Challenger 2 Tamiya 1/35 and LionMarc guntube.

[heico]

For a groupbuild i am organising on a Dutch forum called 'War on Terror' i am building this Challenger 2. 



Along with that there is a Lionmarc guntube



Some cool inspirational pictures















One of the things i've noticed is the difference in 'yellow'. Personally i think the more yellow is newer because of the canvas skirts. On some pictures the colour of this is about the same as the tank. On the more yellow version it stands out. If it's true i don't know, it's just a guess. Maybe one of you knowes? 


Here are some pictures of the sprues etc.















































And the LionMarc guntube

[heico]

And then the build, it went very fast, a real 'shake and bake'!



Only had some work from the drums on the rear.



Guntube comparing





Ready for paint at this stage





Base colors





And today i started with the normal colour. First some in progress.





Fully coloured.

[Tony Thunder]

Hi Heico,

Looking good so far! I'm in for this one.

With regard to your question about colour I'm not aware of a change in UK paint colours but looking at your pics there is a lot of variation caused by differences in camera control.
I can see quite a difference in White balance and exposure.

If you look at the 5th pic down its got all kinds of variation caused by sun shadow, dust etc.

But then again did'nt one unit paint their AFV's with the RAF Sand which has a pink shade to it?

HTH

Tony

[rbaer]

Neat looking tank, and I've always wanted to build Tamiya's kit of it. Think I'll lurk....

[deafpanzer]

I am in love already! Working on Chally II right now and it is almost done. Used same Am barrel and it was a beauty!

[heico]

Thanks for joining in guys!

Dicky: I actually like the desertised skirts and front of the hull version over the normal Challenger.

Tony: I don't think it's because of colour-fading those two diferences. But i also couldn't find anything about it. Only thing i could find was this: www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/may/15/army-colour-camouflage-brown
The colour of the future!

Rbaer: I can absolutely recommend it! I build it in 2 days.

Deafpanzer: It does look much better! But i did buy it for being more easy too

[dylan]

colour me inspired, I was thinking of one after my chieftain

[jackh.]

Always ready to follow a Chally build.

[Deleted]

Heck Heico,you can count me in for a Chally build!!! Don't know that much about them,because they came into service a Loooong time after I was demobbed(Rose to the rank of 'Centurion',afore there's any smartarse comments!! )My choice to build one of these...6th reference piccie,just coming down the sand ruts,to do a left....

[Leon]

Looking really good Heico.

[wbill76]

Making great progress on this one, you may be done before Andy!

[wing_nut]

How can you look at those 1:1 photos and not want to build one. I'll have to settle for watching yours.

[heico]

Thanks guys, im thinking of the next step, to highlight or not to highlight!

[heico]

Been busy painting the smaller parts today. Started with the front id-panels. This one offcourse is the inner side of the panel for the other side



Rear panels too, these panels were painted with XF-55. The description said to use white, but i found this colour better. Painting of the panels was done freehand.



Skirts were done with Vallejo US sand. And the side id-panel. Both also done freehand.



Water-can



And that together with another jerrycan in a rack. Also you can see the base of an antenna painted black.



And some changes on the front. The tip of the guntube is now black, the fume extractor is darkgreen, the fire extinguisher red and the caps of the smoke dischargers are black.

The fume extractor was made green because i saw some pictures were they replaced some parts of the guntubed and this was done with the original green parts instead of with yellow parts. I found this will break the look.

[Deleted]

damn fine banana custard chally 2! looks great

[jackh.]

Fine progress Heico, nice look.

[wbill76]

Nice progress on the detail work Heico. The green fume extractor will definitely give it some character!

[deafpanzer]

Glad you opted to paint the fire extinguishers red too!!! I thought they looked cool too.

[heico]

Thanks guys for your comments! I am in doubt on how to continue, but this is mostly the case with me. I don't always have a big masterplan but go with my gut.

[wouter]

beautiful paintwork Heico, really looks awesome!

Cheers

[Leon]

Nice paint work Heico,looking really good.

[macmcconnell.]

Nice build and good colour great to see a chally on the go

Mac

[heico]

Thanks guys. Been busy with a bit of fading today. Also sprayed some Tamiya 'smoke' on the engine deck to make it stick out more. Looks very bad on the picture but it was sprayed freehand. Need to fix this later on. 





After the fading came the gloss and some decals. 



The longer i look at the pictures the more unhappy i am with the fading actually. I wasn't all that sure about it in the first place but figured he who doesn't dare doesn't win. Hope i can make this wrong right again. 

[deafpanzer]

Looking good... washing will blend the bast coat together. Did I ever tell you Challenger II is my new love?

[dupes]

Looking real good so far!

I would agree...these two pics in particular are plenty inspirational to me! Wish there was a way to simulate flying bricks in a dio...

Jan 8, 2014 13:01:41 GMT -5 heico said:

Some cool inspirational pictures

[wbill76]

Don't despair! Think in layers as Dicky points out. What you have now is not how it will look after you've finished the weathering.

[Deleted]

Good Work Heico!
Thanks for sharing your detailed build blog with us.

dupes: Anothe modeller simulated flying bricks in this way Chally w flying bricks

cheers
Walter

[danb.]

Great work going on here Heico your doing a superb job fella keep it up the Chally 2 is a kit high on my list but never seem to get round to doing 1

Flying bricks you say Dupes i can share on a way of doing that use soft toy or pillow stuffing as smoke or dust then attach bricks to that

I made little men fly lol





Dan B

[bullardino]

I had totally missed this marvelous build, heico. I agree with jackwagon, the fading is perfect. Filters and washes will tone it down blending it with the rest.

[heico]

Thanks gentlemen. I apreciate your kind words, it's some motivation to keep me going during this small dip