OOB Tamiya 1/25 Centurion MkIII

[iain.. ipms north somerset]

Hi there scuff

I am by ' trade' a 1/16 scratch builder and i specialize in armour ...

What a fantastic build you have do so far ...a real credit to us track heads ...

Kracking job !

Iain

[Gary]

Hello, Scuff,

I'm having flashbacks as I scan through your build thread ! My Centurion was a mark 5, but not much different from a Mark 3.

Just a couple of points:

a. I think that the inside of the crew commander's hatch was covered in a black foam material to protect the CC's head of the hatch slammed over and down. But that may have been a Mk. 5 feature.

b. I think that the track sag is much too pronounced. IIRC, a new track had 108 track pads, and only 7 could be removed and the track adjusted before a new track was required. That said, with the side-skirts fitted the observation is rendered a non-problem!

I look forward to following additional posts.Good luck with the rest of your build!

Edited December 14, 2013 by Geebar

[iain.. ipms north somerset]

Hi there scuff

May i ask going back to the turret ..you made the camo netting for the main gun barell

Can i ask how ?'....as i like to try to replicate in 1/16 ..for a Canadian leopard 2a6 Afghanistan

Iain

[Scuff]

Hello, Scuff,

I'm having flashbacks as I scan through your build thread ! My Centurion was a mark 5, but not much different from a Mark 3.

Just a couple of points:

a. I think that the inside of the crew commander's hatch was covered in a black foam material to protect the CC's head of the hatch slammed over and down. But that may have been a Mk. 5 feature.

b. I think that the track sag is much too pronounced. IIRC, a new track had 108 track pads, and only 7 could be removed and the track adjusted before a new track was required. That said, with the side-skirts fitted the observation is rendered a non-problem!

I look forward to following additional posts.Good luck with the rest of your build!

Thanks for your input Geebar. I am always glad to hear comments from those who actually worked in these beasties.

I appreciate your observations. I was a bit surprised to see that the commanders hatch had no padding, as the others did. As you say, perhaps it was a later modification. The tracks have been adjusted to take up the slack - the kit even comes with a big spanner to move the front wheels forward for adjustment, as I believe there was a motorised version of the model.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Scuff

[Scuff]

Hi there scuff

May i ask going back to the turret ..you made the camo netting for the main gun barell

Can i ask how ?'....as i like to try to replicate in 1/16 ..for a Canadian leopard 2a6 Afghanistan

Iain

Hi Iain

I cannot claim invention of this technique, that credit must go to Ingvar-sylegrd. I have adapted this for my use.

I purchased some craft tissue in peach colour. I mixed some PVA glue with 5 parts water and brushed the mix onto the tissue until it was absorbed.

Once dry, I airbrushed the tissue to the required colour and pattern.

I made an arc cutting tool out of some brass rod, with which I cut a pattern into the tissue. I was then able to stretch out the tissue.

Forming it to the barrel was done by re-wetting the tissue and gently making the shape of the netting by wrapping and stretching. Once the water dries, the tissue holds it shape quite well.

The metal bands were made by rolling some lead wire flat with a bottle of Tamiya XF-1 - but I'm sure any colour bottle would do :-D

Edited December 15, 2013 by Scuff

[rom1]

Hello!

Very nice build!!

It is very nice, even from the box.

Great pictures by the way ;^)

Thanks for sharing!

Romain

[Scuff]

So here is the finished 1:25 scale model of the Centurion mk.III British main battle tank. It has been built out of the box with no extras, apart from the camouflage netting around the barrel which I made myself.

The paints used were as follows:

Primer was Vallejo grey polyurethane acrylic. This was also used for all of the interior surfaces. It gives a lovely smooth and resilient surface for the following paints.

The main overall colour was Tamiya Dark Yellow Matt XF-60. This was mixed about 40% paint with 60% Tamiya X-20 thinner.

Panel line preshading was done with Tamiya XF-1 Matt Black and overhead light simulation presahding was done with Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown.

Some weathering effects and shadow areas were done with Tamiya XF-49 Khaki.

The matt finish was thinned Vallejo matt varnish.

Chipping was hand painted with MrMetalColor MC24 Dark Iron. Exhaust and metal tool parts were also airbrushed with this paint as were the tracks and tow cables.

Weathering and rusting was done with a combination of Rust and Sand pigments. Various Tamiya weathering master sets for were used for streaking, rusting and staining effects. Lighter colours from these sets were used for edge highlighting.

Once the track pieces were buffed where the wheels ran and also where the locating lugs rubbed between the wheels, the pieces received a dunking in first rust, then sand pigments, with a good brush scrubbing between the two.

The exhaust parts were treated in the same way.

Although this was an old kit that I picked up from ebay for £30ukp, it went together reasonably well. There were plenty of moulding lines that needed scraping off before painting and the instructions had a couple of anomalies. The old decals were very yellow, so the markings for my choice of variant were spayed using a template that I cut out with a laser cutter, from a CAD drawing that I made.

I learnt a lot from trying various weathering methods on this build and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

As usual, and observations or comments are welcome. Enjoy the images.

[John_W]

That is incredidble.

[Crossy]

Incredible mate, truly a piece of art

[Scuff]

Thanks guys, I'm glad it meets with your approval. :-)

[ThealeUK]

A fine piece of work Scuff. Puts mine to shame which I built in the mid-seventies. Having noticed that the loaders seat had fallen off caused me to take the turret off and stick it back on. That’s when I noticed that it didn’t look right so a bit of internet research and a trip to Bovington and a comment made by Rayprit on this forum made some interesting finds:-

Rayprit… Doesn’t remember 4 rounds being stowed alongside the turret walls but doesn’t state the positioning of the seat (a nice write up on the “comfort” of the ride though).

Bovington… No Ammo storage boxes and the seat is where the left hand rear box would be and not stuck up above the boxes.

Internet… Seen a technical drawing of a MKII and that does have the forward stowage box but a little further forward and the seat where other one was but below the rim. Which means the operator doesn’t have to be 2ft high to sit on it! Also a photo inside a Centurion with the two boxes as placed on the model (possibly a little further forward). The seat, if there was one was not in view but it didn’t state what mark is was. It was on an Australian website so perhaps Tamiya got some of their info from Australia?

So do I pluck up the courage to try and prise the storage boxes out and reposition the seat or let it stay where it’s been for the last 40 plus years? Tricky.

 

Den

[Cromwell]

Nice build. Quite an imposing beastybeauty