RC Tanks Australia Forum

I was worried about the MTP as it looks so complex with 6 colours, but it is really not to bad to paint in this scale. The key seems to be getting the colours right.

The next 2 colours are now on the uniform (one more to go). For the dark green I used NATO green, and for the the dark from I used flat brown.

The base colour of the hair and eyebrows were also painted in flat brown.




Paul

Last colour added to the camouflage. First I tried buff, but it was too dark, so the colour I chose for the light colour was deck tan. I also added the black patterns on the shemagh.

The hair has now been dry brushed, first dry brush colour was JGSDF brown, then khaki, and lastly buff. these multiple layers of dry brushed paint add some depth to the hair.




Paul

Last stages of painting this figure now.

A wash of Mig tan for 3 colour camo filter was applied to the camo. This just blends and softens the colours a little bit to help make them look more natural. The same wash was used on the skin tones. I chose this wash here as it would emphasise the shadow areas a bit, but without the effect of making the the skin look dirty or too tanned. I wanted this figure to look like he is based in barracks in the UK, as I found out that this Tank is in a kind of tank pool which the British Army now has, where units can "sign out" a challenger when they need one, and sign it back when they are done with it. That is why this particular tank has no unit or squadron markings on it.




Next I painted in the head band on the beret in semi gloss black, and added an RTR cap badge in miliput.



I then painted in the rest of the beret in flat black, and the cap badge in flat aluminium. The cap badge was given a wash of Mig dark wash to bring out some of the detail. I gave the flesh colours a second wash with the mig tan for 3 tone camo filter, as I felt the first wash had turned out a little light. The whole figure then had a light dusting of the Tamiya weathering master mud colour just to bring out the edges on the uniform and shemagh a little bit.

I then constructed a base from dense polystyrene this was made to give the figure the correct position once in the commanders position, and to be tight enough in the cupola that the figure does not move too much. once attached this was given 2 coates of olive green, and a filter coat of mig brown for dark green filter the same as the bodywork of the tank has had.

The whole figure then had a couple of coats of Tamiya flat clear from a rattle can to fix and protect the paintwork.




and in the commanders position of the tank.





I am really pleased with how this figure has turned out, particularly the uniform, which I worried would not look like MTP. This being a British tank I wanted the MTP camo of the uniform to look right, and spent a lot of time looking at MTP to familiarise myself whilst painting, and had a genuine issue jacket as reference whilst I was painting. I think I have achieved a passable facsimile of MTP on this uniform.

Paul

The right hand looked a little empty on this one so I added evidence of a common pastime for soldiers.



Paul

Here are some pics of my completed H/L Challenger 2. It is modelled after a Challenger 2 which was present at the Eastbourne Airborne show in the summer of 2015. I have not modelled it exactly as it appeared at this show as there were some features which were not present on the day (fire extinguishers, tow cables) which I wanted to include on the model. I also wanted the model to look slightly more used.
I gather that this tank along with a good number of other challengers are not assigned to units. They are held in a pool and units can sign one out when they have a use for it, and return it to the pool when done with it. This is why this particular tank does not have unit or squadron markings on it.

Here is the real tank and my model for comparison




And some more pics of the final model.


















The recent H/L Challenger 2 forms the base of this build, with the following upgrades:

DKLM Metal wheel set.
DKLM metal Sprocket and Idler set.
Metal leopard 2 tracks with rubber pads.
Taigen Mk3 3.1 black steel gearboxes.
IBU2 Pro With Custom Challenger 2 sound set from RC Tank Electronics.
12W Audio amp from eBay.
15W speaker from Tank Modellbau.
Tarr 1 smoke generator from RC Tank Electronics.
Viper remote volume control from RC Tanks Australia.
3s Turnigy LiPo battery from HobbyKing.
Headlights, GPMG & ammo belt, and figure from AFV Model.

The tank is painted exclusively with Tamiya acrylic paints and Mig enamel washes, and weathered using Tamiya Weathering master products.

Videos of the tank can be seen at my YouTube channel here:



Thanks

Paul

Hi scalawag!
Nice job, I like it!

Thanks dudasis, I'm glad you like it.

A quick update on to the figure on this tank.

I decided to ad some unit insignia etc... to the uniform. I added the small sleeve Union Flag to his left sleeve, along with a unit patch for 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade (the Royal Tank Regiment are one of the armour formations in this brigade).



For the Union Flag I bought a sheet of 1/1250 model boat British ensigns from peddinghaus, and used an appropriately sized decal for my model. The unit badge is painted with Tamiya acrylics.

I also added a Rank tab to the chest of the figure. Not easy to see but it is there, under the hand with the cigarette.



RTR rank tabs are black with white rank insignia, and a Tactical Recognition Flash along the bottom edge. The TRF for the RTR is green, red and brown. I believe that the RTR do not wear TRFs on the right sleeve as many British Army units now do, because of it already being present on the rank tab. Privates wear plain black rank tabs with the TRF along the bottom edge.

Paul

Well done Mate!