Tamiya Cr2 Desertized.

[rbaer]

I've had most of the stuff to do this for a while, not that much is required. The Tamiya kit is solid, and I'll probably keep this nearly OOB. I have an Accurate Armor (Armour?) turret that I may use, or use as an example to improve the Tamiya turret. Not sure yet. If I use the AA turret , I'll need the stowage bins and boxes since AA modeled them as separate parts, but I have a Trumpeter kit for those if I need them.
Lucky me, Sprue Bros put the Rye Field Models tracks on sale and I already had some old Eduard PE.
Ingredients:
IMG_4273 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4274 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4275 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I got motivated to do this from a pic in this book:
IMG_4279 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Specifically this one, reproduced here for illustrative purposes only:
IMG_4277 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
It's missing all the rubber parts on the fenders and additional armor, and it looks like I could do some heavy weathering and be accurate. I like it a lot. So I had the Tamiya lower hull knocked together in a couple of hours, and one side of the RFM tracks done in about the same. The RFM tracks are a great fit on the Tamiya sprockets, only three parts per link and RFM's recommended 79 links are a good fit. I tried 78 links and they were too tight for comfort.

[Tojo72]

Will be a nice project.

[stikpusher]

Apr 30, 2024 17:11:51 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Will be a nice project.

^
What Tony said. 

[lyle]

What they said!

[handiabled]

I'll be following along with this one

[rbaer]

Quickie update: Tamiya lower hull pretty much assembled itself, to be expected. Then I got into some tracks. I used to RFM jig and went to town, getting one whole run done in and evening. It took longer to prep the parts (three per link, not bad) than it did to assemble them. I like them, easy to assemble, and I only got glue into one non-glue area, good for me. The tracks appear to be pretty strong and fit the Tamiya sprockets perfectly. My only "complaint" is very minor and has more to do with the fact that I'm using RFM tracks on a Tamiya kit, and that is this: RFM says 79 links per side, which is what I ended up doing, leaving the tracks looser than operationally sound. so I tried 78, which made them too tight. Of course the RFM kit has adjustable idlers, and the Tamiya kit dose not. I could have cut the idler mounts off and fiddled them, but I'd be chasing clouds since this tank has full side armor, leaving the top run of tracks hidden. I'm happy.
Pic shows one run finished, hull rear about 80% done. IMG_4281 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I also decided I'll probably stick the Accurate Armor turret back in the stash since it's a very minor improvement on the Tamiya part. If I was going to show the tank with the stowage boxes opened up for maintenance it would be necessary, but that's not in the plan. All I really need to add to the Tamiya turret is anti-slip.

[handiabled]

Are the Rye Field tracks fairly easy to work with?

[rbaer]

Yes they are: each link is three pieces and the jig speeds it up nicely. The worst part is getting all the pieces ready to assemble. Once that's done, they go together pretty quickly. I spent about 45 minutes getting ready to assemble 79 links, then about 30 doing it.

[ossie262]

Hi
Interested in this one .
Been up close and personal to challenger 2. Worked on and driven CRARRV and a bit on Challenger 2 but later then GULF WAR.

[rbaer]

May 4, 2024 2:52:08 GMT -5 ossie262 said:

Hi
Interested in this one .
Been up close and personal to challenger 2. Worked on and driven CRARRV and a bit on Challenger 2 but later then GULF WAR.[/quote
I'll try and keep you entertained.. Speaking of, I just got my AFV Modeller, saw your Cents in there, congrats!

[rbaer]

Trackage:
IMG_4285 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4286 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
The side I did tonight is only 78 links. It fit ever so slightly loose, so I tried it on the other side and it was perfect. So I took the run I did a few nights ago, removed one link and tried it, getting a good fit there also. It shouldn't be any different since this thing has hydrogas suspension units that are spaced directly opposite each other side to side. Must be how I put the idlers on. And I had another bright idea while doing the second run: instead of using this to apply glue, sometimes getting too much into a very specific area
IMG_4289 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I put some of the same stuff in here:
IMG_4290 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Should have done that a LONG time ago.....

[rbaer]

Skirt armor ready, extra fuel drums "converted" to dry storage, mounts ready.
IMG_4303 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4302 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Scuse the fingers. I really hate covering up those lovely tracks.

[handiabled]

The tracks look fantastic!

[rbaer]

May 12, 2024 2:51:35 GMT -5 handiabled said:

The tracks look fantastic!

