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  1. Not been doing much on Britmodeller for a long time, but it's nice to be back after a long overdue break. I decided to have a crack at this as I have fond memories of the Airfix 1/32nd plastic one which I used to push around with my soldiers when I was about 8. It's also a classic tank and considered in some quarters to be the finest MBT ever produced - and its British. I've got the RAAC Mk5/2 and the Amusing Hobby ARVE Cent to do at some point but god knows when. The Mk5, which is this kit rolled off the production lines in about 1955. The Mk 5/1 quickly followed and by 1959, we had the MK5/2 which had the first L7 gun. I'm modelling a MK5/2. I've not seen many of these modelled, which is surprising given its been out for a little while. I guess it's been superseded by the arrival of the new AFV Club Cents. On the subject of that AFV Club Cent, the Amusing Hobby Cent is a complete rip off of the AFV Club kit. The only difference is the fenders which have the tool boxes moulded in. I've gone for a bit of after market, so there is quite a bit of work to do on this build Bit of Eduard etch, and A set of skirts from InAccurate Armour and a set of resin wheels from Sovereign Models as the kit wheels and PanzerArt wheels are incorrect, without the reenforced rims.
  2. This was my project for the Vietnam II GB over in the Group Build section. Kit: 1/35 AFV Club Extras: AFV Club track links - kindly supplied by snapper_city Pegasus Camouflage netting Academy Allied and German Tank Supplies Set II AFV Club 20Pdr. Gun Ammo Paints: Humbrol and Revell Acrylics - Humbrol Spray can for the base colour - all other paints applied by hairy sticks. This was my first proper 1/35 AFV build - I practiced first on the old Tamiya Panzer Kampfwagen II Ausf.F/G kit in the Achtung Panzer GB earlier in the year.The WIP for this build can be found here. There are quite a few photos. In Country; Some close-ups: So thats my last completion for 2015. Roll on 2016s builds! I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this and all my other builds during the year - as Ive said before; none of them would be what they are without the advice, suggestions and support of fellow Britmodellers. Thank you. Happy New Year! Kind regards, Stix
  3. Unable to curb my impulsive acquisitions, I have branched out into a IDF Centurion (the 'Valley of tears' series gets part of the blame) Any good resources (pref online) on the Golan theatre?
  4. A few weeks ago I purchased an AFV Club 35th scale Centurion from a forum member from the for sale section and very happy I am with it. In preparation to start the build I decided to 3D model some individual link tracks and Road Wheels as I don't like the idea of the AFV Cllub wheels and print out my own. Thanks to Kingsman previous post on the Centurion Wheels I used the cross section wheel image and drawings to draw up the Wheel CAD models. After I printed the grills for a customers railway project I printed a test print for the track. Wheels next time I have the printer fired up I will test print some wheels. Should be fun. Pete
  5. As I managed to finish the Mk.3 I decided to do a Mk.5 as well. As it was a bit hard with the tight fit to mount the tracks I decided to leave the fenders off until I have the tracks in place. I just hope that the fenders will fit. This one will have a fuel cart.
  6. I just finished a Centurion Mk.3 in 172 from ACE. I built it as a Swedish Strv 81 from the beginning of its career in Sweden. 80 Centurion Mk.3 was delivered in 1953 followed by 160 Mk5 in 1955. Build:
  7. I have started on a Centurion Mk.3 from ACE I will build it as a Swedish Strv 81 with the A model gun. No bigger problems with the kit so far. Some adaption of the holes for alignment pins are needed sometimes. The biggest problem has been the instructions. Parts have the wrong part numbers sometimes and there is even missing in the instructions. I was going to add the front plate but it didn't have the part number on the instruction. I looked at the sprues and found one that looked right. I had a look at the Mk.5 instruction and it showed that I found the right part. But I like this kit. Fine details and parts that fit. I did a search for Mike Starmer's mixes for the S.C.C.15. I found two Humbrol and two Tamiya mixes. As it turned out I only had the paints for one of the Tamiya mixes, so I made a batch that I hope is enough for this model. The camera shows it greener than it is. Started to convert the fenders. I found more part that got the wrong number on the instructions. The Mk.5 kit seems to have these fault fixed. I had problems with the idler wheel assembly. The instructions are unclear on how to mount them. I glued them in the wrong position twice and had to remove them. Finally I dragged out my dead Airfix build to look at it to understand how I should do. Hopefully I got it right now. Third time lucky.
  8. I am trying to gather information about the Centurion Mk.10 for a 1/72 scale conversion to a Strv 101. I have found an 1/35 conversion running on Missing -Lynx. It will help me a lot with the rear/engine deck but the turret has got me confused. The builder has removed a piece to make it lower. I cant find anything written about the Mk.10 turret being lower. Is this something that has been missed by all sources or is it just the kit that was wrong?
  9. VFR Models is to release 1/72nd Cessna 210 Centurion 3D printed kits Source: https://www.facebook.com/vfrmodels/posts/pfbid09z2quPHQkLeGhoLW4D7QCqbBeFHTsTcWAkAudQKCkUYGENp4UTrkmLL9wr2DJZbAl V.P.
