Tamiya British Army Chieftain Mk5 MBT

[martin57]

very nice my man loving the new handle bending tool .

[Donkeywalloper]

Good evening all

Good to be back.
I haven't been away so to speak, I pop by every so often to see what you talented chaps and chapess are up to, but as most of you know, work and home life catches up with you and modelling takes a step back.
We moved in May 2017, and I lost my Man/Cave and with the new house, came an opportunity to build my own private den.
Mrs D/W was on board and thought a few sheckles spent on a worthwhile hobby was a good thing.
When we moved, I was all for leaving the shed behind, but Mrs Donkeywalloper, badgered me into taking it with us (good for her).
It sat for a few months in its constituent pieces whilst I had a base and an armoured power line lain.
The chaps who did our drive and rear patio with block pavers, returned to make me a substantial base.

Once the UK gave us some fair weather, Mrs DW and I set about putting up the shed and repairing any damage occurred in move
To cut a story short, power was put in in the form of lights and power sockets on a batten. The shed was insulated floors, walls and ceiling and boarded out and floor laid with carpet tiles


[url=https://flic.kr/p/28t8oQz]
Lot of flammable kit in modelling, cant be to careless.

I work in the education / facilities field, and found a battered but beautiful Teachers desk in a skip, this was rescued, sanded and oiled and is now my work bench.

The shed is my sanctuary.
I may have mentioned in past posts, that I have Bi-Polar and suffer with depression. The Bi side is my artistic bent, and I’m led to believe that many am artist, writer or thinker had Bi-Polar.
It’s got a Denon sound system, coffee machine and fridge for milk, beers and Super-Glue

It’s warm in the winter and hot in summer (something I need to sort out).


So, having been decorating as of late in the house, everything fell to the side and so modelling was reserved for a few hours a week.
I have come back to the lovely Chief.

Its been primered with the following, giving it a smooth base.

My first model when I returned to modelling in my later years.
It’s been sat in its Tamiya box now for years.
Many of you will have experienced this same venture.
I’m 53.
When I was modelling when 8 - 17 years of age. We had modelling shops and no www.
I bought models from the model shop, and was limited to Airfix, Revell and a few Tamiya’s. Items were only affordable as I was on pocket-money and a few pounds from a paper round.
Their was no PE, none of the fabulous products we all use now.
I used the Tamiya Chief as an experience in aftermarket and to get back into modelling again.
She has an Accurate Armour barrel fitted.

She is very, very laden with Eduard PE.
Accurate Armour tracks (Sort of, I will discuss this topic at length later).
Accurate Armour Clansman radio bases.


Armour Tow Cables, the original and new.

Accurate Armour Oil Drums and Water Cans
If you look through the other posts on this venerable lady, you’ll see I went wild replacing handles with wire on Bazooka Plates and generally cutting off, scraping, sanding and using copious amounts of C/A to put bended pieces of PE on her.

The A/A tracks are proving to give me a headache. Its all about Heat, Bend and Cool to shape. Not feeling it at moment and so as budget will not stretch to Fruil, I'm going to go with Runner Band Tracks supplied with kit. As 1/2 are covered by Bazooka plate, i shall have to make a great job of them.

Laters guys,
DW

[digger303]

Nice come back. Good looking shed and the kit ain't bad either.

[Donkeywalloper]

Cheers to u Digger, good to be back in the fold. Just been out in M/C with my first time with ISM Apex A/B and a bottle of Hannants XA1815 British Bronze Green laid over some AK Chipping Fluid.
Nice A/B and laid down a nice soft layer of this colour.
I'll upload some more photos soon on progress,
Take care all
DW

[alextheblue]

Hey DW, great to see you back on the site. Stepped away myself for a bit; as you say. life just gets in the way sometimes.

Loving the modelling refuge and the Chief is looking all spanky with its primer coat on!

[Tomcat64]

Great looking cave! And looking forward to seeing the resurrected Chieftain come together.

[Donkeywalloper]

Hey DW, great to see you back on the site. Stepped away myself for a bit; as you say. life just gets in the way sometimes.

Loving the modelling refuge and the Chief is looking all spanky with its primer coat on!

Alex you old (young ) devil, how the devil are you.
Life does get in the way chap, and its a pain in the proverbial doo dahs.
May I say, blokes like yourself did a lot for me when I was particualrly down and Coen, Digger and yourself kept me smiling.
I put a 1st coat of Hannants Bronze Green on yesterday, and boy its going to need filters to take the shine down a peg.
Im off for a couple of weeks now so should get some solid time in with this Brit Beaut.
Good to hear from u Alex, salut.
Mr DW.

[Donkeywalloper]

Great looking cave! And looking forward to seeing the resurrected Chieftain come together.

Neil, much appreciated.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Morning all

Hopes all well this morning.
Well before the footie last night, i applied the fantastic Panzer Putty to the Chief.
Panzer Putty really is a brilliant bit of kit .
With a kit festooned in PE, what you dont want is bits being knocked off.
The heat in the shed helped as I applied it in moulded sheets, the stuff just lay over the surfaces. All I did, was to gently push it down with the un-hairy end of a brush.
I applied Tamiya Black with a little Tamiya white added.
Sprayed throough Ultra A/B, and left till 1/2 time.
Then removed .
The Panzer Putty had started to act like melted candle wax and had dropped on to the turntable below .
Picking it off gingerly with tweezers, it left perfect soft edged camouflage .
Turret and main body done.
I shall spray the Bazooka plates when attached on to the sides.
Now to get on with the tracks, extinguishers, Jerry cans and Oil drums.
Pictures to follow, apologies as in a rush.
Thanks for reading,
DW

[digger303]

Panzer putty is actually whats called magnetic putty in kids toy shops.

[Donkeywalloper]

Evening all

Well, after a big coat of Hannants Gloss Varnish, it was on to a bit of weathering.
The usual steps of heavily diluted Burnt Sienna Oils dropped into devices and nuts and bolts.

Decals on, helped with Mr Mark range. I did have some deterioration of decals and i think this was due to age of them.




Then is was some Mig products European Dust and Warpigs Concrete pigment.




Then on with Accurate Armour Fire Extinguishers with the lovely decals.
The Accurate Armour Water Cans and Oil Cans are beautifully detailed.













It needs a coat of Matt Varnish and some more work on pigments, around the Fire Ex and i'm going to have a bash at a Milliput Tarp.
The Ariel whips and then purchasing some Resin Crew from Accurate Armour to finish off.
Hope your all well this evening,
DW

[Quax]

this is crazy good DW, and a triumph of ability over adversity. Looking at the (almost) finished article no one would believe theres an old Tamiya kit underneath

Paul

[Tomcat64]

I've really not been paying attention recently - that's some cracking work DW, the weathering is superb!

[darrengreenwood]

Excellent work on this Tamiya classic.