Hail To The Chief

Historical Background

The Centurion tank, despite being one of the most successful post-war tank designs, was not seen to have an ideal firepower to deal with the heavy IS-3 and T-10 tanks, armed with a 122mm gun. In 1955, the British fielded the 64-ton Conqueror heavy tank armed with a long 120mm gun but its mobility left something to be desired. A more mobile tank, with similar or heavier armament as the Conqueror was needed. In 1956, Leyland Motors built their prototypes of a new tank design which led to a request by the War Office for a Centurion replacement, known as Medium Tank No.2. The specification drew on the experience of the Centurions tanks during the Korean War as well as the operation of the Conqueror. It was expected to engage the enemy at long range from defensive position and proof against medium artillery. The gun therefore need to have a depression angle of more than 8 degrees, achieve a firing rate of 10 rounds per minute in the first minute of an engagement and 6 rounds per minute in the next four. It also needed to have a new, thicker, sloped frontal armour.

Design of FV 4201, as the vehicle is now designated, started in 1958 and the first prototype was ready in 1959. From 1961 to 1963, a further six prototypes and 40 pre-production vehicles were built. These were extensively used in troop trials, identifying changes needed for full-service vehicles. To assist in engine cooling and reducing engine vibrations, the rear deck was redesigned. This however increased the vehicle's weight, so that the suspension had to be strengthened. Track pads were also added to reduce damage to roads while increasing ground clearance. During the later stages of development, Israel was invited to join the programme with an eye for an Israeli purchase and licence-building the Chieftain (as the FV 4201 was named). The British decision of not to sell the Chieftain to Israel resulted in the latter leaving and pursuing their own tank development programme (eventually emerging as the Merkava). The Mk. 1 of the Chieftain was accepted for service in May 1963 with operational units receiving the Mark 3 in 1966.

The original Mark 1 was powered by a Leyland L60 two-stroke diesel engine designed for multi-fuel use but it proved unreliable and underpowered. Issues with the engine and the overall weight resulted in a high rate of breakdowns of the Mark 1 during exercises. In 1967, the power rating was increased but never fully resolved the problem. In 1974, the so-called 'Belzona' variant of the engine increased power output to 850 hp, improving the road, but not cross-country speed. The main armament was the 120 mm Royal Ordnance L11A5 rifled gun firing separate-loading ammunition. The propellant charges were encased in combustible bags, stored in 'wet' storages. 64 rounds were carried, comprising of HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) and APDS (Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot) rounds. Secondary armament consisted of a co-axial L8A1 7.62 mm machine gun and an L7 7.62 mm AA machine gun in the commander's cupola.

The initial fire-control system consisted of a Marconi FV/GCE Mk.4 12.7 mm ranging machine gun mounted above the main gun. The ranging gun was ballistically matched to the main armament and have a maximum practical range of 1,800 meters. On the left side of the turret was a large searchlight which can be fitted with an infra-red filter. The ranging machine gun was replaced with Barr and Stroud LF-2 laser rangefinder from Mark 3/3 onwards. This was later replaced with a Marconi Improved Fire Control using a digital ballistic computer. The Chieftain also introduced the supine driving position which lowers the overall height while allowing a more sloped front hull, improving protection. In the 1990s, in addition to the IFCS, the Chieftain received the 'Stillbrew' armour package (named after a Colonel Still and Mr. John Brewer of Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment) while the searchlight was replaced with a TOGS (Thermal Observation Gunnery Sight). The Chieftain was produced in several variants. Marks 1 through 5 were original versions with the later marks being rebuilds and upgrades of the original versions. Mark 11 was the last operational version of the Chieftain, incorporating the changes mentioned.

The Chieftain, like the Centurion before it, enjoyed considerable sales in the Middle East but unlike the Centurion, was not adopted by NATO (who mainly bought German Leopards) and Commonwealth countries. Chieftain users in the Middle East were Iran (the largest), Iraq (who operated captured Iranian examples during the Iran-Iraq War), Jordan (who designated their Chieftains as Khalid Shir - they were ex-Iranian order for an upgraded Chieftain variant, basically a cross between the Chieftain and its successor, the Challenger), Oman and Kuwait. Iranian Chieftains were used against Iraq with mixed results due to chronic engine problems and lack of spare parts. Kuwaiti Chieftains saw action during the Battle Of The Bridges against elements of the Iraqi Hammurabi and Medina Guards Divisions on 2 August 1990.

