Building the new Challenger 2 Enhanced Armor
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 04:58 AM UTC
Few days ago I have received the new Trumpeter Challenger 2 with Enhanced Armor
for a review and build blog on our german website
panzer-modell.de I want to share this build blog with you, too.
Well, here we go.
My conception will be to build this kit straight from the box without any after market parts.
Enjoy the first pics now, please.
Thank you for watching and for the comments in advance.
To be continued...
Best regards from germany
Thomas
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 28, 2006
KitMaker: 2,672 posts
Armorama: 2,475 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 05:08 AM UTC
Super!
I just picked this kit up myself and I will also build it straight from the box. I shall follow your blog with interest.
cheers
One of the serious problems in planning against Canadian doctrine is that the Canadians do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligations to follow their doctrine.
---From a Russian document
------------------------------------------------
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 05:25 AM UTC
Hey Rick, thank you, I will be watching yours as well. May be we can help one another...
Fresh from the paint box my Challenger has get Vallejo Matt Black 057 for primer and preshading for the following olive green paint.
The rear armor looks pretty nice and will be added after painting and weathering the rear panel...
Best regards from germany
Thomas
England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: December 09, 2004
KitMaker: 110 posts
Armorama: 96 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 06:25 AM UTC
Looks good so far,
How is the slat armour going together and how does it look in plastic, how is the general fit of the kit compared to trumpeters other challies?
I have the tamiya chally 2 with the accurate armour slat armour package sitting in my shed which i brought 2 years ago, took one look at and wimped out. I havnt found the trumpeter offering anywhere in the UK yet, ive seen it on ebay from a chinese seller but its priced at £25 plus £15 postage.
Hope it crops up over here soon because i definately want one.
Cant wait to see the rest of this build.
Alberta, Canada
Joined: March 23, 2008
KitMaker: 333 posts
Armorama: 321 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 07:01 AM UTC
Hey Thomas! Looking great so far, I'll follow your build as I eventually want to build this kit as well. Are you going to build it straight OOB?? Are you going to tackle the IED advancements for the 2008 version??
Check out this build log from the Military Modelling website:
http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article.asp?a=5129 At the bottom of this page are his build threads with great pictures. Cheers!!
Carmen
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight ... but rather the size of the fight in the dog" - Don Cherry - Hockey Night in Canada
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 07:30 PM UTC
Thanks Nick and Carmen,
the new Challenger kit from Trumpeter has some sprues from the older Challenger kits, special the chassis suspension and the running gear. The upper hull, turret and additional parts are new molded. It fits sometimes not very good together, some parts have many ejection markers. But last it is a fine kit and the price is fine, too. In germany it is sold for round about 23,- EUR.
I want to build it straight out of the box. I have found some pictures from a Challenger in Iraq 2007. It is exactly the tank which is shown in the painting instructions with the callsign 20.
Best regards from germany
Thomas
England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
Joined: October 09, 2005
KitMaker: 2,556 posts
Armorama: 2,199 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 11:01 PM UTC
Look forward to seeing your build progress Thomas! The kit looks very good and excellent value for money. Dont forget to remove the triangles from the turret armor blocks though, these are inert warning labels and are only seen on tanks during training in the UK.
Nick-The kit is available some places in the UK already, priced around £25.00
'As all else failed we raised our fists and weapons,
Not born as soldiers, but driven to the end'
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 28, 2006
KitMaker: 2,672 posts
Armorama: 2,475 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 01:47 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Thanks Nick and Carmen,
the new Challenger kit from Trumpeter has some sprues from the older Challenger kits, special the chassis suspension and the running gear. The upper hull, turret and additional parts are new molded. It fits sometimes not very good together, some parts have many ejection markers. But last it is a fine kit and the price is fine, too. In germany it is sold for round about 23,- EUR.
I want to build it straight out of the box. I have found some pictures from a Challenger in Iraq 2007. It is exactly the tank which is shown in the painting instructions with the callsign 20.
Awesome pics! If you have anymore could you send them to me?
[email protected]cheers
One of the serious problems in planning against Canadian doctrine is that the Canadians do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligations to follow their doctrine.
---From a Russian document
------------------------------------------------
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 02:30 AM UTC
Rick, I have sent email...
Best regards from germany
Thomas
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 28, 2006
KitMaker: 2,672 posts
Armorama: 2,475 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 02:50 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Rick, I have sent email...
Got it, you rock!
cheers
One of the serious problems in planning against Canadian doctrine is that the Canadians do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligations to follow their doctrine.
---From a Russian document
------------------------------------------------
England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: April 29, 2004
KitMaker: 1,336 posts
Armorama: 1,137 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 05:44 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Looks good so far,
I havn't found the trumpeter offering anywhere in the UK yet, ive seen it on ebay from a chinese seller but its priced at £25 plus £15 postage.
I got 2 from Paul Brickles at ABC models for £25.00 each & £4.00 squid p&p, & in my paws 3 days later.
http://www.abcmodelsport.co.uk/Browse the MilMod site for lots of Cholly goodness!
