Challenger I

Roch Graveline tweaks Revell's 1:72 scale British Challenger 1 MBT

To see larger resolution versions of the pictures used in this article, please see the GALLERY ALBUM.

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The Challenger 1 (and the next generation Challenger 2) has been Britain's Main Battle Tank since 1982.

It's ancestry can be traced to the Chieftain and Centurion, two of the most successful tank designs of the 20th century. It's interesting to see the similar lines in the three vehicles as evidenced in the photo on page 3 of Osprey New Vanguard No. 23. However, the similarities end there. Once you study the Challenger's combat, defensive and operational characteristics, there is no denying that this is a very modern and very sophisticated armoured vehicle. It's also a very large vehicle! I had the opportunity to climb around an old BATUS Chieftain at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, and it towers over the museum's diminutive looking T-72. The Challenger is of a similar size.

This vehicle reflects the differences in armoured warfare doctrine between NATO and the old Warsaw Pact. For those who like technical specs see table below: Much has been written about the Challenger 1, and I highly recommend the following two books; Osprey New Vanguard 23, Challenger Main Battle Tank by Dunstan and Sarson, and Concord No. 7505, Challenger 1 & 2 by Bohm and Siebert. These books are relatively inexpensive and provide an excellent mix of history and technical information with the modeller in mind. Still, here are a few facts on the vehicle.

This tank may have had a very blue bloodline, but it certainly didn't have a very auspicious introduction. The vehicle originated from a combination of events and new design requirements. The fall of the Shah of Iran resulted in the cancellation of an order for 1,200 revised Chieftain (Shir Iran I), which meant the potential collapse of the British tank manufacturing sector. This coincided with the termination of an MBT design collaboration with the West Germans. At this time, NATO member nations also recognized the need for a new tank design, which could resist advanced infantry portable shaped charge weapons, such as the SAGGER missiles, and RPG rockets. A new type of armour was being developed by a British company, which could help defend against these new weapons. Later dubbed Chobham, after the town closest to its inception, it is a combination of steel alloys and ceramics. In the end, the British, West Germans and Americans all went their own way with a new MBT, all incorporating this new material into their newest tank designs. The Challenger 1 first proved to be inferior in performance to both the Leopard 2 and Abrams in its combat capabilities, culminating in a very poor performance for the vehicle at the prestigious CAT Competition. Ultimately, the vehicle required many redesigns, and it went into the Gulf War with serious questions about its reliability. However, by the end of ground operations, the Challenger 1 had redeemed itself with a proven record that it was an excellent MBT, in the tradition of the Centurion and Chieftain.

Small Scale Injection Moulded Models of the Challenger 1

Revell Germany's offering of the 1:72 scale Challenger 1 kit dates back to 1998. At that time, they brought out two versions of the MBT, one having the ERA with markings for Operation Desert Storm, and the other of a standard Mark 2 or 3 with SFOR markings. There is also an offering from Matchbox, but this is best suited for the parts box. Dragon has also introduced two excellent kits of the Challenger 2 in KFOR and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was motivated to tackle the Revell Challenger 1 when I found a very good CMK detail set at the AMPS Nationals in Aberdeen.

Even at eight years of age, the Revell kit is still a great example of the new generation of injection moulded kits in 1:72nd scale. Having been a small scale modeller for more years than I would care to admit, and having gone through all the empty years after ESCI folded, I really appreciate the quality, and quantity of injected moulded kits that are available today.

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Preparing for the build

I began this project by first studying the kit and CMK detail set, and comparing them to my reference material. For me, the best way to start a project is to set a goal right from the beginning and outline what I want to do and what I hope to accomplish. In this case, I decided I would build 'Emperor', 11 Bravo Challenger 1 MK2 Command Tank, as illustrated on Plate B of the Osprey New Vanguard 23.

Overall, some of the model's dimensions appear to be a little small for 1:72 scale, but I felt that the general shape and look of the kit is proportional, and builds into a very good representation. Also, the CMK parts will add an additional level of detail. Plus, this would be my first attempt at recreating the anti-slip finish, which is something I'd wanted to try for a while.

