Hi all,

i have just started adding the decals to a tamiya challenger that i am building in the MBT Campaign and there are some decals that are not used and on the instruction sheet it doesn't mention them. i would reckon it's for another variant used by the UK in the first gulf war but there are only two decal options.

They appeaer in black and look like "II C" can anyone shed any light on these please.

Other than that no idea. websearch says its from pintrest.on another copy of the pic says 7th armoured brigade?

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/UK/FV-4030_Challenger-I.php

Hi!
The decals are a mix of Desert Storm and UK/NATO.

19 is a marking that often goes to the rear of the vehicle instead of the black/white convoy stripes. (UK/NATO)

10 are two labels for the GPMG´s ammunition boxes

9 are red jerboas which are the emblem of 7- ArmdBde (DS and post DS UK/NATO)

8 are two labels for fire extinguishers

21 is a coalition marking of DS

12 is a MLC sign (should be grey)

All the IIC are DS markings

All triangles are UK/NATO call signs.

I suppose you would look for pictures of a specific vehicle that you want to build and orientate on that.

Good luck, Andreas

"11C" - "One One Charlie" - will be the individual tank's radio call sign. This will (I think) have a further prefix when in use - ie over the air - but that would be classified and only known to the unit operating the radio net. The vagaries of British radio usage is pretty complex and I cannot recall as much as I would wish, but I am sure some of the former Royal Armoured Corps modellers will come to your rescue shortly.

Brian

I find it ironic that the only problems I am having with this kit are the decals but I blame myself. firstly I should have researched the subject more than relying on tamiya but I figured it would be reasonably easy at this stage. I have gone with the only desert war option on the instruction sheet.


I have also experimented using tamiya acrylic thinners as a decal setting solution which works quite well but does cause the decals to break, so you need to have them aligned and then brush it over them. oh well it's just another learning day at the school of life

Call sign One One Charlie, standard UK call sign which doesn’t give the unit away I’m afraid, designed that way for Opsec reasons.
It’s also an incomplete call sign as the prefix is missing, that is decided on a day to day basis during my time by using Batco.

As Andreas has pointed out, when present, the MLC should be grey:


One-One-Charlie was a vehicle of the 7th armoured Brigade in Operation Granby (British name for Desert Shield). The vehicle registration number missing from your sheet 78KF84 (I presume the one you used!) is the number of this vehicle. From Concord's Operation Granby book:


As also pointed out, it has no real reference to unit designations as One-One-Bravo "Churchill" a more well known vehicle (Bovington has a Challenger in these markings) is not 7th Armoured but Queen's Royal Irish Hussars!

Peter,

the second picture that shows the number plate for IIC vehicle means that the tamiya instructions appear to be wrong when it comes to the unit markings as they have a white number "40" on the side armour and one of the storage boxes that are located on the turret.

there also appears to be quite a few variations in how storage boxes on the turret are located as well as different types used.

I believe there are decals for 2 different "Desert Scheme" and one NATO scheme in the kit, hence the 3 different vehicle registration numbers. On the side of the box is the layout for IIC, on the cover is the one you have stated. The instruction booklet only shows one of each scheme, IIC is not shown.