RC Tanks Australia Forum

Cheers Gra,

The pinning is a good idea.

On this one the bolts acutely go through the hull as well, so very secure.

So, parts arrived today, great bits from AFV and Prime Miniatures. BUT (there is always a but isn't there), When I ordered the lenses I thought I was ordering a pair of lenses, however AFV sell them separately so I only got 1 lens AGHHHHHHHHHHHH . So I have only been able to complete 1 headlight as you can see. I have ordered more lenses, and will now have to wait for this to arrive.

Firstly I hollowed out the back of the triangular light brackets which I removed to fit the extra hull plate. I then drilled out the light fittings and the bracket to allow for cabling, and cut of the convoy light from the top of each light fitting and both the lens rings. The light fittings are Leopard 2A6 ones from AFV. A 3mm white LED was added to each light fitting, with the cabling routed through the light fitting, down the hollow in the back of the bracket, and though a hole in the hull top. The cables where then linked up to the existing H/L wiring. A plate of .5mm plasticard was added over the back of each bracket to cover the cables. At this point the Lights and brackets were glued in place.

I then added the light conduits across the front of the hull. These are done with 1mm simulated conduit from Prime Miniatures. This stuff is really good and drapes well, but is quite delicate when being handled, and a bit fiddly to work with.

I then added the lens ring and lens to the left light, and the other will follow when the lenses arrive after christmas. fitting the lens required the LED to be filed down little bit.

I also added the horn which sits by the side of the left light. This was scavenged from my parts box, and is made fro the rear reflector of a Pzr III.

on to pics







Paul

Still waiting for the headlight lens, so I emailed AFV about them this morning.

in the meantime, the ratchet straps for the fuel drum racks arrived today. Very nice pieces indeed. A little over size, but fully functional so I intend to use them. I will be replacing the black ribbon which comes with them with sone 4mm cotton ribbon which I dyed up for this job. The ratchets will be painted green too, but not fitted until after the tank has its base coat on.




and laid on the rack to give an idea of size.



I will be making up the 4 straps in the next few days.

Paul

While waiting for the shiny new metal bits to arrive, I have made up the fuel drum straps. The ratchets will be painted olive green, and then these are ready for fitting once the tank has had its base coat applied.



The top strap has both halves attached to one another as they will be on the tank.

Paul

New metal running gear arrived yesterday from DKLM. Four days to deliver from the far east, and no import duty, great. Very nice quality, although still the early patter with no holes in the wheels so those wanting the newer pattern will still have to drill a lot of holes.

These are now on the tank which means I can get on with painting the lower hull now.




Carson posted details on the DKLM FaceBook page of how to space these sprockets so that they will work with the Mato metal Leopard 2 sprockets. I followed the instructions and can confirm that these work perfectly with these tracks with no other modification needed. I still don't know why H/L did not go with the slightly wider track for compatibility rather than design an entirely new narrower track for the Challenger. The difference in width is about 1mm.
These sprockets also has built in track guides so much less chance of the tracks drifting off the outside of the sprockets in turns etc...

A few more details which I have noticed whilst waiting for parts that I will be adding to the upper hull and turret.

Once this is done I will be painting the upper hull and turret too. Hope to have this done for the Tunbridge Wells SEAG (South East Armoured Group) meet next week so that it is at least Green by then.

As I was writing this the missing headlight lens has also turned up. Happy days, I can crack on now.

Paul

Bodywork taken apart and masking applied where needed.



Tracks and rubber tyres removed.



Paul

Base coat of Tamiya Olive Green has now been applied. This was applied with an airbrush in several thin coats to preserve the antislip surface detailing. I am please with how the anti slip looks now painted, it has that slightly patchy look to it that is on the real tanks. Although it does not show up very clearly in these pictures it also gives the slight differential to the green on the side of the turret where the front appears a darker shade than the rear which is also often seen on challengers.

Next steps are to touch up the olive green in places (waiting on more paint), mask off and add the 2 black sections at the rear of the turret for the ID number, add the nato black camo to the rear left side skirt as per the original tank and replace the tracks and rubber tyres.






Paul

Next step.

Tyres and tracks back on. Masked up ready for the blacks to be applied. The 2 panels at the rear of the turret sides, the end of the muzzle, and the camo on the side skirt will be in Tamiya NATO black, and the front and rear numberplate will be Tamiya flat black. The paper is there to prevent overspray getting onto adjacent surfaces.






Paul

Okey dokey,

The blacks have now been airbrushed on now. But because I thought it would be a bit boring to just post pics of the tank with added black squares and splodges, I went ahead and added the numbers and lettering too.






The lettering and numbers were added using these vinyl model boat decals.



Made in various sizes these are very easy to apply, as they are adhesive backed. They are very thin and will take up detail well. You just remove them from the sheet, position them where you want them, and add a little firm pressure to make them stick. A warm hairdryer will help the adhesive work, and they are fully set in place after 24Hrs. They will take clear coats too.

I used 2mm for the lettering on the side of the turret, 12mm for the turret numbers, and 3mm for the number plates.

I buy them from here

http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/aca ... tters.html

Paul

Next update.

Today lots of detail painting and adding a few more accessories. The tank I am modelling on the day I photographed it did not have fire extinguishers or tow cables fitted, but I wanted these both on mine. Decided to go with the canvas covers for the fire extinguishers which are sometimes seen on Challengers. I covered the appropriate bits on the fire extinguishers with toilet paper held in place with white PVA. The paper was then painted with Tamiya NATO green. The cables are made from the ends of the H/L parts drilled out and fitted with metal cables. I wound some 5A fuse wire around the cable drum on the rear. This was a whole length of the wire.
The warning beacon and front indicators were painted first with Tamiya chrome silver, once this dried they were then given two coats of Tamiya clear orange. I have now also added the rear light lenses I made earlier in the build using white PVA to fix them in place. I also added the ratchet straps to the rear.

Lastly the tank has had a flat clear coat.






Paul

Filters and washes are now done. Firstly a Mig tan for 3 colour camo filter was applied all over, this was followed by a Mig dark brown for green vehicles filter which was again applied all over. These filters have calmed down the green a bit, and added a bit of depth to the flat areas. Lastly I applied a pin wash of mig dark wash to some of the details to help them stand out a little. Each wash must be dry before the next is applied, other wise they will blend and loose some of the effect.

Once this was all done the whole tank was given another coat of Tamiya flat clear from a rattle can, just to seal the filters.

This will not be a very dirty looking tank, I want that used but cleanish look that a lot of the challengers in the UK have.







I also started work on the loaders Mg and mount. For now I will be using some of the H/L parts and a metal GPMG from AFV. Here are the parts I will be using for now, I may well make up a different mount at some stage.



and the parts cleaned and peeped for painting.




Paul