Matthew Quiroz (aka red4) presents his build of the 1/35 Tamiya Chieftain with a combination of Eduard and On The Mark PE sets.



British Chieftain

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Great build, Mark. Love the subtle dusting on the side panels and the way that the dust has been "scratched".

Thanks for sharing

nice build please could you tell me where the camo is from as all chieftain's i have seen are black and green. I ask as i like the look of this colouration.

looks like the Camo we use in BATUS, The British Army Training Unit Suffield, Alberta, Canada.

Been deploying there since the early/mid 70s.

Andy

Very nice. Well done!

Thanks for the comments guys. Honestly, the camo is from what I could gather from the box art. Britsh Dark Green and I want to say dark earth. I looked online, but couldn't find anything that I liked....is it correct? You're guess is as good as mine :-) I just like the way it came out. Thanks again to all for the comments. "Q"

The colours are pretty good for a late 1970s, very early 1980s BATUS Chieftain.

One thing that is missing is the white inverted V on the turret...referred to as "45s" as they are at a 45 degree angle from the center of the turret. They are used by the commander during live fire exercises to ensure no friendly vehicles are in the safety arc of the tank.

There should be no muzzle reference sensor on the barrel end as this is an early Mk.5 tank as depicted in the kit.

Just as a marking note...the call signs were also applied to the turret rear on BATUS tanks....I know they are not supplied in the kit decals.

Always good to see BATUS tanks being modelled.

I was told this earlier, but couldn't resist adding it after finding the PE parts in the On The Mark Models set. It just looked too cool. Thanks for the info on the markings. I may go back and put the rest on now that I know where/what they are. Thanks for the info. "Q"

OT Warning!



Jason,
I hadn't seen that quote from HIllier before, but it just rocks. Killing people isn't pleasant thing, but for the first time in a loooong time, there is a Canadian CDS who is willing to tell people that our army isn't just for getting Torontonians out of the bloody snow.

I knew if they let a Newf do the job, it'd be done right! :-)

Paul

Hi guys,

Well done its a good model, also the vehcile zap number is missing from the front of the first baz plate at the front.

Pete

Pete, clue me in as to what this is, as I'm lost. Will add it to my mental file cabinet for future builds. Thanks. "Q"

Actually, the early Mk.5s at BATUS, as modelled, did not use ZAP codes on the tanks. I have an image taken in the late 70's/ early 80's of a basic Chieftain Mk.5, callsign T34B, and it has no ZAP codes. The callsign 34B on the turret rear is painted on the flat portion of the NBC filter housing.

The ZAP codes are either a three or four digit number assigned to each vehicle. They are used for exercise and safety reasons to specify callsigns and the tank crew members. There are specific ZAP codes assigned to each tank beyond the regular callsign. They run in both numerical series for seniority and for which tank Troop they belong to.

In an exercise or range safety situation at BATUS a ZAP code can be broadcast on the radio and a master list tells who may have suffered and injury or fatality without actually broadcasting names.

Got it. We have something similar here in the US. Called battle roster numbers. Same use for the most part. Thanks again for clarifying that for me. "Q"

Is the engine deck and NBC filter of the Tamiya kit correct for an early Mk.5? The Tamiya kit seems to me to be a Mk.3.

Another thing about the MRS. There should be a small box to the left of the gunner's sight hood for the light source of the MRS. George Forty's book says it is the PRI, but Griffon's book implies that the PRI is internal only (to show the gunner's reticle in the commander's sight).

I have Forty's, Griffon's, and Dunstan's Cheiftain books and none have concrete details of external changes from version to version. *sigh*

The Projector Reticle Image (PRI) was indeed an internal component used so the commander could monitor the gunners lay and if need be correct it by projecting the gunners graticule pattern into the commanders sight.. The MRS light source was the box to the left of the gunners sight just off the centreline of the barrel which bounced a high intensity light off the MRS mirror into the gunners sight so he could carry out sight adjustment between firings.

Max

All the Chieftain tweaks are a bit confusing but it sure looks nice no matter what Mk it is. I'll be starting a Mk11 Stillbrew & TOGS kit soon and I need to review the Chieftain tweak list(http://www.onepointed.com/dan/model/ChieftainTweaks/) so I can include the early Mk revisions.

A lot of good info about BATUS as well. Are there any books on BATUS exercises?

Paul

Paul,
Many thanks for the link for Chieftain Tweaks. Sure are a LOT of them even just for a plain Mk3!

nice build. well done!

Very nice build. Not often you see the Chieftain. Its a beautiful tank.

Well done.

Very nice Chieftain

regards
Gulumik

Hi Jason,

I was just reading your post and you mentioned the term "zap code". Could you please explain to me what a zap code is.

Many thanks.

Michael Spivak
My email address is [email protected]

Matt-- what brand and colors did you apply? Also, what color did you use for the dust effect? Very nice, detailed work.
Thanks
DJ