Takom 1/35 Chieftain Mk11

[Quax]

I originally bought this to enter into the Cold War sig but a combination of the Bomber sig and someone else much better at this than me building one meant I side stepped it

These are the pictures of box and contents


















I do have the Accurate Armour barrel which will make an appearence at the appropriate time

Onto the build. I'll add (more) sprue pictures as I remove from the plastic bags

the instructions are largely clear pictograms



As is standard we start with the wheels, fortunately not as many as a panzer so it all comes together ok.







Each suspension pair is then made up, the main wheels are just pushed on and its a very tight fit....

Hull underside, the location points for the suspension isnt actually great and could do with something slightly more robust



wheels added






The biggest bugbear I have with this kit is that the gates are massive and it makes cleaning up a chore plus you still wont know how good a job you've done until its primed. This is one of two front tow hooks, putting connections on rounded parts is of itself a nightmare let alone when it takes the whole round bit for you to trim back. Some parts are also very "seamy"as you can see around the edge which is very irritating becasue some of the detail is exquisite.



the tracks are built as Magic Tracks, there are additional/optional pads but each track plate has an individual number inside which is a nice touch

[digger303]

despite the large over flowing gates it looks like a hell of a kit !

[Quax]

Progress made but I have to say that so far this has not been an enjoyable kit and had I not been building this for a very close friend I think I might have shelved it. I can't cite specifics but the gates are driving me mad... The frames around the headlights self destructed into 3 bits when I took them off the sprue so had to be rebuild on the kit.
Tracks


Sprue with the side plates, rear hull and 2 piece barrel

Pe

Hull all finished now and primed with Ultimate grey, for the first time in my short model making career the primer seemed.to react with a release agent so if you're not normally a washer then you probably should with this kit












Thanks for looking
Paul

[TheNordus]

Following this with interest as I want to pick up one of these Takom Chieftains some time in the future. You're doing a good job so far!

[Quax]

]Thanks Nordus, its just the positioning of the sprue gates and their thickness that is naffing me off and one or two instructions are Dragonesque but the detail and quality are very good.

just a final few sprue shots as I move onto the turret.







thanks for looking

Paul

[Quax]

Paul

[digger303]

I do so love the Takom molds, so sharp and they add a lot of detail.

[Quax]

Thanks Digger

Mission model paint nato green modulated by NATO black and light grey






Thanks for looking
Paul

[Quax]

Tracks on which were far more difficult than I expected and have twisted at the front





Paul

[Quax]

Tamiya NATO black








Cheers
Paul

[Donkeywalloper]

Wow
Thank you for building this beauty. I love any build of a Chieftain, but this is really good.
Excellent job

[Quax]

Thanks DW but I have to say that your Mk5 is simply superb and if this turns out half as good I'll be chuffed.



Paul

[Tomcat64]

Thick sprue gates are an absolute pain the butt but despite those you're knocking this into shape really well mate.

Have you got those recalcitrant tracks sorted out yet? Given you've got the side armour in place does that give you any leeway to hide any potential trouble behind them?

Either way the detail is superb - nice job so far!

[Quax]

Thanks Neil, it's because they've twisted going onto the front sprocket and because that's an idler it's allowed it to twist as I've got it on. More my incompetence as I really seem to have issues with magic tracks

Paul

[Quax]

Bit of touching up, decals added and sealed with alclad flatte. I have realised a boo boo, can you spot it?







Cheers

Paul

[TheNordus]

Who's that Panther in the background? Tamiya's old Ausf. A?
I went over the photos with a looking glass but I can't spot a fault, unless one of those triangle decals has silvered a bit, but it could easily be just the shadow in the photo.

[Quax]

Thanks Nordus and yes thats the old Tamiya Panther, it was the first kit I made when I started back into this about 3.5 years ago and I use it as a paint mule. You haven't found the mistake though



Paul

[Tomcat64]

Looking great Paul

And I can see anything obviously amiss either! It's not something subtle like the direction of the tracks is it??

[Quax]

Thanks Neil
The Accurate Armour resin barrel comes in two parts, the part nearest the turret is unfortunately upside down

Paul

[Kevthemodeller]

I thought I spied I Chieftain in the background of you Mk1 she's looking great Paul.

[Tomcat64]

The Accurate Armour resin barrel comes in two parts, the part nearest the turret is unfortunately upside down

It's really not noticable mate!

I guess it's going to be one of those "I know it's wrong so it's glaring at me" moments?

Could you use camo nets or something tied along the barrel (I think they did that with Chieftains) if you wanted to hide it?

[TheNordus]

Thanks Neil
The Accurate Armour resin barrel comes in two parts, the part nearest the turret is unfortunately upside down

Paul

Well I only noticed that after you pointed it out. Since it's resin, it's probably glued together with super glue, and that's notoriously easy to break off, so you could probably fix it if you really wanted? Might be a bit late now though.

[Quax]

Thanks guys, it just irks so I've been doing a bit with the kit barrel but I'm going to call it done now.












Thanks for looking

Paul

[JoaquinGM]

Great build!

But Is not it too clean?

[Quax]

Thanks Joaquin, it was built for a friend who wanted it that way

Paul

[TheNordus]

Its looking very well, makes me wish I could afford to buy me one of these.

[Tomcat64]

Nice work Paul - I like that a lot

[JoaquinGM]

Thanks Joaquin, it was built for a friend who wanted it that way

That was my first thought. that was on purpose.

[Kevthemodeller]

Another cracker Paul

[Tiger131]

Cracking build and great work on the camo came out to really nice