Chieftain ARRV mk 7

[wibblywobbly]

I have a KV1 lower hull sat here that was acquired as part of a job lot of tank parts. I kept staring at it and thinking 'what can I do with it'? I don't have enough bits of a KV1 to make a whole one. Someone suggested a Centurion, the hull is about the same length, but the road wheels are much larger than a KV1, so I needed something that would allow me to use the bits that I have got, with minimal additional purchases.

Well, the other post war British tank that I have always liked the look (and sound) of, is the Chieftain. Fortunately, in the box of bits were a load of brand new Bulldog/Pershing road wheels. I took a look on Google Images and realised that these road wheels are more of a match for a Chieftain than a Centurion. The Centurion wheels almost touch, whereas the Chieftain's have a space between them.

Now I know that this set up is not 'perfect', but with side armour on, it would be difficult to see them.

I bit the bullet and took the KV1 wheels off. The Bulldog wheels have a smaller axle, so I drilled out the inner wheels to fit the KV1 shafts. The KV1 shafts need shortening as the offset is different on the Bulldog. I think this may work, but it will take some doing. If I end up with a pile of plastic and dust, it hasn't cost me anything. With a bit of creative painting Bulldog tracks could also be made to look about right. The drive sprocket isn't a million miles out either (though the Sherman looks a closer match).

I also discovered, and I have no idea how the previous owner achieved this, that one of the suspension arms is on the wrong side, but that all of the arms on the other side are correct? Somehow he has managed to acquire one wrong arm and even fitted it as a non functioning suspension unit?

Of course, it doesn't have to be a 'tank', the Chieftain was used as a base for all sorts of ARV's etc.

Assume that progress will be slow on this build, there is a lot to figure out.

[hawkeye3guns]

Hi Wibbly wobbly
I used KV-1 hull with king tiger tracks and a T-34 idler on my centurion bridgelayer and they fitted in quite well, if thats any help, I'm looking forward to seeing this built as I have always liked engineering vehicles better than the tanks. I like the challedge of making them all work in minuture. keep up the good work,
regards Denzil

[971wright]

Hi Rob looking forward to this build , will be watching , your builds and Denzils are always something different.


regards pete

[wibblywobbly]

Hi Wibbly wobbly
I used KV-1 hull with king tiger tracks and a T-34 idler on my centurion bridgelayer and they fitted in quite well, if thats any help, I'm looking forward to seeing this built as I have always liked engineering vehicles better than the tanks. I like the challedge of making them all work in minuture. keep up the good work,
regards Denzil

Hi Denzil

Pete sent me a link to your bridgelayer, and as he will tell you, I think it is awesome, top job on the engineering and build quality. If I can figure out how to do it I may well go for the Mk5 Cheiftain ARV, it looks like I could have a working dozer blade as the KV1 hull is plenty big enough for servo's etc....which should keep Pete happy.

chieftainarrv.jpg (46.15 KiB) Viewed 8981 times

I will have a look at the KT tracks, I have a few link of what I think are from an HL KT...can you confirm that these are the same? The guide horns will fit the KV1 idler and slot neatly around the Bulldog road wheels and KV1 return rollers, so they would seem to be ideal. The T34 idler is smaller so would indeed look neater. Thanks for that. I assume that you had to use the KT drive sprocket?

I have been attempting to modify the the incorrect suspension arm so that it will go on the correct side of the hull. I cut the locating pin off and moved it to the other side of the arm. It is secured with metal resin, if it doesn't work I will just buy another.

I have also been cutting down the stub axles on the suspension arms to get the Bulldog road wheels in line with each other, and the idler. It's coming along, but I need a few Bulldog wheels to complete the set. Something else to add to the shopping list.... A pillar drill would have been handy to drill out the wheel centres, if this mock up works, I will buy a whole new set of 12 and do a better job, maybe even metal suspension arms if I am feeling like spending some money on this build.

RobG

[HERMAN BIX]

I have new unused HL KT plastic tracks mate, no use to me unless I need one for moulding into a display base.
If you want them, do the PM thing and let me know.
No cost, as Im sure that post to you for plastic would be bugger all.

Happy to see them get a run if you need them

[hawkeye3guns]

Hi mate
Yes they look the right tracks, and yes I did use the HL KT drive sprockets. I think I had to use a full track plus 15 links extra to make up the correct lenght on each side (without pulling a track off I can't remember exactly) Wife say's it may age On the KV hull I removed the rear section and rebuilt it completely and at the front i left the original front in for strenght and then just extended a new front out to give the correct profile, if thats any good. For the lifting rams there was a company in china on E-bay that sold minuture 600:1 6v motor/gearboxes for £4.99 each and they had a lot of torque in them and as you can see on the build thread they lifted and deploy the bridge unit okay (if I can find the company details I'll pm you with them.
regards Denzil

[Bogeyman]

Rob,

Really interested in this one, absolutely love ARVs

John

[hawkeye3guns]

Hi just seen your note about the AVR. If you look at my trailblazer build you can see how easy it is to also work the hiab using a Hl turret rotation motor and a small hobby's gear for rotation of the crane and one of the small motor /gearboxes and a lead screw to give elevation. If you want any ideas or better pictures give me a Pm .
regards denzil

[wibblywobbly]

As the Bulldog is now finished I can turn my attention to this build. I am going to have a go at the ARRV 7, as there are more pics of this on the web than previous variants. Accurate Armour do a conversion kit for the 1/35 Tamiya Chieftan, so there are lots of detailed pics of those builds I can study too. It has the Atlas crane and dozer blade, if I can get both working it will be a miracle.

It looks a daunting task, there will quite a bit of scratch building to do.

I took a look at the hull and pics of the real thing, and figured that the tracks are pretty much Bulldog style but with rectangular tracks pads so...the solution that I came up with is:

Bulldog tracks, sprocket and road wheels.
KV1 idler and return rollers.

This way extended Bulldog tracks will go straight on. The out of scale parts will be mostly hidden by the side skirts.

One set of road wheels is on, Pete is sending me some more so that I can complete the other side. The stub axles had to be shortened to fit the road wheels, which caused the inner wheels to rub on the KV1 suspension stops, so those were ground back out of the way.

The Bulldog sprocket is smaller than the KV1, so I will need to raise the gearboxes to get a straight track run across the top.

I now need to order in some more styrene sheets...and send Denzil a PM, I have a few questions...

Rob G

[mcevoyi]

Hi there rob

I already love this build ...and rob ..i believe there is a mk 7 with atlas out at blagdon with a chieftain stillbrew ,,,,,i find out as its a friends mate that owns them along with a load of other armour ,...i am totally sure it would be ok for you to go with a camera and measure stick...will find out for you

And running gear ....take a look at the hl leo 2 sprocket and tracks ...there even closer ..





Iain