Hi all,

I am building a Chieftain ARRV Mk7 and after a long and challenging build I have come to the point where I have to do something about the crew headgear and mic. I don't know what the official term is for this equipment. The Tamiya donor kit has a plastic blob that the commander holds in his hand, what does it actually look like and how is this connected to the headphones or apparatus in the vehicle. Then there is some device on the chest of each crew member, is this part of the gear, if so, which colour should it be?

Googling for "chieftain headgear" gave me a lot of native American pctures...
cheers,

Matthijs

Try this:
http://www.militariarg.com/task-force.html
scroll halfway down the page and you will come to the AFV Crewman helmet/uniform section. CHeers.

Hi mat,

If you have a look at the following link you can see all of the associated ancillary radio equipment for Clansmen radio equipped vehicles which a Chieftain ARRV would use.

http://www.ferret-afv.org/manuals/clansman_wiring_harness_and_control_boxes_description.pdf

Page 6 shows a pressel unit which was used by everyone other than the commander to connect their crew helmets to the vehicles intercom (IC) and through it the radios. Page 8 shows a Commanders Personal Unit which allowed him to connect with the IC. The strap went round the commanders neck, his helmet plugged into the socket on the top of the unit and the long black cable which is the commanders 10 point (because it has 10 cores) or "curly wurly" plugs into the IC box inside the vehicle. The switch in the middle of the of the CPU allowed the commander to switch between his A & B radio set. A set would usually be on the squadrons radio net and the B set would be on the regimental/battlegroup net. The radio you were working i.e talking on would always play into your left ear and the monitoring set would be in your right ear at a lower volume. If you switched nets then that reversed, it could get confusing especially if you had a HF set as well. Just a little info for you.
Go to page 13, fig 13 shows an original "bone dome" which was possibly the most uncomfortable helmet I've ever had to wear. They were superceded by the helmets on page 14, fig 14 & 14a which were a lot more comfortable to wear for prolonged periods. If I remember rightly they were first introduced from about 1987/88, the shell could be detached from the headsets for radio stag etc. These were superceded again in the 90's by active noise reduction headgear (ANR).Hope this explains some things and helps. Oh one other thing the microphones were never left uncovered as you got a lot of wind noise so they usually had foam covers.

Max

Have you considered the modern British figures by Accurate Armour or at least replacement British heads with crew helmets by Hornet?

As you are now aware, the figures that come with the Tamiya Chieftain are not in the same era as the Mk7 ARRV's service years which was fitted with the Clansman Radio Suite at the time.

Remember to shorten the antennas as well.

Are you going to share any pictures of the Vehicle with us as I have found the instructions to be quite contradictory?

Keith.

Hi guys,

thank you for taking some time to help me out. I now have to make some changes, that's for sure, I will for sure take a look at the AA figures. It's a pity though since I already did quite some work on the Tamiya ones.

About the ARRV kit, yes it is quite a project. Although it is obvious to me AA spent a decent amount of effort to make their instructions, they still sometimes miss that one picture you need or the numbers are wrong. I am also building the Antar Mk1 with drawbar trailer and that one is a true puzzle. In the end I had to send an e-mail to AA and the confirmed they made a mistake in the instructions, they send me a revision that they made immediately. So I would say a 100% score on their customer service

anyway, here are some pics of my WIP. Still a decent amount of painting to be done before weathering can start. And I have to hide my "issue" with the right back end of the skirts. I thought I completely removed the warp....

Keith: primeportal was a great help for me, just check the mk2 pics too and the ARV (with 1 R less). If I can help you in any way, let me know.