So, I've got about 15,000 kits sitting in queue for paint (it's cold over here and my garage is NOT heated); so what do I do, pull yet another assembly out..... This time Tamiya's Chieftain. Gotta do it 'sorta-right' so I got to our fantastic gallery of walk arounds and I find the photo above....
I gained a whole new respect for tankers. If you can make sense of the gear in the photo - you're better than I am.

Don't missunderstand me - I am totally impressed with a tankers ability to make sense of the gear he's given. This is one of a bunch of interior shots FAUST shares in the gallery and there is just hand over fist 'stuff'!

Makes a stark contrast to the mechanics of the WWII MBT's.

Chieftain was a horrible tank ergonomically, as it was upgraded so many times that the new boxes were put where they fitted! By the way if anyone wants a runthrough on what we are looking at here just ask...

Wow! I went on an exchange visit to Tidsworth where the 3rd RTR was stationed at the time. They put me through a stationary Chieftain gunnery exercise. While I appreciated gun jump and rate tachometer movements, trying to fire that blasted main gun while manipulating the turret and keeping your eye on the target were agony. I was eternally thankful to be back in my M60A3....but, those Brits could fire that weapon and hit targets with a degree of accuracy and timing that remains truly impressive to me. Good bunch of guys.
Glad they are on our side. Their booze was very good too.
DJ

It's tough looking at a static picture, can't imagine doing it in the dark, in a moving vehicle, trying to hit a moving target.

3rdRTR - what's the glass scope on the left side middle of the shot and the white handled thing in the middle?

Ola Scott

Big fun to see this oldie back again. A nice souvenir from our visit to england some years ago.
This Chieftain walkaround was made at a museum in Aldershot. They were doig maintenance on it and they were quite ok with it that I crawled around and in the vehicle. I too was actually amazed at how cramped it was. From outside the turret is pretty big... but inside you almost don't have room to breathe

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

If I may answer that question the 'scope is the GDU or gunners display unit which gave the gunner the picture and symbology from the tanks TOGS (Thermal Observation and Gunnery System). The white handle is the commanders grip switch which allowed him to traverse the turret and elevate/depress the main armament. If you look closely there is a black handle just in front of the white portion. When the commander gripped this it overrode the gunners inputs and he controlled the turret by moving the small black nipple in the centre of the gripswitch face. It was a very sensitive peice of kit and you could do extremely minute movements with it helped by the fact that the turret drives were electric and not electro/hydraulic. At the top of the picture is the firing handle incorporating the armament selector switch, ammunition selector switch, lase and autolay buttons and firing switch. Again if the commander selected anything it overrode what the gunner was doing. Hope this helps. I spent eight years cramped into one of those turrets moving from gunner to loader then commander which is no mean feat when you know that I'm 6' 1'' and weigh 15 stone.

Max

Depending on how correct you want it to be, Accurate Armour makes an update set for the Tamiya kit. Castoff also makes a set, but it's OOP.

Boy too many wires. I crewed 5 different tanks in the US and none had that extremely cluttered knee banging elbow bruising array of gee whiz stuff. On the positive side a Chieftain Crewman wasn't sprayed with FRH at 1200 PSI when a hydraulic line blew.
M1s are very tight A1s even worse.

The next gen tank just needs an X-Box controller and a TV no periscopes needed and a cup holder.

Tom

Hi Scott
I think we're looking at a Chieftain Mk11 interior pic, a part of the commander station that sits on the right. The tank is equipped with the TOGS system (Thermal Observation and Gunnery System) and the small TV screen you can see is the gunner main sight. The white pistol grip in the centre is commander's control grip for traversing the turret and firing the main gun. In the upper right corner you can see the commander's maps light.

Ciao
Gaetano

It looks like the underside of a Jaguar dashboard

Tons of 'stuff' in there no matter how you slice it