British Army Chieftain Mk.5

Ron Garcia
Had this in my stash since the mid 80's and always wanted to build it - especially since I've been building a lot of multimedia British tanks lately. A nice quick weekend build. The only thing that took some time was masking the hard edge camouflage. I'm going to build Takom's Chieftain Mk.XI next and I'm sure this kit will look rudimentary next to it, but it was fun to just build an easy model for once. I can't recommend it since there are so may new versions of it out now, but if you've had it in your stash for 30 years like I did, give yourself a break and knock it out for a headache free build!

rick weller
cant find where piece a9 goes? can ya help me out?

Ron Garcia
I toss pretty much all my "leftovers" after a build but I managed to find a set of instructions on the internet. From the parts map it looks like A9 is a mounting piece for a motor. All these ancient Tamiya tanks used to be motorized so, as you probably noticed, there are gaps and holes in the lower hull to accommodate this. A9 looks like it goes over the hole on the inside of the lower hull. With no motor, it is not necessary. Hope that helps! BTW, I built one of the Takom Chieftains immediately after this and though this one may be less accurate and not as state of the art as Takom's offering, I found this build much more enjoyable - except for the fact that part E45 somehow disappeared right at the end of the build and I had to fashion a crude scratchbuilt one!

rick weller
you mean takom's model isn't as accurate as tamiyas model but its more fun to build aside from a missing piece? cuz u said takom twice

Ron Garcia
I see how my sentence looked confusing. Takom's is clearly more accurate but required more work to complete. Fun is subjective. Some may like fiddling around with small pieces, PE parts, individual track links, etc. while others like a quick clean build. For some, accuracy is of paramount importance, while for others, if it looks like it, it's good enough. I fall somewhere in between. I like the new state of the art kits but find building them sometimes becomes tedious taking a long time to complete. Older kids are sometimes clunky but usually build much faster. That's why I like to build a mix of old and new kits so I don't get burnt out. BTW, the missing piece was my fault and I'm sure it'll show up someday. Losing it in no way diminished my "fun" in building it. I was just pointing out that with model building, something always comes up near the end that throws you for a loop. This one was no exception.

rick weller
I hope my leopard 2 goes smoothly like the chieftain did

rick weller
almost done with this tank,just wondering since my directions are all Japanese,anyone come up with an extra piece on a9?i cant find where it goes at all.

Murad ÖZER
a9 is unused, you could find the english guide here https://super-hobby.com/products/Br.Chieftain-Mk.5Tank.html

rick weller
ok thanks,looked like some kind of viewport/turret piece but I looked up and down the manual and found nothing

rick weller
I cant believe I just got this model last august or this past February,and its 42 years old? had no idea.

playtime 222
Cheaper than the Takom for sure but lot's of challenges - enjoy.

carrey
Bought a thousand years ago, before any Takom company existed... 8-)

playtime 222
Hahah I got that problem too - some kits have been in the stash or half-built 40 years

carrey
I got approx 500 unassembled kits in total...

playtime 222
Hah my non-modelling friend think my 130ish is a lot but I keep telling them I'm below average On the accuracy issue, I have read it's somewhere between a 2 and a 5 but it looks like a Chieftain to me so I'm happy. The fit is good and the see-through thing isn't that bad with the skirts on and if you close the hatches. The only thing easily visible is the light coming from behind the gun barrel if anything is left open, so the short cut is to blank that off and close everything else. I went overboard on mine for the hell of it and blanked off all the holes.

JDenmark
I got a lot of enjoyment building this kit. Tamiya quality as always makes it this way.

Directions are clear and easy to understand. Pieces fit together where and how they should (I'm looking at you Italeri!!!)

Barrel is 2 piece and is the worst part of the kit: with the thermal wraps and details it is really difficult to clean up mold lines and flash.

Headlight guards are sort of clumsy. If I were to build this again I would leave the lights off until the end, as it's difficult to do a high detail headlight job on them once they're on.

There is a hole in the bottom of the hull for RC operation. Also slots inside the hull for battery/motor pack. Not noticeable if the model is sitting flat though.

Some of the external details on the turret are crude, but they can be sanded off and re-done.

Rear grille above engine compartment is good, rear of the tank is generally very nice. I guess I'm trying to say I really like the view of the tank when she's leaving!

Machine gun is poor and begs for an upgrade.

Quality: 4.7/5.0
Out of Box Details: 3.9/5.0

Scott Dutton
Getting in before the new ones arrive?

Damien Battersby
To use with Accurate Armour kit

Dieter Bihlmaier
Still a good kit I think. I built mine also with a Accurate Armor conversion kit.