  10. Hi This topic has already been explored in 2010 in this forum, but I am afraid the answer was not clear-cut. So, what was the colour for Centurions Mk.3 during the korean war, SCC or rather Deep Bronze Green ? There are some colour pictures of Centurions in the IWM collections ("The service of Sydney Sherriff in the Royal Armoured Corps in Korea") showing a rather deep green. Deep Bronze Green ? I am not a british colours specialist, but I am sure you can help.
  11. IDF Shot Kal w/Gimel (35A032) 1:35 Amusing Hobby via Albion Alloys No-one that is familiar with WWII British armour could say with hand on heart that the tanks fielded were adequate for the task in hand, and sometimes they were barely adequate to even be used in battle. The War Office was painfully aware of the fact, which can be partly laid at the door of inadequate development and funding in the approach to the war, but by 1943 work had begun to rectifying this lapse in quality. What became known as the Centurion was on the drawing board and in development during the last two years of the war, and the initial instances rolled off the production line while the guns were still firing during January of 1945. They took the suspension of the lacklustre Comet, extended it with an extra wheel-set and also widened it, using Horstmann suspension for practicality’s sake, even though its ride was inferior to the bulkier Christie type. It was outfitted with sloped armour that was best-in-class, and at outset it used the Rolls Royce Meteor engine, which was both capable and well-known by that point. Initial production used the 17-pounder gun that had transformed the Sherman into the Firefly, which was capable of taking out a Tiger at a reasonable distance. The Mark II followed quickly with increased performance and armour, again replaced by the Mk.III that was a major update with gun stabilisation giving the crew the capability of firing the new 20 pounder gun accurately on the move, accelerating the removal of the Mk.I and Mk.IIs from service due to its massive improvement over its forebears. The Mk.V used the even more capable L7 gun that kept it ahead of most tanks of its day, a weapon that saw long service wherever it was used. Overseas sales of the type were excellent, with a large number of operators, some of whom used them for an extensive period, such as Israel, who named the initial batch Sho’t, which translates to Whip in English. With the capture of enemy tanks during the 60s, the Israelis had over 300 on hand, which they began upgrading in their usual manner to extend their lifespan and improve crew survivability. With a new engine and transmission that required a raised engine deck, and a new armour pack from the Mk.13, the name was changed to Sho’t Kal, with a further suffix depending on what upgrades the type carried. The Gimel received a new turret rotation mechanism, Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) package, and a new cupola for the commander, keeping it at the top of the AFV tree in its area of operation. The gradual drawdown of the Sho’t Kal began before 1990, with most of the survivors re-engineered to be used as Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) such as the Puma or Nagmachon, and Combat Engineering Vehicles that extended their usefulness long beyond that anticipated by the original designers. The Kit This is a substantial additive re-tool of the original Centurion/FV4005 kit from Amusing Hobby from recent times, adding four more sprues to the box. The kit arrives in a sturdy top-opening box with an appealing painting of the subject matter on the top, and inside are fifteen sprues and one hull part in sand-coloured styrene, a bag of 210+ (I lost count) individual track links in brown styrene, a single round clear part (not pictured), a bag of six brass springs, a length of braided thread, a new fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a small decal sheet and an instruction booklet in portrait A4 format. Detail is up to the standards we’ve come to expect from Amusing Hobby, and the new parts include a replacement engine deck, the mantlet and corrugated blast-bag, and the additional stowage basket on the rear of the turret. Construction begins with the assembly of the bogies that are built around the six metal springs to give the suspension arms some real travel, providing you keep the glue away from the pivot points. There are three of these each side of the large hull tub, and each one carries four wheels in pairs on two axles each, held onto the axles with a central hub cap. The tracks are wide, so the return rollers sit on projecting bases, and long stand-off brackets are added to support the side skirts later in the build. The huge final drive housing is layered up and topped with a toothed drive sprocket and a small roller that is probably there to prevent track shedding during turns, as seen on the WWII Panther. At the front is the idler wheel on an armoured axle that pivots to give good track tension once you have made them up and wrapped them around the road wheels. The tracks are supplied free of any sprues and quite free of clean-up, especially if you are planning on dirtying them up later, so you can just start making them up there and then. Each side uses 102 links, and as they snap-together they shouldn’t take too long to assemble, which is nice. I put together 12 links in a few minutes, and they do remain workable, although they aren’t as mobile as they perhaps could be under ideal circumstances. You might get the occasional one coming adrift, but in general they should be fairly easy to fit, and if you want to freeze them in place once you have them installed, a dab of glue to each link will do the trick, leaving you free to handle them more roughly during the painting and weathering process. Both runs of links are applied to the vehicles with the traction bar on each link to the rear, so ensure you test-fit them properly before you put them in for the final time. A number of spare track links are fitted to the rear bulkhead with more towing eyes and the infantry telephone box, separated by an insert. A number of PE stiffening plates are added to the sloped lower bulkhead, which have large bolts etched in. The new engine deck has PE plates fixed to it and a hole bored from inside, as does the glacis plate, the