Modeller Build Logs

Converting a Trumpeter Challenger 2

I have been taking a "break" from building models for some years. This March, during the SARS outbreak, I stayed at home most of the time. One day I came across some Trumpeter kits in a model shop. They are around $8-9 each. It was the first time I heard about Trumpeter. I saw that the moulding quality was not bad, much better than I would have expected from a Chinese manufacturer. I bought 3 of them, namely the S-tank, the AS-90 and the Challenger 2. Among them, the S-tank went quite good. But the 2 others are bitches to build. Parts just couldn't get together, and some of the parts just didn't make any sense to me. Remember, I was grown up in a plastic factory literally, I don't understand why some parts of the models were to be divided like that, and some of the parts were quite good, while some others were so bad. Later I know the reason, after talking to some dealers. Among them, the Challenger 2 gave me most problems. It took me a few days to get the turret done. Then I finished the whole thing, and spray it with sand colour. I thought it would be good to turn it into a Op Telic versions I saw on the news. Then I worked on some other projects. Last month I learn that AA has launched an Op Telic upgrade for this kit. I have done a review on this set. Then I started to work on it. At first I was thinking about getting a new Challenger 2 kit, as it only cost US$9 here. But I remember how many days I have spent on the turret along, and I don't want to go through that again. So I decided to take the finished one apart, and do the upgrade on this finished one.