Mitglied: East Mids Model Club Show: 24th March 2013
England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: December 09, 2004
KitMaker: 110 posts
Armorama: 96 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 06:04 AM UTC
Thanks Jon and Rob
I will be checking out that site this evening.
Gibraltar
Joined: September 06, 2009
KitMaker: 62 posts
Armorama: 60 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 07:30 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Rick, I have sent email...
Is it too much to ask for thos pics???
my email address is :
[email protected]thanks!!!!
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 28, 2006
KitMaker: 2,672 posts
Armorama: 2,475 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 07:47 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Quoted Text
Rick, I have sent email...
Is it too much to ask for thos pics???
my email address is : [email protected]
thanks!!!!
E-mail sent
cheers
One of the serious problems in planning against Canadian doctrine is that the Canadians do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligations to follow their doctrine.
---From a Russian document
------------------------------------------------
England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: December 25, 2009
KitMaker: 133 posts
Armorama: 132 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 09:38 AM UTC
Hi Thomas I was thinking of gettingthis kit and will follow your blog with interest,do you think it will be possible to use the Trumpeter HEAT armour from the Trumpeter kit on Tamiya's Chally2 ??
Alberta, Canada
Joined: January 02, 2004
KitMaker: 180 posts
Armorama: 154 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 03:02 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Rick, I have sent email...
May I humbly ask for a copy of those pics as well?
Thanks muchly - Dan
Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?
-- Kelvin Throop III
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 07:52 PM UTC
Shaun, because I don't have the Tamiya Challenger in my board I can't say anything about fitting the Trumpeter parts to it.
For everybody who wants to take a look at the reference pictures, follow the link, please.
Challenger 2 Operation Telic 2007 Best regards from germany
Thomas
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 - 11:45 PM UTC
The next step. I just tried to use the "modulation style" to imitate the sunlight on the roadwheels and the sprocket. Sometimes I have seen models with a modulation style which was overdone, in my opinion...
I just wanted to make it visible, but unobtrusive. So the dark ground color was mixed with a little white and sprayed carefully much thinned in very thin layers over the ground color. Special the wheel hub and the area under the centre of the wheels was lighted up.
I think this will imitate the incomming shafts of sunlight...
Now I had to create my own description for this paiting style. I will call it "reality modulation"
Best regards from germany
Thomas
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 04:45 AM UTC
Time for a little upadate.
The armorplate behind the additional armor is missing in the kit, while in the old Challenger Operation Telic kit it was included. The reference pictures are showing this plate so I had to create one from plastic sheet. The bolts are from Voyager and are taken from my sparebox, the electric cables for the headlights are made of copperwire, the mounting for the cables are made by lead foil.
Best regards from germany
Thomas
Drome, France
Joined: November 09, 2004
KitMaker: 125 posts
Armorama: 92 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 10:14 AM UTC
i follow your build, actually i'm building too this kit and i'm enjoyed by the quality provided by trumpeter
and your build look nice and clean
i read on another forum, but can't remember where the tracks are different, but i haven't a lot of pics of the tracks
do you have any info about that? maybe the bronco's set can work fine ?
http://djiti.production.free.fr/main_menu.html
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 10:35 PM UTC
I have found these pictures on primeportal.net
I have not seen the Bronco tracks already, so I can't say anything about them...
Best regards from germany
Thomas
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010 - 09:11 PM UTC
Time for a little update...
The upper hull is finished,the fitting of lower and upper hull is good, nearly perfect.
The enhanced armor fits very well, the fence in the rear makes a good impression.
Next step is to start working on the turret, because I have destroyed the vinyl tracks with a mix of turpentine and pigments. They became embrittle after the washing with pigments/turpentine...
Now I am waiting for arrival of the single track links from Trumpeter
Enjoy the pictures
Best regards from germany
Thomas
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 28, 2006
KitMaker: 2,672 posts
Armorama: 2,475 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 12:55 AM UTC
Nice clean work Thomas, shame about the tracks though. Must say that the slat armour looks pretty good.
cheers
One of the serious problems in planning against Canadian doctrine is that the Canadians do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligations to follow their doctrine.
---From a Russian document
------------------------------------------------
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Joined: September 21, 2003
KitMaker: 588 posts
Armorama: 490 posts
Posted: Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 11:30 PM UTC
Thomas
Do you have dimensions for The armorplate behind the additional armor missing form the kit.
Cookie
Niedersachsen, Germany
Joined: February 18, 2009
KitMaker: 148 posts
Armorama: 144 posts
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2010 - 11:29 PM UTC
I am sorry, I have no exact dimensions for the armor plate. I have taken some reference pictures and then the armor plate was made from plastic sheet and adjusted to the model.
But maybe someone has the Challenger Operation Telic kit from Trumpeter and can take exactly dimensions from the kit part?
Best regards from germany
Thomas