driver's glacis panel and the turret ring section. The driver’s clamshell hatch has a pair of vision blocks with armoured housings added to their front, with some small curved parts added from PE along the way. The glacis plate has the front fenders moulded into it, and this is outfitted with ERA blocks and a few small PE parts during installation plus fender extensions, completing the basic hull. The fenders have some holes drilled and some small sections removed, as do some of the small parts that add detail, and create the detailed stowage boxes on top of them. The detail level is then increased further with more boxes than other boxings, supports and a selection of pioneer tools, with more PE parts being added to some of the boxes here and there. The engine deck has a pair of exhaust pipes with separate PE flappers added, and a large number of grab handles and other small parts, plus the travel-lock for the barrel. At the front, more ERA blocks are dotted around, some on top of stowage boxes, a pair of front light clusters behind protective frames, attaching to the ram, and the sturdy arrow-head ram with a spare road wheel bolted to the top. The side-skirts are glued into place with the fenders, and the two towing cables are made up from styrene eyes with two lengths of braided cord of 12cm running between them, with a scrap diagram showing how they should be attached and laid over the rear of the vehicle. Now for the turret. It is built on a floor surround, which has the turret ring cut out, and has the two sides and the roof wrapped around it, trapping the highly-detailed covered mantlet and its coax machine gun in place, allowing it to elevate if you keep the glue off the pivot pegs. Some holes are drilled and filled in the roof, then the prominent angular stowage boxes are added to the sides along with aerial bases, and ERA blocks under the stowage boxes. The commander’s cupola and search light fit into the hole in the roof with armoured covers over the vision blocks, then uzi SMGs on racks, additional ammo boxes, barrel cleaning rods and other small assemblies are scattered around the top and sides of the turret. More ERA blocks are fixed to the sloped forward section of the turret roof, and the mantlet is first decked out with brackets to mount the ERA blocks that fix either side of the main gun. The grenade launcher boxes are detailed assemblies that are handed, and attach to the front corners of the turret on brackets with more ERA blocks. The two crew machine guns are made up and fixed to their brackets on the two hatches, and a large boxy search light is created using the single clear lens and a number of detail parts, to be attached at the root of the barrel later on. The rear bustle framework is first made from a number of fine tubular parts, then wrapped with PE mesh and has additional fuel cans affixed. It is glued to the turret rear, which has a pair of circular PE parts glued to the underside, then it is flipped over for making up the main gun. The gun tube is made of three parts, all of which are keyed to ensure the correct orientation, with the corrugated sleeve, tubular fume extractor and tapering muzzle sections, all of which are hollow-tipped, thanks in part to sliding moulds. You can now choose to use the searchlight or a remote .50cal M2 Browning machine gun over the barrel shroud, making up the latter from a good number of parts and a hollow barrel thanks to another sliding mould. If you are using the MG on the barrel, the searchlight is stowed on the back of the turret next to the indigenous rear basket, or if you choose to employ it, the empty bracket is shown installed in place on the rear. Pop the turret on the hull and that’s the gluey part over with. Markings There are decals for two vehicles supplied that wear one paint scheme, and it’s IDF sand grey. From the box you can depict this: The decals are printed in-house and are perfectly adequate for the task in black and white. Conclusion Another substantial investment in an additive tooling from Amusing Hobby, and it should build into an attractive model. Anyone wanting to depict the history of the Centurion or with an interest in IDF hardware should get a lot out of this boxing. Highly recommended. Available in the UK in all good model shops. Review sample courtesy of
  12. Swedish Strv-104 (35A043) 1:35 Amusing Hobby via Albion Alloys Following WWII, Sweden assessed their defensive arsenal and reached the conclusion that they needed to re-equip with more modern tanks, so they went on the prowl for a suitable vehicle to defend their country. Having seen the technical and developmental promise of the new British Centurion, they made advances to the British Government, and were initially rebuffed in favour of equipping the British Army first. It occurred to someone along the British chain of command that a big influx of cash into the war weakened coffers would be welcome, so minds were changed and an offer of 80 of the much-improved Mk.3s was made, arriving in Sweden in the early 50s. Further orders followed, ending with an order of over 100 Mk.10s that served alongside their indigenous and ingenious (not to mention unusual) S-Tank (Strv-103) for many years under the name Strv-101. In the early 80s the Swedish engineers began a midlife upgrade programme that would help extend the life of the type further, in line with their original feelings on the capabilities of the basic hull. The gun was better stabilised and jacketed to keep the barrel cool, the engine and transmission were updated, and the whole electronics package was upgraded to modern standards, including the fitting of night-vision optics amongst other improvements such as laser range-finding and targeting. The armour was also modernised to include appliqué Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) packages around the front of the hull and its turret to counter the ever-improving penetrative capabilities of projectiles at the time. This variant was given the name Strv-104, leapfrogging the S-tank by one. Both types were withdrawn from service at about the same time in the later 1990s after the Swedish military made comparison trials with modern types that found the 104 wanting in enough areas to warrant replacement. The German Leopard 2 was their final choice, entering Swedish service as the Strv-121, and