AMX 30/120 "Mamba" uparmoured Medium tank.

chrisonord · October 17, 2009, 09:21:45 AM

I have built 4 of the Heller 1/72nd scale AMX 30/105's now for my Honduras task force, 3 of which were just OOB, so I thought to myself, hmm?
New bigger gun barrel, Side ERA, front ERA, Turret ERA and upper hull ERA. That done and some side skirts fitted also incorporating some ERA, and a stores bin fitted to the rear of the hull, made from brass rod. The turret gained 2 new sighting systems, one similar to that fitted to the M-1 Abrams, which allows it to find and range a target whilst firing at another, laser range finder on the barrel, and an infa red/ thermal image intensifier fitted on the mantlet, where the old sight used to be. Coaxial gun in turret replaced with a .50 cal, and the roof mounted gun is now also a .50 cal.
The original exhaust cans were replaced with I.R and sound suppression units.
Here are some pics of the finished tank, with a standard one sat next to it for comparison.

Cheers,
Chris.

dy031101 · October 17, 2009, 01:11:13 PM

Replace the commander's .50 cal. MG with a FN MAG and it wouldn't look out of place with a Israeli marking.

Nice work.

chrisonord · October 17, 2009, 01:42:23 PM

Quote from: dy031101 on October 17, 2009, 01:11:13 PM
Replace the commander's .50 cal. MG with a FN MAG and it wouldn't look out of place with a Israeli marking.

Nice work.

Can you get them in 1/72nd scale??. The .50 cal is a lot more substantial than what was on there to begin with though.
The next one of these I find will be an anti-aircraft version, as my Honduras vehicles are missing a dedicated anti aircraft platform.
Cheers,
Chris.

Sauragnmon · October 18, 2009, 02:48:47 AM

She looks good, Chris, keep up the beautiful work!

dy031101 · October 18, 2009, 11:23:18 AM

Quote from: chrisonord on October 17, 2009, 01:42:23 PM
The .50 cal is a lot more substantial than what was on there to begin with though.

Commander's machine gun is mostly considered as an anti-aircraft defensive weapon, but Israeli tank folks tend to be more concerned with shooting at gunmen hiding in buildings or around street corners than at any aircraft.

Come to think of it, the French seem to use 7.62mm MG as commander's weapon as well...... although I'll leave the reason why to the more knowledgeable.

General Zod · October 18, 2009, 04:52:16 PM

Chris

Sharp looking tank

ysi_maniac · November 11, 2009, 07:35:35 AM

Love this model

Weaver · November 11, 2009, 08:39:30 AM

Thats a looker Chris, and very credible: you only have to look at the AMX-32 to see that.

Quote from: dy031101 on October 18, 2009, 11:23:18 AM
Quote from: chrisonord on October 17, 2009, 01:42:23 PM
The .50 cal is a lot more substantial than what was on there to begin with though.

Commander's machine gun is mostly considered as an anti-aircraft defensive weapon, but Israeli tank folks tend to be more concerned with shooting at gunmen hiding in buildings or around street corners than at any aircraft.

Come to think of it, the French seem to use 7.62mm MG as commander's weapon as well...... although I'll leave the reason why to the more knowledgeable.

The French use a fairly standard remote 7.62mm on the commander's cupola, similar in principle to British tanks. Having said that, they also fit .50 cals or 20mm co-axial guns with independent high-elevation (65 deg IIRC); something I approve of.

The Israelis have been seen to mount remote .50 cals over the main gun on the old IR searchlight mountings, with a cable-trigger running back to the gunner.