In the Beginning

I followed the kit instructions and started with the running gear and tracks. The insides of the road wheels were unfinished, but once built and secured to a base, this would not be visible. In some cases link and length tracks can appear chunky and lack detail, but Revell has moulded a very convincing track for the Challenger 1. I've been a big fan of this style of track since ESCI first introduced them in small scale, and I prefer them to the rubber band style of tracks (Granted the new Dragon DS Sherman Tracks are pretty good). I usually paint the road wheels, tracks and lower hull before completing the assembly. However, due to the armour skirts, I felt that it would be best to paint everything after the construction.

Installing small scale, link and length tracks can be a tedious process, but, done correctly, they will make a big difference in the look of the finished model. My work takes me on the road a fair bit, so I save wheel, track cleaning and assembly for those boring nights in a hotel room, usually accompanied by a beer and a Hockey game on the TV - and it's still boring!

I find that the easiest way to mount the link and length tracks is in this order; start with the links around the drive sprocket; add the short length from the sprocket to the road wheels; the length under the road wheels; the short length from the road wheels to the idler; the links around the idler; and finally the long length at the top. By following this order, the last connection is hidden under the skirt, so if the spacing isn't correct, you can shave down the last link and it won't show. On a vehicle with fully exposed tracks, like the T-55, I like to mount the last link under the rearmost road wheel. There is one final point on the subject of small scale tracks, and that is they're representing something, which is extremely heavy. This may sound like a painfully obvious point, but I've judged countless models where the tracks are hanging in the air, blissfully ignorant of the laws of gravity. (As Bugs Bunny once said, “But I've never studied Law?”) So I make sure that the top runs sit correctly on the return rollers. Also, as the whole tank is even heavier, I make sure that the road wheels sit firmly on the tracks. I find that the track links need to run straight from the sprocket to the idler. Of equal importance is ensuring a square run from the ground to the sprocket and idler. To help with this, I use the flat side of a 6in steel ruler, when laid-up against the tracks it helps you to see if everything is square, and since I'm using a slow drying glue, I have still have time to adjust things a little. Once I'm satisfied with the alignment I glue the drive sprocket and idler wheels to their axles.

Anti-skid surfaces

As previously noted, I wanted to try my hand at applying an anti-skid texture to the horizontal surfaces of the vehicle. If you've ever had the opportunity to climb onto a wet armoured vehicle, you'll understand just how slippery a painted metal surface can be. Generally speaking, anti-skid, or anti-slip, comes in two forms; firstly, as cleats/strips which look like sand paper but have a self adhesive backing; secondly, as a coarse gritty sand mixed into the paint. Both options help the crew to get a better footing. I wanted to show a difference in the textures, but in small scale this would have to be very subtle, as I wanted to be careful not to overdo the effect.

After reading several articles on airbrushing the anti-slip texture using Mr.Surfacer, I had a pretty good idea of how to proceed. My concern with spraying Mr. Surfacer through my airbrush was solved when I found that Mr. Surfacer 1000 became available in an aerosol can. I used Mr. Surfacer 1000 as Ifelt that the 500 grit might be too thick. My first step was to mask all of the areas that would not receive the anti-slip treatment. I cut thin strips of Tamiya Tape with a freshNo.11 blade, and applied them to all the pertinent flat surfaces, and covered the complicated and curved surfaces with Blu Tack. Some people use Play Dough instead of Blu Tack, but I prefer the rigidity of the Blu Tack, and, for very small areas, the light adhesive of this material makes sure that the mask stays in place, without leaving a residue and either material is inexpensive. I found that an inexpensive clay modelling tool, from my local craft store, also helped in the application. The whole process took about one evening to prepare.

It's very important to spray this material in a well-ventilated area, and to wear a proper cartridge respirator and not just a dust mask. Both the fumes and overspray are an inhalation hazard. I applied the coating after soaking the spray can in warm water, which helps improve the flow. I put down two light coats and then removed the masking material after it had dried thoroughly. I was pleased with the results, and as in most cases, the prep took much longer than the application.

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Hull assembly

I used a router bit in my Dremel Mini Mite to thin down the front and rear rubber mudguards. After this, I was now prepared to cement the upper and lower hulls together. I had noticed that the sponsons were open, but I had convinced myself that the skirts and panels would block this from view. I was wrong (please don't tell my wife), and a simple job of blanking off the sponsons with plastic card became an exercise in arthroscopic surgery. So, that being said, blank off the sponsons with pieces of 10 thou card 95mm x 6mm, before assembling the two halves. Otherwise, the two halves fit well with a minimum of filling at the rear.