later as the improved Strv-122. The Kit This is a substantial additive re-tool of the original Centurion/FV4005 kit from Amusing Hobby from recent times, adding two more sprues to the box and nipping off the original smooth exterior barrel from one of the existing ones. The kit arrives in a sturdy top-opening box with an appealing painting of the subject matter on the top, and inside are twelve sprues and one hull part in sand-coloured styrene, a bag of 210+ (I lost count) individual track links in brown styrene, a bag of six brass springs, a length of braided thread, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a small decal sheet and an instruction booklet in portrait A4 format. Detail is up to the standards we’ve come to expect from Amusing Hobby, and the new parts include a replacement engine deck, the cooling-jacket wrapped barrel that uses slide-moulding to achieve the details, and the angular ERA blocks for the front of the vehicle. Construction begins with the assembly of the bogies that are built around the six metal springs to give the suspension arms some real travel, providing you keep the glue away from the pivot points. There are three of these each side of the large hull tub, and each one carries four wheels in pairs on two axles each, held onto the axles with a central hub cap. The tracks are wide, so the return rollers sit on projecting bases, and long stand-off brackets are added to support the side skirts later in the build. The huge final drive housing is layered up and topped with a toothed drive sprocket and a small roller that is probably there to prevent track shedding during turns, as seen on the WWII Panther. At the front is the idler wheel on an axle that pivots to give good track tension once you have made them up and wrapped them around the road wheels. The tracks are supplied free of any sprues and quite free of clean-up, especially if you are planning on dirtying them up later, so you can just start making them up there and then. Each side uses 102 links, and as they snap-together they shouldn’t take too long to assemble, which is nice. I put together 12 links in a few minutes, and they do remain workable, although they aren’t as mobile as they perhaps could be under ideal circumstances. You might get the occasional one coming adrift, but in general they should be fairly easy to fit, and if you want to freeze them in place once you have them installed, a dab of glue to each link will do the trick, leaving you free to handle them more roughly during the painting and weathering process. Both runs of links are applied to the vehicles with the traction bar on each link to the rear, so ensure you test-fit them properly before you put them in for the final time. The rear bulkhead needs a little adaptation for this boxing, moving the towing eyes to the top of the raised locating marks, then removing the unused section and smoothing it back down. A number of spare track links are fitted to the top section of the bulkhead with more towing eyes and the infantry telephone box, separated by an insert. Two small marks on each side of the lower hull are also removed and made good during installation of the bulkhead. The new engine deck has a hole bored from inside, as does the glacis plate, the driver's glacis panel and the turret ring section, then the exterior of the engine deck has a dozen small pips removed from the centre of the deck as it is fitted along with the other parts to the top of the hull. The driver’s clamshell hatch has a pair of vision blocks with armoured housings added to their front, with some small curved parts added from PE along the way. The glacis plate has the front fenders moulded into it, and this is outfitted with ERA blocks and a few small PE parts during installation, completing the basic hull. The fenders have some holes drilled and some small sections removed, as do some of the small parts that add detail, and create the stowage boxes on top of them. The detail level is then increased further with more boxes, supports and a selection of pioneer tools, with more PE parts being added to some of the boxes here and there. The side-skirts are glued into place with the fenders, after cutting out the foot-holes at the front and rear, which are marked and pre-thinned from the inside to help you out. The hull is finished off by fitting a number of additional fill-in ERA blocks, the front light clusters with protective cages, and other small parts. At the rear the engine deck is detailed with a number of small parts and a protective bumper around the rear of the turret, with a scrap diagram showing how it should look from above. Now for the turret. It is built on a floor panel, which has the turret ring cut out, and has the two sides and the roof wrapped around it, trapping the two-part mantlet in place, allowing it to elevate if you keep the glue off the pivot pegs. Some holes are drilled and filled in the roof, then the prominent angular stowage boxes are added to the sides along with spare smoke grenades, their launchers, aerials, and of course the tapered ERA blocks on the mantlet, which attach via brackets and have a number of bolt-heads applied around the edges from the shaped section of sprue L. The commander’s cupola and binocular sighting glasses fit into the hole in the roof with armoured covers over the vision blocks, then a few more spare track links on PE brackets on the rear corner facets, the commander’s machine gun on a relaxed mount, and the main gun are all glued in place to complete the turret. The gun tube is made of three parts, all of which are keyed to ensure the correct orientation, with the sleeve, fume extractor and muzzle sections, all of which are hollow-tipped, thanks in part to sliding moulds. The smooth sided bore evacuator is left over from the earlier boxings, while the other two barrel segments have the texture of the cooling jacket with its attachment belts moulded into the styrene, giving a realistic look. Pop the turret on the hull and that’s the gluey part over with. Markings There’s only one markings option supplied and one paint scheme, as that’s what they wore. It’s the Swedish splinter pattern, and it makes anything look good. From the box you can depict this: Decals are printed in China and up to the task. There aren’t many of them, so there’s not much to say. Conclusion It has taken some investment by Amusing Hobby to tool the new parts for this slightly niche option, so it’s good to see a kit that allows you to make an Strv-104 from the box in good-old-fashioned styrene, with a little bit of PE to give you some in-scale thickness parts where sensible. Highly recommended. Available in the UK in all good model shops. Review sample courtesy of