I didn't think they would be that much improvement over the kit tracks, but I'm convinced now. I'll be using a set of RFM tracks on an upcoming Leo 2 build as well. They really do add something to the model.

[dupes]

Mmmmmmm...that reference pic vehicle is tasty!

[rbaer]

May 12, 2024 18:47:46 GMT -5 dupes said:

Mmmmmmm...that reference pic vehicle is tasty!

Isn't it though. It's got that "rode hard put up wet look" down nicely.
I've been doing anti-slip on the hull top before I add details and getting some other sub-assemblies together, along with the engine cover details. I forgot I had an Eduard etch set for this, not much of it's an improvement on the kit parts though.

[rbaer]

Anti slip is coming along, using MrSurfacer cut with MEK. I do it right next to the open window.
IMG_4305 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I removed all the molded on representations of grab handles and replaced them with plastic or wire.
IMG_4304 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

[handiabled]

I'm looking forward to seeing the anti-slip texture with color on it

[rbaer]

It's rather faint, but then so is the actual stuff on these tanks. It's most apparent on the turret where the bin lids don't have it and the rest of the turret does.
In the pic below of my first Cr2 build, I did the same thing. Gray is "anti-slip" and the green is untextured kit plastic.
IMG_3714 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

[deafpanzer]

Now it is looking pretty cool! Are you planning to not add the fuel drums because I like how they look now.

[rbaer]

Not sure Andy. If I build it as it would be on patrol, then no, no fuel drums.

[rbaer]

Honey, does these exhaust shrouds make my butt look fat?
IMG_4316 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Tamiya's PE screens are good stuff, they have the correct honeycomb pattern. I could have saved my money on the Eduard PE as I haven't used any of it yet.
IMG_4317 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
There's a few bits to do on the front of the hull and then it's turret time.

[rbaer]

Very few things soothe the soul like modeling, but when it gets a little tedious, I can always go back to a Tamiya kit, specifically this one. It's maybe not as "good" as the RFM kit but it sure goes together easy. I have the turret nearly complete, just needing to finish up the anti-slip before I add the rest of the detail bits.
IMG_4328 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4329 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
About all I'm doing other than pure assembly is deepening the panel lines between the various storage boxes on the turret rear. The real thing shows some interesting differences in alignment as all the bins are hinged and swing away for turret systems access. I'm trying to replicate that since Tamiya tooled the turret as one big piece.

[handiabled]

Looks to be coming along great Russ. What are you using for the anti-slip texture?

[rbaer]

Jun 11, 2024 2:26:33 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Looks to be coming along great Russ. What are you using for the anti-slip texture?

On this one I'm using some very old MrSurfacer cut with MEK as it dries out and some older Tamiya white putty, lightly stippled on. It seems to work well for the modern British coatings.

[rbaer]

I'm just about done except for two things, both biggies. The first is: what do I do with the aux fuel drums. Leave them off, use the kit parts as is, use the kit parts with one end of the barrel open and full of dry stowage or leave them off entirely. The big deal is should I try using the PE ratchet straps that hold the things on. And the second thing is how do I make the giant camo net that these things almost always have rolled up and draped over the front of the hull and halfway down the sides. I've seen some done well and some not so well. Anyway, pics so far show the basic work done. Not all the bits are in the pics but they're close by and ready to paint. Side and fron armor is just hanging on for pics, will be apinted separately.
IMG_4332 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4333 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4335 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4334 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I pinned the hatch hinges for fun, pretty sure I want to use the kit figs, but I go through figure painting phases and I'm not expecting another "episode" for a while yet.

[rbaer]

I'm still modeling, really.... Fuel barrels are on. I used some barrels from Diopark, PE straps from Eduard and I shaved the ratchets off of the Tamiya kit barrels. I did not even attempt the PE ratchets. Also done is the wiring for the headlights, after I mounted the nose armor. Paint so far is to get into the nooks and crannies, done before I added the detail stuff, and after to check for booboos.
IMG_4338 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4339 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I hate painting.

[deafpanzer]

Everything really looks great especially the anti-slip texture on it!!! Glad to see that you are still among us too!

[kyledehart5]

That's looking mighty good!

[406 Silverado]

You don't skip a beat with these great builds of yours Russ. Haven't noticed this one until now but I'll be bookmarking it so I don't miss any further updates. Love all the detailing that you put into your builds.