Rear of the hull

The tools were moulded on, and whilst I would usually replace them, they looked pretty good on this kit. I carefully scribed under the edges with the back of a No.11 blade to impart a feeling of depth. This will be further accented with a pin wash later. I made the tie downs with plastic strip and fine wire and I added bolt heads made with a Waldron Micro Miniature punch and die. I use thin styrene sheeting, which was originally a sail from an old Heller sailing ship kit. I then drilled out the mounting points for the rails located on both rear hull corners. I carefully marked and drilled the holes using my Mini Mite and a carbide drill bit. I inserted a 1.5mm length of 0.015in fuse wire and secured it with Zap a Gap. For the top part of the rail, I shaped a piece of plastic card into a template, then simply formed the fuse wire along the edge of the template and cut it to length. I purchased the bits from Lee Valley Tools (www.leevalley.com). The Carbide Bit Set includes 50 assorted Drills, Routers, and Microscribes in the box. The kit comes with an assortment of sizes from .0135in to about.125in, and they chuck into the Mini Mite without any problems. I always run the drill on the low setting, and it's recommended to wear proper eye protection - when one of the bits snaps, they really go! But another nice feature of these bits is that they can be used by simply twisting them with your fingers, with no Dremel needed.

Moving to the front of the hull, I removed the moulded headlight assemblies and rebuilt them from plastic card and thin copper wire. I scratch built a horn with my punch and die, and raided an old Airfix Crusader kit for the headlights. I then drilled-out the side marker lights guards, and added a thin copper wire for the electrical conduit. It was time to tackle the front ERA add-on armour on the hull front. I found that it did not sit correctly, and I fixed this by removing the tow shackle mounting points on the front plate. This armour is secured by very large bolts, so I fabricated the mounting points and bolts with plastic card. A little more detail was added by placing a row of sandbags laid across the front of the ERA, made with Apoxie Sculpt. I've been told that these sandbags were there to make climbing over the ERA easier for the crew, as opposed to the added defence you would see on World War Two Sherman. This was my first time using Apoxie Sculpt, and I must say that it is very easy to work with. I blended the material together, let it sit for a while, which makes it less tacky and easier to work with. I rolled the epoxy into a small log, cut it to length, and placed one piece after the other, using a sculpting tool to shape it, and making sure that every bag conformed well to the surface. I wanted to make sure that they looked like heavy bags of sand.

Chobham add-on side shields

The kit directions for assembling the side armour didn't work, and the handle detail on the top was oversized, so I removed all the detail off of kit part 73 and the moulded handles. I then added spacers to the back of the plates, which set it at the correct distance from the hull. I found that the side shields leaned in towards the road wheels, which I solved by adding a length of styrene rod between the second and third, and fourth and fifth road wheels. Nothing too fancy is needed here, since it will not be visible. If you look at photos of the actual vehicle with its side shields removed you will notice that this is exactly what they do with the actual vehicle. The front mounting point was little trickier. I curved a piece of thin styrene and glued it in line with the kit mounting point. Once the armour was in place, I put a thin sheet of styrene over the gap between the hull and top of the plates, which was done on both the front and rear. There's also a bolt to hold-up the very rear of the side skirt, which was created in my usual way with card, a bit of wire and a bolt from my punch and die.

The most difficult part of the build was making all the top handles on the Chobham plates. I made a simple jig to cut styrene strip. After drilling holes in them, I threaded a fine piece of copper wire through two ends at a time and glued them into place, using the kit plates as alignment points. Once they were all in place, I added a small length of styrene strip to the front of each mounting point giving the illusion that each mount is one piece. The front rails were made the same way. The front tow cable mounting point must have interfered with the Chobham armour, so only the rear ones were used. I sanded the kit pieces to scale thickness, glued them into place and added bolt detail. The kit tow cables were unusable so I removed the collar, drilled it out, and added steel cable from a Dragon T-34 kit, followed by eyelets from the parts box. I finished it off with tie downs made with paper strips.