  13. Roman Centurion (1 Century) ICM 1:16 I'm not really a figure modeller but do like to dabble in different modelling genres as it often forces you to learn different techniques. I was offered this kit to review back in March, just before the lockdown hit. I liked it so much that got straight on with building it, albeit slowly as my bench is always too full of ongoing projects. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely do more in the future. And just to give some idea of the size: One problem was the lack of a decal for the complex shield design. I tried making some 'wings' from yellow decal sheet but they ended up looking like bunches of bananas. I decided to go for a simple lightning bolt design and cut a template out of plasticard to use as a guide to cut around. Thanks for looking, John
  14. Centurion Mk.V Main Battle Tank (35A028) 1:35 Amusing Hobby Pre WWII it can be kind to say Britain lagged behind in tank development and even at the end of WWII we have many US types still in service. The A41 was designated as Heavy Cruiser tank back as far as 1943 , this was further developed into the Centurion. The five wheel Comet chassis was developed by adding a sixth wheel with the spacing between the second and third wheels increased. The original Christie suspension was replaced by the Horstmann suspension. The hull had welded sloped armour and the turret was partially cast. The original main gun was the proven 17 pounder with a 20mm supporting weapon. The mark II quickly replaced the initial Mk I tanks and had thicker armour and a fully cast turret. The 20mm gun was also deleted in favour of a normal machine gun. The mark III brought about the introduction of the 20 pounder gun. The Mark V brought about the delegation of the rear turret hatch, fitment of browning machine guns a re-designed turret roof; and the addition of guide rollers in the track runs. first combat or the new tank was in the Korean War where they were praised with their ability to operate in the mountainous terrain. The last combat for British tanks were for AVRE vehicles which deployed to the Gulf War in 1991. The tank was an export success being supplied to Canada, Sweden, South Africa, Israel, Jordan, Switzerland, Denmark, India, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, New Zealand, Austria, Singapore,The Netherlands and Australia. The South Africans further developed the tank into the Olifant, the Jordanians into the Temsah APC, and the Israelis into Nagmachon APCs, Nakpadon ARVs or Puma CEVs many of which still serve to this day. The Kit This is a new tool from Amusing Hobby, who have a thing for British “almost” projects of late, and are filling in some gaps between the in-service tanks that will no doubt please the what-if modellers as well as those that enjoy building cancelled projects or just downright unusual vehicles. Inside the box are ten sprues of varying sizes in sand-coloured styrene, plus a single lower hull part in the same colour. There is also a bag of brown track-links, a bag of brass springs, a length of braided cable, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a diminutive decal sheet and the instruction booklet with a colour cover that has profiles on the rear. Detail is good throughout, the cast elements such as the final drive housing that has a light casting texture moulded-in. Construction begins with the assembly of the bogies that are built around the springs to give the suspension arms some real travel, providing you keep the glue away from the pivot points. There are three of these each side of the large hull tub, and each one carries four wheels in pairs on two axles each, held onto the axles with a central hub part. The tracks are wide, so the return rollers sit on projecting bases, and long stand-off brackets are added to support the side skirts later in the build. The huge final drive housing is layered up and topped with a toothed drive sprocket and a small roller that is probably there to prevent track shedding during turns. At the front is the idler wheel on an axle that pivots to give good track tension once you have made them up and wrapped them around the road wheels. The tracks are supplied free of any sprues and quite free of clean-up, especially if you are planning on dirtying them up later, so you can just start making them up there and then. Each side uses 102 links, and as they snap together they shouldn’t take too long to put together, which is nice. 12 links went together in a few minutes, and they do remain workable, although they aren’t as mobile as they could be. You might get the occasional one coming adrift, but in general they should be fairly easy to fit, and if you want to freeze them in place once you have them installed, a dab of glue to each link will do the trick, leaving you free to handle them more roughly during the painting process. Both runs of links are applied to the vehicles with the traction bar to the rear, so ensure you test-fit them properly before you put them in for the final time. The rear of the hull is constructed and added along with the engine deck. At the front the glacis plate is made up incorporating the front fenders. At the sides the track guards go on along with the lockers tools and exhaust. A thread tow cable is provided which is probably best dispensed with for a metal alternative. The last part of the vehicle to be constructed is the turret. The two sides go around the base with the gun mantlet at the front, The bins for the turret sides are made up and added along with the smoke dischargers. On the top the aerial mounts go on along with the commander hatch. The gun barrel is added to the mantle and on top a 30 cal machine gun is added. Spare track links can be added to the turret is wanted. Markings A small decal sheet provides markings for 10 Troop, C Sqn, 4th Royal Tank Regiment based in West Berlin in 1962. Conclusion A good looking model of one of the first true Main Battle Tanks. