I have lately been thinking about trying to visit 1/72 small scale modelling again...
I got some good suggestions of what manufacturer was the best in this scale on the Armor forum- Therefor I ordered a bunch of 1/72 models from Hannants, which arrived last friday...

I have benne working on Revell's Challenger kit since last Saturday, and I must say it sure is fun to try this scale again...

I scratchbuildt some of the parts, and added some minor details...

Here is some progress photos of my first 1/72 armor model in more than 15 years :





Bjoern

its looking very nice mate,

on the unpainted shot the bow plate looks like it needs sanding some more,
but it looks ok on the painted one.

whats the kit like, i was hinking of getting some small scale kits myself

cheers

joe

Your model looks good so far - keep us updated!

I have one observation regarding the kit you used: Is it just me, or on photos of unpainted model, before the extra armor was attached, it is visible that the middle section of front upper armor plate of the hull (in front of driver's hatch) is noticeably "thicker" than parallel plates on left and right of it - the plate is not flat across the whole width of the tank, but there is noticeable step between middle and side plate sections.

On production Challengers the upper front slope plate of the hull is flat across the whole width of the tank. Only prototypes had the middle section thicker with steps between sections. Tamiya 1/35 Challenger model was based on a prototype and it looks that Revell's 1/72 Challenger is another shrunk copy of Tamiya 1/35 kit
The same is true for their 1/72 M2A2 Bradley kit, which copies all errors of Tamiya 1/35 model.

To be absolutely sure I would have to see the storage box attached to the rear of the turret - it is another part that Tamiya based on prototype and it did not match the shape of the box in production vehicles.

Regards,
Pawel

Well, I think that what you see on the bow-plate on the unpainted photo, just is some dust from the sanding the bow. It looks quite rough on the photo...

As for the model - I can't compare it to any other 1/72 models, because this is the first one in years... But I think it is a very nice little kit! All the parts fit perfectly, and the detail level is quite high, taking in mind that it is a small scale model.

I can certainly recommend it!


Bjoern

That is a good question.... I haven't seen the Tamiya 1/35, and I haven't done a lot of research on this, because I'm building this first model to test the 1/72 scale. And trying not to go into more complicated errors and changes.

As for the store box at the rear turret - I got this photo to show it to you...
It would be interesting to know if the Revell kit has the same flaws af the Tamiya kit!



Bjoern

Well, it looks that Revell kit has more correct shape of storage box. To be certain I would have to see the box in a view from above. But from your last photo it looks correct, so maybe this kit is not a Tamiya copy after all.

Rgds,
Pawel