The Chieftain 900

The Chieftain 900 was an attempt to improve the Chieftain with Chobham armour and a new engine for the export market. The fact that the Bovington vehicle is painted in overall sand is a strong hint! With its improved mobility and protection added to the firepower of the Chieftain, it should have been a formidable machine. However, the project found no buyers, and the British Army went on to acquire the Challenger I, leaving the Chieftain 900 as an intriguing "what if".

Two mock-ups of the Chieftain 900 were built. This model is based on the example at The Bovington Tank Museum. Its "Chobham" is in fact tinwork.

It is built using the Cromwell and Airfix Chieftain kits. The turret and hull front were built up using Milliput putty. We then decided to put it in the range, using this as the prototype. KCB 62 is a conversion on the Airfix kit, with our turret, hull top, late gun barrel and details.

More details of the original vehicle can be found on the Bovington Museum website.