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Hull stowage

I wanted to match the stowage to the Osprey drawing. I used the CMK jerrycan racks, and small drum. The rope for the drum is model ship rigging. The trick here is not to try and tie the drum onto the rail. Make a knot in the string, coat it with some white glue, I like Kristal Klear for this kind of work, then wrap it around the drum, leaving a leader free. Once this has dried, glue the drum into place and sneak the leader over the rail. The two boxes were made from styrene - a block with a slightly larger piece of thin styrene sheet to replicate the lid, and a couple of tabs for latches. 'Emperor' had what appear to be pieces of tarpaulin for the side identification chevrons. These were made with a thin strip of Apoxie Sculpt, as were the extra stowage bundles.

Turret

This was my favourite part of the build. This is a very large turret with fine detail throughout and I first tackled the TOGS Barbette. This is the heart of the main gun's sighting system. The Revell kit part 58 had a simplified front face lacking any detail. Rather than simply scribe a door outline into the block, I opted to cut out the opening with a router bit, add the TOGS detailing and make a door out of card. For the inside of the TOGS, I added a simple back piece made of card, and centred a length of styrene rod drilled-out to accept an MV lens. A hinge was made from stretched sprue and the door was glued into place with an arm made from wire. The MV lens was added after painting. The CMK detail set, which first motivated me to start this project, is comprised of many highly detailed resin pieces. I removed the casting plugs with a razor saw and file and it's important to do this in a well-ventilated area and wear a good quality dust mask. The CMK parts replace all the stowage bins, including the Chieftain charger bins that fit easily into place on the left side of the turret. The extra resin bin mounted on the TOGS compressor unit came from the spares box.

As 'Emperor' is a command tank, I needed to add the stock for the Trimble GPS navigation aid, which is located at the centre rear of the turret. I first glued a styrene disk into place and after drying; I drilled a hole for the stock. Both the stock and GPS unit are pieces of styrene cut to length. Note that the top of the Trimble unit was painted white. The other feature of the command tank is the extra radio mount, which I added from an old Rocco detail set. The kit smoke dischargers were not very convincing so I punched out 10 discs to represent the covers. I also drilled out the three lifting lugs, and added a visor for the front left periscope. The recognition panel is a rolled out piece of Apoxie Sculpt. The 11B recognition plate on the rear is a piece of card. The commander's hatch was too loose in its mount, so I added a styrene disk, which trimmed it right up.

Weapons systems

The most difficult areas of the turret to correct were the main gun and searchlight on the commander's GPMG. The Challenger's main gun is 120mm, and the kit part with the mirror shroud is nicely detailed, but the mouth of the gun barrel wasn't large enough so I bored it out with a router bit. Next, the kit barrel mounted to a very simple 'axle' in the turret, leaving a gaping hole, and it was missing the co-axial 7.62mm machine gun, but at least there was the cut-out for the MG. I built a back piece for the gun and then made a canvas cover with Apoxie Sculpt and once all of this was dried, I drilled out a small diameter hole and glued in a machine gun barrel made from Plastruct. The straps for the main gun cover shroud are strips of paper, and the screws for the clamps are copper wire.

Painting

I found that Model Master 2137 British Gulf Light Stone was just the right colour for this vehicle. As with all my builds, I first washed the model in warm soapy water, and then primed it with Tamiya NATO Black XF69. I mixed the Gulf Stone with a matt white, basically tinting it down by half. I find that this is a good rule of thumb for small scale vehicles, and this has been discussed numerous times in previous articles. I then lightly over sprayed areas of the vehicle with both slightly lighter and darker shades of the base colour. Once dried, I coated the vehicle with Johnson's Future floor wax (Klear in UK) to help with the decal application and washes. Once this had dried, I applied a pin wash of mineral spirits and Burnt Umber artist's oil colour. All the stowage and cloth-like materials were painted with Vallejo Colours. The kit decals went on smoothly, but you'll need a second set to do the double '11B' on the armoured skirt, and the chevron is from Archer fine transfers. I always find it interesting how a vehicle takes on a personality once the decals are in place. The kit was then airbrushed with Model Master clear matt lacquer and as always, when airbrushing and mixing of paints, it should be done in a well-ventilated area whilst wearing a good quality cartridge respirator. In regards to the periscopes, I decided to paint them black. I know that they have laser protective coatings, but you have to ask yourself what the vehicle looks like at 72 feet. I took a close look at colour photos of the Challenger 1, and concluded that for me this would look best. I finished the vehicle by dry-brushing it with a mix of Model Master enamel 2095 Dunkelgrün mixed with white artist's oil colour.

