Thomas,

Very nice build! I like your use of color modulation. I'll have to give it a try on my next build.

Thanks for posting!

The tracks are finished. After painting them with Dark earth from Vallejo they were washed with pigments and thinner. After drying, a little drybrush with silver... some dark grey to imitate the rubber...some weathering.... ready for mount them to the tank.

hi

think u shouldlook on missing links but all the challys which were used on operations have the new type track. this is a big issue with the kit along with a few other items .
i see these every day so i do know what i am talking about

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47209/thread/1264991715/Chalenger+2+with+Bar+Armor
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47209/thread/1264276981/Ossie+Bronco+tracks

ossie

Michael, thank you for the informations.

I have seen the end connectors on my posted pictures for reference look a little different to the Trumpeter Track Links.
But now my tracks are completed. So I will mount them to the tank... and I will know that they are not correct.

Thomas
This Track looks like yours

Geoff, thank you. So many times I have been watching the pictures. But I have not seen that the tracks look like the tracks provided by Trumpeter...

Thank you very much for this information.

Thomas, great looking start you got going there. Did you paint the entire track black and then do the highlites with silver and other weathering? The reason I am asking is that I am currently working on Dragons M1A2 SEP and the tracks are base color tan. I am trying to figure out which way to go on the painting process with this beast.

That's what I usually do, flat black, steel, then weathering.

Nice progress Thomas!


cheers

Mike and Rick, thanks for your comments.

Yes, the tracks from Trumpeter are black plastic. If the tracks are not black I will paint them black for usual. After that follows a coat of Vallejo 71029 Dark Earth. A heavy washing with thinned pigments is the next step. After the pigment washing has complete dried I brush the pigments off with a soft big brush. The result imitates the sand and dust on the tracks. Then a sealing with matte varnish follows. Last step is a light drybrushing with aluminium color to imitate the bare metal.

My english is not perfect, but I hope you will understand the way of painting...

Looking great so far, Thomas! I especially like how well your track assemblies turned out.

I was skeptical about this kit but it's not bad at all. It's in the queue for me behind a T-55, though (but that hasn't stopped me from getting the road wheels done).

How do you like the no-slip texture? I'm thinking about doing a little work on it so it resembles actual no-slip, perhaps a technique similar to what Adam O'Brien does on his IDF armor.

The kit's texture reminds me of something you'd see in auto dashboards.

Frank, I have been skeptical for this kit, too. Because I have seen and built the earlier Challenger kits from Trumpeter. But they have done a lot of work to make the kit MUCH better now.
The anti slip coating is not perfect, but I think it will look nice if it's colored and drybrushed. So I will leave it as it is straight from the box.

Time for a little update...
Now the Chally is standing on his tracks, the basecolor was applied, too.

I hope you'll enjoy it...

Very nice, good to see it coming together.


cheers

Very nice progress. Looking forward to seeing it done.

Eric

Rick and Eric, thanks for your comments

Starting the turret...
First I had to remove the "triangles" from the turret armor. They are not shown on the reference pictures...





The turret was real fun, everything fitted well...




Base colour is applied, highlights with much thinned and light base color...







First weathering is started with black oil paint and Vallejo Sepia Shade...





To be continued soon, I hope you will enjoy it...

very nice!!! I think your color modulation turned out quite nice.

Chris

Very nice !
In your opinion ... is the plastic Slat-Armour a decent/worthwhile alternative to the PE option.
Having a Canadian Leo 2A6 in the back of my mind.

Cheer
Christopher

The SLAT, comming with the kit, is cheap, easy to work and easy to handle.
Beginners will have no problems with it, it is a good alternative for the PE-SLAT.
I think it looks nice with the completed model, but if you watch the reference pictures you will see the fence is very big, the real fences are much thinner.

Looks very nice, love the colour modulation.


cheers

Thank you Rick.
You've got PM

Some time ago from the last update...
The Challenger 2 is finished.
Enjoy the pics, please.

Your Chally looks really nice Thomas. Congratulations for the paint job, the color modulation gives a nice touch to the finish.

Olivier

Olivier, thanks for your kind comments.

Nice finish Thomas!

I’ve bought the kit myself and await Cromwell models update for it – so it’s been interesting to follow your build.

I seem to remember having seen a replacement barrel for it somewhere????