The Kit

Takom was a new company, being established in 2013 with the Soviet Obyekt 279 heavy tank being their first kit. After a number of World War 1 and unusual / less kitted vehicles, they came up with three Chieftain kits in 2015 - Mk. 5/5P, Mk.10 and this kit. The medium grey-moulded parts were spread among seven sprues, upper and lower hulls, one-piece turret and shell and turret bottom, separate track pads, brown-moulded separate (and loose) track links, a PE fret, two poly caps and a vinyl mantlet cover. All the parts are very well-moulded featuring sharp and intricate details. The diagram in the instructions are CAD drawings but looks clear and not confusing. A small addendum sheet is also included. The decal sheet provide markings for five vehicles:

1. 5th Iniskilling Dragoon Guards, British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS), Canada (2 vehicles)

2. That famous 'Unknown Unit', BATUS

3. Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Germany

4. A Sqn, 1 Royal Tank Regiment, Tofrek Barracks, Hildesheim, Germany 1992

As with the Marks 5 and 10 kits, the majority of British Army markings option were from BATUS. I just wish there were more BAOR marking options.

Construction

Before I start, I must mention that the kit's sprue gates are quite thick and square, requiring a bit more care. As with many other vehicle kits, construction started with the suspension units. The thick sprue gates almost made me broke the shock absorber arms on the front pairs of the Horstmann suspension. On other thing, I might be just me but Tamiya cement took a bit of time than usual to weld the parts together so I resorted to superglue for certain parts. The diagrams are also printed downside up so might want to have it well, upside down so that the images were oriented 'correctly'. Apart from that, there wasn't any problems with the lower hull and the suspension. Some might have an issue with the moulded springs as they look way simplified. The outer wheels was a multi-part affair to maximise details. The inner wheel on the other hand was a one-piece affair with less detail. Well, they would be mostly hidden from view, so why bother?

The instructions have you attach the rear hull plate to the lower hull after the tracks were put in place and after dry-fitting, I decided to do so as there won't be a good enough space to work the tracks if the rear plate is in place prior to the tracks. Takom has the track links already removed from the sprue a la Dragon's Magic Track. The track pads were however separately moulded. I took the route of least resistance by leaving the top run altogether as the side skirting would be in place, hiding the area from view. The tracks were not cemented to the wheels at this time in order to paint them and they were also separated into three segments to ease handling. In the meantime the wheels were removed and I painted the lower hull. When the tracks have cured, I painted them XF-64 and later washed them using AK Interactive Track Wash. The track pads were painted Tamiya XF-63 German Grey and were then then cemented into place. The cut scar was then retouched. The three segments for each track run was then cemented together and fitted to the wheels.

The upper hull was then cemented to the lower hull assembly. Logically, the rear plate was cemented first to make a stronger assembly before further work. The engine air filter(?) / exhaust system box on the rear plate was next and here the first PE part was encountered. The exhaust pipes themselves are of a split design with seam problems but the seams were mostly hidden from view by the stowage boxes on the mud guards. The spare tracks were left off at this time. Moving to the front of the hull, holes were drilled as indicated. The raised details on either side of the driver's vision block need to be removed but since my hobby chisel is too wide for this particular area, the cut wasn't clean. It actually didn't matter as the area was later covered by the add-on armour. Storage boxes were assembled but the fit was not great. The headlight brush guards were split into three parts and the best way to assemble them is by cementing the posts onto the hull first followed by the central bars, aligning them as you go. Oh, add the splash guard support strut before you do anything with the light guards - it was easier that way.