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The Base

For years I've used Celluclay to make my groundwork, but I've never been completely satisfied with how it worked, along with the lengthy drying time. Also, it has a tendency to shrink over time, which damages the display. My local shop owner talked me into trying Aves Clay Shay, and I must admit that I was very impressed, so impressed that my bag of Celluclay went promptly into the garbage. I mixed the material as per instructions and added fine beach sandfor texture, and then trowelled it onto my styrene sheet base. While the material was drying I added impressions of tank tracks. As opposed to Celluclay, the Aves material dries easily overnight. I airbrushed the base with various shades of Tamiya sand colours and Buff XF57, and dry-brushed the whole surface. The base was fixed to an old awards plaque, and the model was glued into place.Finally, to blend it all together, I airbrushed the whole thing with glazes made-up of equal parts of Tamiya Clear Gloss X22,Model Master Acrylic Matt Clear, very small amounts of Tamiya sand colours and Buff, and a very large amount of Tamiya Thinner X20A. The final step was to add some pastels.

The Old Man

As I've noted earlier, this is a very large tank, and the best way for me to show the scale of the vehicle was by including a commander. However, I couldn't find a modern British figure, but what I did have was a Milicast World War Two British Tanker of the Western Desert. Overall, this is a nice figure, but the Milicast products have very soft detailing, and don't stand-up to the quality of the new CMK, MIG or Alpine figures. Still, I decided it would have to do, plus I thought that it was poetic justice to have an old Desert Rat in a new desert rat vehicle! I fully realized the issues of having a figure with a shirt and sweater at a time that most crews would be wearing camouflage smocks, if not NBC gear, and helmets. But, with the kill markings on the fume extractor of the vehicle, my guess was that the Osprey drawing is based on the vehicle sometime after the 100 hours battle, which would give me a little leeway here.

What I did do, however, was give him a boom microphone made of super fine wire. The headset wires were made of stretched sprue. Also, in some of the photos I'd seen that some commanders had gauntlets and a pistol in a shoulder holster; so, I added these as well with scraps of paper and British pistol from the parts box. The helmet was surgically removed from the head of an old ESCI British Paratrooper. The commander was then primed and painted in Vallejo colours.

Sins of omission

I've always said that architects cover their mistakes with Ivy, doctors with six feet of dirt, and armoured modellers with mud and stowage. This is usually to great groans from the aircraft modellers with their very perfect finishes. Oh well, they don't have to do roadwheels! In this case, the large bundles on the front of the hull hide one of the omissions from the kit. The Challenger 1 has triangle cut-outs and handles for, what I believe is a fire suppression system. These are simple enough to correct, but I didn't catch it till after the hull was assembled. You would need to make sure to put those in place by making a triangle cut 8mm at the top and 3mm wide. See the attached photo for details.

Conclusion

Overall, this build certainly ended up having more complications than I had anticipated, but it was still a lot of fun. Part of the reason for this is that Revell offers us a very sound base to start from, and it's always much easier to add detail to this kind of kit, then having to first correct major structural errors. I would like to thank Scott Passishnek of the Small Soldier Shop in Calgary for his figure painting instructions, Dan Hay, Jason Bobrowich and Neil McLeish of the Alberta AFV Modellers for research material. Also, to Steve Guthrie, and Paul Eastwood, for their modelling advice and proof reading this article.

References

Walter Bohm and Peter Siebert, Challenger 1 & 2 Spearhead of the British Royal Armoured Corps, Concord Publications 7505, 2000.
Simon Dunstan and Peter Sarson, Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-1997, Osprey New Vanguard Series 23, 1998.

Aves Clay Shay, Aves Studio Box 344, River Falls, WI 54022 USA.
Aves Apoxie Sculpt, Aves Studio.

First published in Military modelling January 2008