A couple of weeks back I reviewed the new AFV Club British Chaffee kit, review can be found here

Well I thought it was time to put some glue to plastic and see how this kit builds. So lets get started.

On the first step I did find a slight omission in the instructions. On parts C11 and C12, the tabs are not shown, which will need to attached on the inside of the lower hull.


When attaching the torsion bars, it should be noted that you will need to watch the amount of glue you apply to the joint if you plan to make the suspension workable (more on that in a bit).


The suspension swing arm stops are a two piece affair, and should look great on the kit.


Next comes the suspension, and if you don't have patience this will have you screaming and pulling your hair out. First thing I did was to use CA to attach the brass tube to part B15, making the top portion of the suspension cylinder.


Now you will have to be very careful with the carpet monster, the pins that hold the suspension cylinder parts to the swing arm and hull are micro-scopic.


So I attach the lower cylinder half to the swing arm. The pins are not tight in the locator hole, so I used my special mixture of glue(half Tamiya Thin and half Tamiya Regular) to the end of the pin. I like this application as the glue stays right at the end of the pin with out running else where.


Using the same gluing method, I attach the upper cylinder onto the hull with the micro-scopic pin. Then attach the swing arm and carefully insert the lower cylinder in the brass tube.


Here lies the problem. There is no aligning connection between the swing arm and the torsion bar. Thus no way to align the wheels. Thus until I get both sides on, I will leave everything unglued and align everything and apply glue.

If you have thought about leaving the suspension as working, everything would be relying on those micro-scopic pins to bear the movement of the suspension, thus I am suggesting it may not be a great idea.

The rear swing arm has a connection to the idler, thus adding a little more complication. The instruction do tell you to drill through the connection rod(B46) prior to mounting to B44. I used a #70(.028) drill bit. After sliding the pin(b5) through I applied a very small dab of my special mixture glue.


Again, I left all the connections unglued at this time.


One side done, not onto the other.


Remember, it is just a battle with patience with the small parts. The idea of the working suspension was not a "bad" idea by AFV Club, just not thought all the way through in my opinion.

Even if not workable it does allow you to decide on how you wish it set up?

Definitely, if working on a diorama or display base, the suspension could be positioned easily to show the tank on uneven or rough terrain.

Onto the upper hull.

The first issue I came across is the gaps on either side of the front glacis plate. I can only assume the back of the glacis plate should have been sanded flat prior.


Moving onto the fenders, I noticed in the instructions it shows a bend in the photo-etched fender brackets, that is not the case, the photo-etched parts should be left straight as the side hull has the attachment part molded onto the side.



It should also be noted, as shown in the instructions, the middle fender bracket is left off for attachment of the storage bins on both sides. The molded bracket end and tie downs on the one side need to be shaved off for the mounting of the stowage bins.



When doing the rear lights, they attach through the rear most fender bracket, I found it easier to mount the light to the bracket, then onto the model.


Care will need to take with the upper hull, there are alot of FINE plastic parts the like to break, and also the kind the carpet monster likes. But once done, the fine detail should look great on the model.

Onto the turret next.

It looks to me as if you should have been directed to remove the moulded detail on the sides of the hull and then it is replaced with the PE detail.

All of the tie down should be cut off and replaced, but the PE is not included. I believe Voyager and/or Aber sells a set of WW2 American Style tie downs.

Great observation, I meant to mention it but forgot, thanks Darren!

Onto the turret. Most of the turret goes together very well, and a very nice touch is all the joints are at weld seams.

While the instructions have to build the barrel assembly with a spring, so you can move the barrel back and forth like the recoil, I decided to leave the spring out, and glued it all solid, and since I was closing up the turret, I did not fully build the breech.



The hinge assembly for the loader hatch is very flimsy, so care will be needed getting it off the sprue.


The commanders cupola is well done with a clear plastic part, I painted the inside of view ports clear green, then applied liquid mask to the outside.


I found the wheel assembly a little strange in the number of parts. There are two inner rims, then the outer rims, and rubber wheels. The outer section parts contain molded rim parts and wheel.


The wheels do build up nice, but did find the idlers needed a little putty.

So it is all together, and I am waiting on the track ordered for it, AFV Club T72. I thought I would try something a little different with priming, normally I prime black, as I like to ensure if the paint misses a crack or cranny, it is black. After seeing little on the "black and white" preshading, I thought I would give is a try in a reverse pattern. I primed my usual black with Ammo by Mig Primer, then hit the highlights with the Ammo by Mig Grey Primer, sort of like a little pre-highlighting. We will see what happens with the paint.

That is a pretty speedy build on this one.

I think by now, I have a total of about 12 hours into it, but that is with out track.

After primer, paint was applied, thin coats of Ammo by Mig SSC15 Olive Drab. The was followed by some light filters using Dark Brown, Ochre, and Tan from AK Interactive.

Prior to decals, a coat of Future was applied. The decal from AFV Club go on very well.





Up next is another coat of Future, then onto some light weathering. I will also have some images of the resin figure included in the kit.

From what I can see in the pictures it looks like it is worthy of shelf space.

Well getting closer to completion, the first few layers of weathering are on, and time for the tracks. Not being a big fan of vinyl tracks, I opted to steal the individual link set from my Bronco kit. A quick test fit shows they will work great, now to order another set for the Bronco kit.





The resin figure included looks great, and I have primed it and started to block in the paint, and think I may use another diorama, but it would be a great figure to accompany this fine kit of the British Chaffee from AFV Club.




The next update will complete this blog and the kit. But based on what I have seen and built so far, I would highly recommend this kit.

Well the Chaffee is complete, and I am very happy with the the AFV Club kit. It is definately a kit I would recommend. Out of the box, the detail is well done. As for the track, while the kit includes vinyl track, I stole the individual link track from the Bronco British Chaffee kit.