As for the turret, Takom has you add all the details first before joining the turret halves together. From past experiences, this may lead to broken parts. So the turret main body was assembled first. But before that the gun mount was assembled and put into place. I found that it was quite hard to get the turret shell to fit through the soft vinyl gun mask (but as usual, it might just be me) but in the end it was all OK. Nevertheless there was a sizeable gap around the gun mantlet which was quite fiddly to fill and sand. The well-detailed gun barrel is a two-piece affair and needed care in assembly to avoid ugly seam lines (and I took time admiring the details!). Before doing anything else (and hence forget about it later on), the addendum sheet was consulted and the not-needed detail was removed. After consulting various photos on the internet, I also removed the mounting for the rotating beacon on the turret roof (I believe the beacon was part of the 'laser tag' system used in maneuvers only and I wanted to have the model in 'combat-ready' posture...but the I might be wrong). The rest of the turret assembly went on without a problem, except for the stowage bins, which are a bit fiddly.

Painting and Decalling

I have decided early in the build not to finish this model in the BATUS scheme and leaves me with just the two BAOR schemes. Both schemes have NATO Green as the base colour and so Tamiya's XF-67 was used. I originally wanted to finish the model in the Royal Scots marking scheme, as it was single-colour and faster to finish. But I was having second thoughts about it, as most of my post-WW2 tank models are of single-colour schemes and adding another monotonous vehicle might not really a good idea. And so, the 1 RTR Chieftain it will be. The disruptive pattern was painted using Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black. However, during painting, I found that the pattern on the side and top elevations did not match. Turning to the internet, I found the build log of a modeller building the same kit and I copied the pattern he used on his Chieftain. The thermal sleeve was painted a mixture of XF-57 Buff and XF-49 Buff while the straps were painted straight XF-49.

The few decals were applied. They adhere with no problems although I still apply AK Interactive's decal setting solution, just in case. I deviated a bit from the instructions by placing a Union Jack on the front left fender. It wasn't on this particular tank but I have seen photos of other 1 RTR Chieftains sporting them. It might not be accurate per se but it was possible.  

Finishing

To tell the truth there aren't many things to do by this time, and mainly it was concerned with further weathering. The commander's machine gun mount was assembled and finally put in place and followed by the towing cables. As many photos, and also mentioned by the said modeller above (who was a Chieftain tank commander) showed the absence of the side-view mirrors, they were left off permanently. No other accessories were provided with the kit and I have run out of British accessories in my stash. I however managed to try some other methods to create camouflage nets. I tried to replicate the type usually used by the NATO armies by using the regular bandage gauze as base and adding tea leaves from used teabags. However the brand I drink has been using granulated leaves without me realising it. The gauze was soaked in white glue and the contents of teabag was poured onto it. Since the tea leaves are granulated rather than pieces of broken leaves, they look weird, to say the least. Nevertheless I used them.It was painted XF-49 Khaki , and then folded and placed onto the left-hand side turret bin.

No paint chippings were done as the same modeller said that these tanks were regularly repainted and that tank crews were not wearing hobnailed boots. I however made the model look dusty by applying thinned XF-55 Deck Tan all over it (I have run out of the usually used XF-57 Buff but found Deck Tan to be a very good substitute).  The lower glacis plate and part of the forward portion of the RPG skirt was then washed with AK Interactive Mud Wash. The exhaust nozzles receive a rather thick wash of X-19 Smoke. Finally guitar string was used as radio aerials although I manged to cut the one shorter than the other. The shorter one was used on the turret roof while the other was used on the turret side. As the model has already looked as flat as it is, I did not finish the build by spraying a final layer of flat finish.

Conclusion

This was my first Takom kit and frankly speaking I was quite impressed with it. While originally buying the kit with some reservations, having images of 1000+ parts a la Hobby Boss and Meng kits dancing in my mind, the build process was more akin to a Tamiya. In general the parts fitted nicely while having fairly respectable details. Painting directions however was a bit 'off' and I wish Takom had more BAOR markings. Well, at least it was better than their Mark 10 kit which featured an Abrams stand-in for a popular TV show and a static target at BATUS (yes, a static target waiting to be blasted by Challys, what was Takom thinking?).