the attached photos for a description of how they were built next will be a paint cleanup of the wheels and then we move onto the lower hull

 

[scottie3158]

Chair pulled up. Spent a few happy hours working on the turrets of these.

 

[papa 695]

Great start, looking forward to more updates.

 

[Richard48]

Im in as well.Love Chieftains.

 

[Bigfoot57]

Well sorry it’s taken so long to actually reply back but I’ve been learning how to paint straight lines on curved surfaces which is not the easiest things to do anyway here is the turret with its main colours now blocked and there’s obviously more detail to be added to the turret such as machine guns etc and the ammunition boxes and the baskets, but the main turret colours are now done all I Gotta do now is transpose those down to the side of the tank and onto the skirts, but I wanted the turret done 1st so I had a reference point with which to work to

 

[Bigfoot57]

Turret Construction again, very good fit Apart from the search light box and the toolbox both these had large gaps for some reason which I had to fill with filler sand smooth and paint over other than that everything else fitted perfectly most of it clipped together

 

[scottie3158]

Superb mate

 

[Andy T]

That's some great paintwork!

 

[papa 695]

Coming along very nicely, nice painting.

 

[Bigfoot57]

Right since my last posting I’ve been painting the main hull of the tank finally got to finish which I’m happy with so all that’s left to do now is the side skirts the tracks which obviously you’ve got to be done before the side skirts go on well, you should be able to clip the side skirts on so we’ll see then there’s just little final details such as a machine gun on the top of the turret and final painting details such as indicator lights and things fire extinguishers, etc

 

[Jim R]

Now that's what I call an eye catching paint job. Well done. Until your first post explanation I didn't know why that camo was used

 

[scottie3158]

Very nicely done.

 

[Steven000]

Nice progress, paintwork looks great

 

[Bigfoot57]

Quick update on the Chieftain now moved onto painting the skirts it should be the final paint required along with track construction which in my opinion is absolutely hideous. Let me explain the jig that they use is brilliant. Can’t fault it. The only problem is after putting the pins in using the insertion tool that they come on the tracks are so tightly packed into the jig that when you lift them up it frequently bust the pins and so the track links start falling to pieces as you can see I’ve deviated into using .6 mm brass rod in places I wish I had more of it I would have used it all the way through but I can only use it in. Should we say high stress areas in my opinion? There are only two types of track that I can work with that’s the rubber ones which everybody hates but at least you can sew them together at the top and hide them behind the skirt usually or you fork out for metal ones all the other methods I’ve seen of constructing tracks have problems with pins or the track fall to pieces after it’s been pinned together the only other one I seen that actually worked was from Tamiya on the Comet where you build the tracks in a straight line on the bottom and top and you just join it around the idler wheels and the sprockets incidentally if you want a kit that goes together like that 1/32 scale Spitfire then this tank will be for you. The Comet is absolutely faultless construction wise instruction wise the perfect kit

 

[scottie3158]

The tracks as you say all have their ups and downs and I have used nearly all types. The build is looking great.

 

[Bigfoot57]

Right hand side of the tank is nearly done little bit of paint touchup to do but overall the camouflage has come out pretty good just need the track painting and adding to the side then I can move onto the left-hand side

 

[Bigfoot57]

Camouflage finally finished just a case now of adding the machine gun the wing mirrors, two aerials and I think that will do it so the next time you see this after these pictures it will be in the Finished Armoured section
Overall this kit was very good excellent fit apart from what I pointed out earlier which was the search light housing and the toolbox. They seem to have a problem so I had to fill the gap with the filler next up was the PE. The PE was awful. It would not glue no matter how many times I etched it eventually got it to stick but the baskets lived up to their name. They were right baskets to do and then we come to the tracks well the idea behind the tracks was brilliant conception using the jig. They snapped together really easy the pins pushed into place but the tracks were held so tightly in the jig that when you pulled the track out of the jig it snapped the pins off there by allowing the to tracks fall apart again luckily, most of them are hidden by the skirts and you’ve only got just a little bit at the front and back showing

 

[Richard48]

Fantastic camo.I saw a few Chieftain kits for sale at Telford.Tempted but have to disciplined.Far too many kits already.
Richard

 

[Steven000]

Nice finish Bigfoot, not a camo-scheme you see every day on the forum, well done

 

[Graeme C.]

The Chieftain certainly looks good in Berlin camouflage, pity about the tracks.