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  15. FV 4005 Stage 2 Self-Propelled Gun (35A029) 1:35 Amusing Hobby Everyone with an interest in British armour probably knows the Centurion tank at least on sight, and that it was the UK’s earliest Main Battle Tank, and most well-regarded amongst its peers, having a long service life and more variants than many. One of its many variants includes the lesser-known Self-Propelled Gun (SPG) prototypes that are lesser known for the reason that they never proceeded past prototype. The initial SPG variants began with big ambitions, but were abandoned in favour of other more appealing projects, one of which was the FV433 Abbot. The huge 183mm gun that was to be mounted in the FV4005 was developed from a 7.2” howitzer, and was enclosed in a fairly lightly armoured turret on a Centurion chassis. It fared no better, and was dismantled before the end of the 50s. A similar fate befell the FV 4004, named the Conway that was developed as a fill-in until the big Conqueror came on-stream, based upon a Mk.3 Centurion chassis and a 120mm gun in an oversized turret. Happily, the FV4005 now resides at Bovington Tank Museum, and if you’ve ever seen it in the grounds there, you’ll realise what a huge turret it had. The Kit This is a new tool from Amusing Hobby, who have a thing for British “almost” projects of late, and are filling in some gaps between the in-service tanks that will no doubt please the what-if modellers as well as those that enjoy building cancelled projects or just downright unusual vehicles. The kit arrives in a by-now familiar box with a rather severe-looking painting of the SPG in an urban environment with what looks vaguely like a burned out T-34 in the background. Inside the box are ten sprues of varying sizes in sand-coloured styrene, plus a single lower hull part in the same colour. There is also a bag of brown track-links, a bag of brass springs, a length of braided cable, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a diminutive decal sheet and the instruction booklet with a colour cover that has profiles on the rear. Detail is good throughout, with large slab-sided panels everywhere, differentiating from the cast elements such as the final drive housing that has a light casting texture moulded-in. If you want a more realistic finish to the rolled steel parts, check the available photos online and consult the various techniques for producing the texture on such armour. Construction begins with the assembly of the bogies that are built around the springs to give the suspension arms some real travel, providing you keep the glue away from the pivot points. There are three of these each side of the large hull tub, and each one carries four wheels in pairs on two axles each, held onto the axles with a central hub part. The tracks are wide, so the return rollers sit on projecting bases, and long stand-off brackets are added to support the side skirts later in the build. The huge final drive housing is layered up and topped with a toothed drive sprocket and a small roller that is probably there to prevent track shedding during turns. At the front is the idler wheel on an axle that pivots to give good track tension once you have made them up and wrapped them around the road wheels. The tracks are supplied free of any sprues and quite free of clean-up, especially if you are planning on dirtying them up later, so you can just start making them up there and then. Each side uses 102 links, and as they snap together they shouldn’t take too long to put together, which is nice. I put together 12 links in a few minutes, and they do remain workable, although they aren’t as mobile as they could be. You might get the occasional one coming adrift, but in general they should be fairly easy to fit, and if you want to freeze them in place once you have them installed, a dab of glue to each link will do the trick, leaving you free to handle them more roughly during the painting process. Both runs of links are applied to the vehicles with the traction bar to the rear, so ensure you test-fit them properly before you put them in for the final time. Due to the size of the gun and hefty recoil, the rear bulkhead has a self-entrenching tool fitted on two swing-arms along with the armoured cooling vents and the ubiquitous communications telephone box on the rear. The engine deck is attached to the turret ring, then fitted to the hull, with the area under the mantlet having a large clamshell hatch with vision blocks in each half. The glacis plate has the front fenders moulded-in, and the rear portion of the engine-deck is closed off with a set of access panels with a raised edge, then the big fenders are fitted to a groove in the side of the hull, with detail parts added all down the side of the stowage boxes. The exhaust and its silencer sit on the aft sections of the fenders with a flared tip at the rear and a heat shield, then it is joined by a number of pioneer tools and the rear mudguards on both sides. PE stiffener plates are attached to the front fenders, along with the towing eyes and shackles front and rear, plus the side skirts that will hide away a lot of the tracks, so you could perhaps skimp with track building there if you wanted too. The turret is provided as an open-ended shell to which you add the rear panel with moulded-in access hatch, then detail with the stiffening ribs that are prominent on the sides. Small hatches are fitted to the roof, and the .303 coax machinegun is visible through the front of the box that sits on the left of the mantlet, while underneath the turret is fitted a stepped floor with the turret ring on the lower area, and the perforated floor in the rear. The tall mantlet has a pivot mechanism glued to the rear before it is inserted into the front of the turret, with a slot for the gun barrel, which is made up from three cylindrical sections, each having hollow tips, one for the muzzle, and one for the attachment to the pivot. The turret is then flipped over and slotted into the hull, with two double-tow cables made up from plastic eyes and the braided material that is provided. These are draped on the deck around the rear of the turret, with a location point on the rear hull and on the tops of the fenders. The last part of the vehicle to be constructed is the gun