Silverwind's first target. I mean, Tank.

[silverwindblade]

So, a good while ago, a friend gave me a few model kits he didn't want any longer, as he mainly builds WW2 stuff, and I'm much more interested in modern stuff.
As such, I got a Gepard and a Challenger 1 Mk.3.
It took me a while to get around to building them, mainly due to my stopping and starting, but after building a Gundam model and going to town on weathering and battle damage, it gave me the taste to build some mud-crawlers. Especially seeing some of the fantastic things other folks here have done.



So, I made a start on the Chally, which had already been started. The kit is the Lee Models kit, which is a knockoff of the Tamiya - to the point that I found the Tamiys instructions online, and was able to follow them to reassemble the model after breaking it down for cleaning and neatening up (my friend must've built it in a hurry, there were a few glue marks and gaps...!)
After that, I decided I wanted to modify it. Not a lot, but with some new secondary armament. I got hold of a AFV club M151 Remote Weapon Station, and a Live Resin minigun station. I also got a pack of Tamiya stowage, to add to the turret afterward to make it look a bit more 'used' and in-service.



So, building it all back up went well, until I got to the stage of adding the minigun. I originally had planned to replace the commanders' MG with the minigun and its' armour shield, but now I've run into a problem: the ammo box for the gun is XBOX-huge, and finding somewhere to stick it on the turret where it's not in the way is a pain. And added to that the armour shield gets in the way of (what I assume is) the commanders' periscope or some other kind of optic.



So, I come to you in the hope of suggestions - currently, I'm thinking of removing the 'box' on the hatch and relocating it to one side of the cupola, removing it altogether (working on the principle that the the M151 takes over some of the functions), or putting the minigun on the second hatch (loaders?) and not having a commanders' gun at all.
The only other idea I had was a mammoth one, which is removing the cupola roof, raising it above the level of the sight-box, and also building a cradle for the ammo box. I'm most reluctant to do that, as I feel it'd beyond my skill to do cleanly or neatly. However, I can build a cradle for the ammo box using some spare bits from the M151 and plasticard.

[scooter]

Here's what the Abrams looks like with the TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit) mounted-




Commander's cupola-




Hope these give you some idea

[Captain Canada]

Nice. Love seeing armour on here !

[kerick]

That's the main problem with high rate of fire weapons. Where to put all the ammo they can burn through. I was going to suggest mounting the box on the side of the turret with a long ammo feed. Then use a long chute for the spent shells and links to get them off the turret roof. This might limit the traverse of the mini gun on the commanders cupola. But this is a tank turret so just traverse the tank turret if you have to.
There is also a battery box as I recall unless its wired into the vehicle power.
Just my $0.02 worth.

PS is it possible to mount the minigun in the M151 remote weapon station?

[zenrat]

Cut the top off the turret like on an M10 (pic found on line)

[kerick]

Cut the top off the turret like on an M10 (pic found on line)

Then you get to detail the inside!

[Old Wombat]

Cut the top off the turret like on an M10 (pic found on line)

Then you get to detail the inside!

DON'T DO IT!!!

Building & detailing the cockpit of my FSBR (Fire Support Boat, Riverine) is bad enough, this would be worse.

[scooter]

Have you considered mounting the minigun in a remote weapon station at the mantel, like the M2 mounted here-

(Yes, I'm quoting myself, because of a sudden brain seizstorm)

[silverwindblade]

Well, I hadn't thought of that until now. And I also hadn't thought about swapping out the weapon in the RWS for the minigun, but I quite like it being separately.

In the end, I decided to go ahead with the minigun on the commanders' hatch and damn the consequences. I've started scratch-building a kind of mounting bracket for the ammo box to the rear of the hatch, although I might move it to the side of the turret. I'll need to get some more plasticard before I can do much though, and L-Channel in particular. Thanks for all the suggestions though. I'll keep updating the topic as it goes along.

[Wardukw]

Surprised no one mentioned mounting a Crows II turret in that beast ,,,ok thats got me thinking now    i have an old Challenger kit in my stash .

[Captain Canada]

I like the ammo box in between the guns like that. You could also run a chute down the side like an Apache 

[Gondor]

I like the ammo box in between the guns like that. You could also run a chute down the side like an Apache 

Captain, if you mean the machine guns in the picture below......

I am sure that you will find that parallax has got the better of you.
The "Right hand" machine gun is of smaller calibre than the "Left hand" one and has it's ammunition mounted in a black box to its left which is directly in line in this view between the camera and the guy standing behind it's chest.
The "Left hand" machine gun, 0.5" calibre I believe, uses the sand coloured box to store its ammunition. This gun is in direct line with the main armament and is used in urban areas by the gunner as the main weapon rather than sending a shell through everything it points at which could cause a little bit more damage than may be required. 

Gondor

[scooter]

I like the ammo box in between the guns like that. You could also run a chute down the side like an Apache 

Captain, if you mean the machine guns in the picture below......

I am sure that you will find that parallax has got the better of you.
The "Right hand" machine gun is of smaller calibre than the "Left hand" one and has it's ammunition mounted in a black box to its left which is directly in line in this view between the camera and the guy standing behind it's chest.
The "Left hand" machine gun, 0.5" calibre I believe, uses the sand coloured box to store its ammunition. This gun is in direct line with the main armament and is used in urban areas by the gunner as the main weapon rather than sending a shell through everything it points at which could cause a little bit more damage than may be required. 

Gondor

There are two 50s being mounted as part of the Abrams TUSK kit- the Commander's 50, and one mounted co-axially with the main gun, in addition two the loader's and the coax 240Bs

You can see the coax 50 mount better below-

[Weaver]

I've been saying for about 20 years that tanks need a 12.7mm or 20mm co-ax......

[Logan Hartke]

70 years ago they had them.



Cheers,

Logan