Pendraken Miniatures Forum

Wider Wargaming => Genre/Period Discussion => 20th Century => Topic started by: Sunray on 14 July 2014, 04:34:09 PM

Title: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: Sunray on 14 July 2014, 04:34:09 PM
I was looking through the lists of a well known 1/300 manufacturer and spied the Charioteer.  Am I correct in saying this is a Cromwell with a 20 pdr mounted in  a special turret?

I see one was used in Lebanon as late as the 1980s.

Seems like an easy conversion from a Cromwell
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: fsn on 14 July 2014, 06:00:46 PM
It was. The turret was new, I think.

(http://historywarsweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/image/Charioteer.jpg)
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: Hertsblue on 15 July 2014, 08:02:48 AM
Too late for WW2, by a fair margin. Lightly armoured. Used mainly by the TA.
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 15 July 2014, 10:22:17 AM
According to the Osprey on the Cromwell the Lebanese fitted em with the L7 105, atr least 2 vehicles. They got hem from the Jordanians after 67. Jordan had about 140. Also supplied to the Finns.

IanS
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: mollinary on 15 July 2014, 10:58:44 AM
Quote from: ianrs54 on 15 July 2014, 10:22:17 AM
According to the Osprey on the Cromwell the Lebanese fitted em with the L7 105, atr least 2 vehicles. They got hem from the Jordanians after 67. Jordan had about 140. Also supplied to the Finns.

IanS

And the Austrians.
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: toxicpixie on 15 July 2014, 01:34:36 PM
The Cromwell chassis coped with the L7?!

Bloody hell, that's good going for a WW2 era Medium Tank :S
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: Sunray on 15 July 2014, 01:55:14 PM
Which is what I thought, bearing in mind the hassle with the 17 pounder that resulted in the unsightly Challanger, and the under gunned Comet (a modified lower velocity 17 prd .  The up gunned  Cromwell looks ....imposing.  Turret was probably cramped and unwieldy.

I have the Sherman M51 in 1/300 and saw a chance to pit it against the Charioteer in a middle east skirmish.

If Pendraken were to add a new turret we would have one more piece of modern  post war stuff on the table.

There is also an easy conversion with a Stuart M3/5 to a highly effective Brazilian AFV Bernardini X1A2 that could give a Scorpion a run for its money.
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 15 July 2014, 02:56:21 PM
Quote from: toxicpixie on 15 July 2014, 01:34:36 PM
The Cromwell chassis coped with the L7?!

Bloody hell, that's good going for a WW2 era Medium Tank :S

Well Stingray is the same size, or smaller......(NO WASP JOKES PLEASE), but the 105's were Lebanese conversions, which were u/s by the time experts from Bovvy got to see them. However the weapon is designed to fit a turret with the 20pdr, re-gunning cents was a case of un-bolting the weapon and bolting a new one in. The major job was changing the ammo racks, so it's theoretically possible. Bet firing was interesting though.
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: toxicpixie on 15 July 2014, 03:10:02 PM
That's what I was wondering - the actual *mounting* should be easy enough (assuming the turret is deep enough?), as the L7 was a "no fuss conversion" from any 20pdr mount... but pulling the trigger must put a lot of strain on a tank chassis/turret ring originally intended for a relatively low powered 75mm... that's thirty year sold, to boot  :-\

Stingray/MGFS or whatever it's called this appropriations period maybe about the same size and weight, but is a new build and has sixty years of technological and metallurgical progress behind it...
Title: Re: FV4101 Charioteer
Post by: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 15 July 2014, 03:24:05 PM
I suspect the effect would look very similar to a Sherridan firing 152mm shells, a 3-4ft leap into the air and a humongous dust cloud.

IanS