travel-lock, which can be made up on stowed or travel positions and using the same set of parts for each. For the stowed option the two front braces are folded to the sides of the glacis and the main A-frame is laid flat down the slope, while the travelling set-up has the A-frame standing at an angle with the clamp around the barrel and the front braces standing vertically. Markings This tank, nicknamed a less family-friendly version of the “poopbarn” never saw service, so the postage stamp sized decal sheet is adequate. It consists of a black maple-leaf and a white/red/white banner that is reminiscent of the WWI colours worn by the early British tanks. In addition, an April Fool decal and serial number in white. Only one vehicle is shown on the instructions, so you’re left wondering where the black leaf goes. If you check out the side of the box however, you’ll see another chassis in a NATO-esque four colour scheme with the emblem on the turret, but this isn’t documented elsewhere, so you’ll have to make up the camo demarcations that can’t be seen. Conclusion An interesting tank that sits somewhere between What-If and reality, having one extant chassis that I’ve seen with my own eyes outside Bovvy. It’s an exterior kit with good detail, nice tracks and an impressive turret that will doubtless generate some questions as to what it is wherever you display it. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  16. Roman Centurion (1 Century) ICM 1:16 (16302) Although Britmodeller has members from all around the world, there are several of us, including Mike 'The Boss' who reside in and around the City of Chester in North West England. Chester was originally founded by the Roman Army in the year 79 AD, as the fortress of Deva. The street plan is today almost exactly that laid down by the Romans, and the city is rich in Roman heritage and archaeology. Chester is one of the few cities in Europe that still retains it's ancient city walls, and Roman stonework is still visible along lengths of it. The city also boasts a large amphitheater, although only half of it has been excavated due to another listed building sitting over the other half. Think of the movie 'Gladiator' to imagine what used to take place there. It was with interest then that we received this 1:16 scale figure of a Roman Centurion from ICM, he is perfect as one of the original inhabitants of Deva. The Centurion was the linchpin of the Roman army. Promotion was only through merit, he had to be an accomplished swordsman, tactician, and leader, among many other qualities. Typically he would lead around 80 soldiers and 20 servants and orderlies, hence the name 'Centurion' as leader of 100 men. They were responsible for the morale, discipline, and fighting qualities of their men, and must have been very tough and fearsome individuals. The kit comes in a large box with a painting of a Centurion looking ready for action, or perhaps drilling his men. The box top is more of a sleeve that lifts off to reveal a sturdy top opening cardboard box that hold all the parts. Inside are two grey sprues, a three part stand moulded in black, an construction/painting guide, and a nice print of the box top illustration. First impressions are of flawlessly mouded parts with sharp detail and finesse. Sprues A and B form the base for the figure, and are moulded in black plastic. Your choice to paint it or use it as it comes, but certainly it will look nice under a coat of satin or gloss black paint. Sprue C contains the main elements of the figure himself, torso, lags, arms and head. All of it is beautifully moulded, the face in particular is incredibly realistic. The main body armour is 'scale mail' which looks like fish or reptile scales rather than chain mail. Moulded on to it is the leather strap work onto which the is attached the 'Phalera', the polished discs which were awarded rather like medals are today. The legs are also beautifully moulded with metal guards and 'caligae' (sandals) incorporated. The 'Galea' (helmet) has a the distinctive horsehair crest mounted on it. It is thought that ordinary Legionaries had theirs aligned fore and aft, whilst centurions wore theirs side to side. The moulded example looks perfectly good, but I would be interested to see if using something like fine bristles from a nylon brush would work. Sprue D holds the main helmet, shield and weapons. The Gladius (sword) was the Roman soldiers main weapon and devastatingly effective. It could be used with an upward or downward thrust due to is double edge, and also in a forward thrust stabbing motion. Both sheathed and unsheathed versions are supplied, so if you build your figure holding the Gladius, the handle will need cutting off the scabbard from the sheathed version. Also included is the Pugio (dagger), which is worn on the left side of the belt. In another sign of status, Centurions wore their Pugio and Gladius on the opposite side to the regular legionaires. The largest part is the shield, which is nicely moulded and features the wings and lightning bolt markings lightly engraved on its surface. I would have thought that a decal might have been provided for this, but no, the intention is that you should paint it. I will use the technique of tracing it onto paper and making a template to cut the design from solid yellow decal film. Finer detail, mainly black trim, can then be added with a fine brush. The painting guide also doubles up as an assembly guide as it is pretty obvious where everything goes. Paint call outs are keyed to Revell and Tamiya paint ranges, but again are pretty obvious. Conclusion. I'm not normally a figure modeller but I do like to try different aspects of modelling from time to time. The mouldings look really superb and absolutely flawless. I've built a few ICM vehicle and aircraft kits and they are beautifully engineered, with very precise and accurate fit. I'm really looking forward to building this, he will represent our local Legion XX 'Valeria Victrix' who were based in Chester for over 200 years from the first century AD onwards. Recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of [EDIT]I have built the figure, more pictures in Ready For Inspection. [/EDIT]
  17. Hello Folks. Today i introduce my Centurion Shot Kal during Yom kippur war 1973. This model was built four years ago. Best regards. Michael.
