Introduction

The Chieftain Main Battle Tank when developed was the best armed and armoured tank in the field, but it was let down by an unreliable multi fuel engine designed by Leyland. Regardless of the reliability issues the Chieftain was still a good tank that remained in service with the British Army from the 1960’s and phased out in the 1990’s. The Chieftain tank introduced the reclined drivers’ position which enabled highly sloped frontal armour and the rifled barrel allowed accurate shooting even on the move. Meng Model has released a Mk 10 Chieftain in 1/35th scale and it is good to see another new release in the Chieftain tank family.

Review

As I am going to build this and add my progress on the site this will be a quick oversight of the model. Packing wise the box is very full with sprues individually bagged on most occasions; duplicate sprues are always packed together. This method did result in me finding a return roller with the locating pin broken off. Parts access is good for parts removal, but I am finding the plastic a little soft in places which can easily result in damage. The instructions are well written and clearly show you the parts placement and remaining uncomplicated.

The moulded detail is good but I am finding some elements have a sense of being over engineered, with a single wheel station needing 9 parts to complete. Assembly is made more difficult due to the liberal use of the gates connecting to the mating surfaces of the parts. The barrel is a split in two halves which is something I do not like seeing anymore and I am wondering if the Accurate Armour offering will fit. The working tracks have been well considered with limited connections plus a stable jig to install the pins. You will get a better idea of this engineering and detail during the build.