  18. Spotted this in one of the blogs Homebee posted up on Shizuka Trade show, its under misc section so no idea who's doing it as yet but pretty sure some will find this very tempting as and when it appears
  19. Moebius 1:6 Cylon Centurion, built straight OOB
  20. CENTURION Mk.5/2 Modified now into a Mk.6 Will include the originally planned AF35162 Hush Puppy Track and will include the AC35009 Centurion Mantlet (Type 'B') as neither come in the kit. I'm on a bit of a B.A.O.R kick at the moment so this is right in my ball-park
  21. This build is being posted on other forums, so please accept my apologies if you have seen it before. This will be my first attempt at an AFV since coming back to the hobby. I'll be looking for suggestions etc. from those more experienced AFV builders on here, if they are willing Anyway, I picked this kit up from ebay for £30, which i though wasn't bad. The box is a bit battered and a few pieces had come off of the sprues in thier bags. The decals are yellow but its all there. I am going to attempt an Israerli version in Dark Yellow. I Know that their current vehicles are painted Yellow-Grey, but I don't think that the early Centurions were done in that colour. I'm happy to be corrected by those more knowledgable. These first few shots are from the internal turret detail. The light grey is just Vajello grey primer sprayed liberally and dry brushed with tamiya metallic grey XF56. The chipping was applied by hand with a very fine brush, dabbing on MC214 Dark Iron from Mr.MetalColor. A Mix of Dark And Rust wash was applied. The light grey primer sprayed over the Mid Grey-Blue Plastic showing the contrast. The shell cases were sprayed with MC217 Mr.MetalColor Gold. Images showing the bits before they are all hidden:( The Ammo Boxes were Sprayed with Mr.MetalColor Stainless Steel. Turret Base with seat, the cushion was coloured dark green and gently weathered with Tamiya weathering powder/paste 'Sand'. Box edges chipped with Dark Iron. The Main Gun Breach component Turret Gearbox and commanders seat. Here is an update on the turret internals. Most of the 'innards' have been welded to the turret ring. Feel free to comment if you wish. The interior of the turret is now complete. The main issue was poorly fitting turret halves which necessitated a bit of filling with Vallejo white filler and some sanding. A couple of points of interest - The radio pack face was sprayed with buffable Dark Iron and when dry, I rubbed my finger over it to shine the protrusions. The white dials and small needles were painted and and then a drop of Krystal Clear added, which when dry gave me a nice glass face effect. The completed the turret. It was airbrushed with a base coat of Vallejo grey primer. A graded coat of dark brown was added to the shadow areas underneath with a gradual fade to the grey undercoat at the top highlight areas. A preshade of matt black was then applied around all of the edges and join lines. Heavily thinned dark yellow was then sprayed in 4 applications to build up the effect that I wanted. Once dried I brush washed the whole thing with a 'grime' clay wash and removed it in such a way to allow it to sit in the recesses and leave some dirt streaking. Chipping was then applied by hand using a teeny weeny (technical term) brush and some dark iron paint. The track pieces were airbrushed with buffable dark iron and when dry, the high spots were buffed. Rust pigment was brushed into the crevises (Ooo-err Missus):eek: The cable on the cable drum is just weathered fuse wire wrapped around. The whole lot was then dry brushed with Tamiya weathering light sand to highlight the edges. Coats of matt varnish were applied in different amounts to different areas to give a variation in 'Mattness' (I'm sure that's not a real word) I made some camo netting to scale and coloured it in desert shades. The retaining straps were made of lead wire which I rolled flat with a bottle of tamiya XF-1 and then shaped the straps around the netting and barrel. They were glued at the bottom with Gator Glue and painted in Dark Yellow. I think this adds a touch more realisms to the stark barrel. Comments welcome.....:cool:
  22. AFV Club IDF SHOT Centurion Mk5/1 1967 with a 105mm Gun (BUT! Guess Who? fitted the 20pdr instead) READ THE INSTRUCTIONS PROPERLY NEXT TIME - DUMMY! (Kit AF35159) The 'SPECIAL' parts comprise turned metal 20pdr & 105mm gun barrels ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS: AFV Club sets Mantlet cover 'A' AC35008 & Indy Track AF35102 I've had a load of the AFV Club Centurions for quite a while now and have wanted an excuse to get started. The Leicester Modellers Boxing Day Build Club this year has given me the opportunity to get this 2006 release started - a bit late! My choice of build for this time will be to use the upgraded 105mm gun barrel. I do have another of these and the 20pdr version will come later. The Horstmann suspension has an A & B set so watch how you fit them Also made a start on the lower hull which is extremely well molded and a great fit to the parts. Whilst not exactly on the rare list, with the advent of a host of new products being released, IDF Armour is starting to become more popular.
  23. Here's one of my rather rare builts of 1/35th scale military vehicles. In this case AFV Club's Sho't Kal, which is basically a british Centurion - amongst other things upgraded with an American Teledyne Continental Diesel engine that provided the tank with more than twice the range of the original petrol powered Centurions with their Meteor engines. All IDF Sho't tanks were upgraded from the Sho't Meteor to the Kal. Besides better range and reliabilty, the Continental engine was the same as used in the Magach (M48/60), also a major MBT of the Israeli Defense Force back in the late sixties and Seventies - with obvious advantages. Because of the kit's workable suspension I bought AFV's workable track links which are fine but do not hold together all that well. I think Friul tracks would have been the better choice. Other extras are the mantlet cover (AFV) and the commander figure (Legend) There's some strange lighting here - the turret is of course the same color as the rest.
  24. The Australian Army got involved in Vietnam from 1965 onwards but it wasn't until 1968 that they decided to make use of Centurion tanks. Once these tanks were deployed they were operated by the 1st Armoured Regiment of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. Despite some concerns before being deployed the Centurions proved to be really good at operating in the jungles and paddy fields of Vietnam. Also, much to the surprise of some U.S. Units, the Australians found it was possible to repair even some fairly major combat damage, on the Centurion, while it was still in the field. The kit I have decided to build for this GB is AFV Club's Mk.5/1 Centurion of the RAAC. It is a rather nice kit that includes some etch, rubber tyres and a metal gun barrel. This will be my first, proper full sized 1/35 tank build, the only previous 1/35 kit I've built being Tamiya's Panzer Kampfwagen II Ausf. F/G. I won't be starting this build properly just yet as I'm trying to finish two Mk.I Spitfires for the BoB GB. Knowing me though I will probably end up starting some bits and pieces before properly getting started. The box art: The contents: ..........wow that looks like a lot of parts! I also picked up a Mantlet Cover as Centurions in Vietnam had them fitted: Over the next couple of days I'll post some closer up photos of the sprues. Kind regards, Stix
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