RMASG Centaur.

[FrancisGL]

NIce job with PEs..., cheers mate

[Matt182]

Very nice work so far, excellent work on that photo etch!

[Bullbasket]

4 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

NIce job with PEs..., cheers mate

 

3 hours ago, Matt182 said:

Very nice work so far, excellent work on that photo etch!

 

Thanks both. Aber do make nice etch, but once you've run the ball point pen down the indentations, the part curls up quite a bit. But a bit of gentle bending sorts most of the problem out.

 

John.

[Valenstitch]

Nice work! Always liked the Centaur/Cromwell family, must "dip a toe in the water" once I have grown out of cold war heavies!

 

Granto

[Bullbasket]

Thanks Granto,

It's a good kit and the possibilities are (almost) endless.

 

John.

[Redcoat2966]

Hi John, did you ever finish this one....just picked one up and intend it to be my next project....Voyage PE, Friuls and tow cable upgrade. Curious on if you finished it, or intend to complete the build log.

 

Cheers

Simon.

[Bullbasket]

12 hours ago, Redcoat2966 said:

Hi John, did you ever finish this one....just picked one up and intend it to be my next project....Voyage PE, Friuls and tow cable upgrade. Curious on if you finished it, or intend to complete the build log.

 

Cheers

Simon.

'Morning Simon,

No, I haven't finished it, but it is one of those that I am determined to get around to.....eventually. It's on the shelf, just above my work bench and it keeps glaring at me, daring me to finish it. Most of the problem at the moment is enthusiasm, or rather the lack of it.

 

John.

[Silenoz]

Nice work so far, and I hope the mojo for this project returns.

Is the difference in thickness between the original and PE fenders very visible? That's why I would replace them completely.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Silenoz

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, Silenoz said:

Nice work so far, and I hope the mojo for this project returns.

Is the difference in thickness between the original and PE fenders very visible? That's why I would replace them completely.

To be perfectly honest, if it hadn't have been for the fact that the front fenders/track guards on these Centaurs was of a different design to the later type, I would have stuck with the kits fenders and just scraped the edges to a thin section. That's what I did on my other three Cromwells.

 

John.

[Redcoat2966]

On 8/14/2018 at 7:57 AM, Bullbasket said:

'Morning Simon,

No, I haven't finished it, but it is one of those that I am determined to get around to.....eventually. It's on the shelf, just above my work bench and it keeps glaring at me, daring me to finish it. Most of the problem at the moment is enthusiasm, or rather the lack of it.

 

John.

Hi John......I know the feeling...  

 

I have six..... underway, so I need something to pick me up............so I'll start another......

 

I'll incorporate the detail from your start of your Centaur at the rear....also the stop removal you mention on the running gear. No PE fenders for me on this one though, had to draw the line on the mounting bill of extra's.....

 

Maybe me kicking mine off, will give you that motivation to complete yours in parallel......

Cheers mate

Simon.

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, Redcoat2966 said:

Hi John......I know the feeling...  

 

I have six..... underway, so I need something to pick me up............so I'll start another......

 

I'll incorporate the detail from your start of your Centaur at the rear....also the stop removal you mention on the running gear. No PE fenders for me on this one though, had to draw the line on the mounting bill of extra's.....

 

Maybe me kicking mine off, will give you that motivation to complete yours in parallel......

Cheers mate

Simon.

Hi Simon,

Far be it for me to play oneupmanship, but at last count, I had seven.. 

In all honesty, If I was to do a Cromwell with the sand shields in place, I wouldn't bother with etched fenders, as once the paint and weathering go on, it's hard to tell the difference. I only used them on the Centaur as they were a different pattern to those in the kit. The stop removal on the running gear is very easy to do.

And finally, you've already giving me the motivation to start it again. Maybe the fact that the kit that I'm building at the moment is becoming a drag may have something to do with it.

Good luck with your build.

 

John.

[Kingsman]

I hope you find the will to finish it.  This is something I intend to get round to - eventually.  Along with a matching Sherman.

 

Question.  Would the RMASG tanks have had the rear smoke candle holders fitted?  Seems like something that might have been removed when the engines etc were removed and not necessarily been a priority to re-fit.  Alternatively something so minor that it was just left in situ. 

 

Thinking about it though, did any wade-proofed tanks have them?  Electrically operated incendiary device under water ...........  Apart from the shorting risk the smoke candles probably couldn't be loaded until the emitters dried out ashore.

[Bullbasket]

16 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

Question.  Would the RMASG tanks have had the rear smoke candle holders fitted? 

While I understand where you're coming from with this, there are a couple of photos around that show them fitted. The one at Pegasus Bridge has them (yes, I know to be wary of museum exhibits). Most models that I've seen, including ones by knowledgeable modellers, also have them. Maybe they were just left in situ, inactive, so that's going to be my thinking behind it. So I'm going to leave them on, but not attach the electrical cables.

 

John.

[Kingsman]

I suppose there was no particular reason to remove them: they weren't in the way of anything.  But disconnection and removal of the cables certainly seems likely.

[Bullbasket]

This was actually the first WIP that I'd started on BM, but I lost enthusiasm after a while. But recently I've been trying to clear some of my shelf queens, and with the Tiran finished and in the RFI thread, I thought that it was time to move onto the Centaur.

First job was to join the upper and lower hull parts together. One problem that I encountered there was that the vertical parts of the etched brass track guards fouled the lower hull. Using my Minicraft drill with a grinding bit in the chuck, I ground away the excess brass until I was left with a snug fit. I left off some detail such as the small running lights and cables, because I intended to cover the front with camnets and tow cables.

Although I'd fitted parts to the turret which showed it waterproofed, I left off these items from the lower hull, my idea being that the tank is in the process of being waterproofed. Therefore the normal parts which are in the kit, driver's visor, periscopes, hatches etc., were glued in place.

 

I did some work on the three stowage bins. I removed the lids from each one and made new ones. The lid for the single one on the LHS I made from thin card and scored the indentations into it with an old ball point pen and then glued it in place in the open position as I intended to fill it with stores.

 

For the other two on the RHS, I made new lids from pewter foil in the same way, but glued them in place, closed. The securing clips are from the Eduard set.

 

It's been good to get back to this one. It pays to walk away sometimes, though hopefully, not for two years.

Thanks for looking,

 

John.

[Hamden]

 

Interesting subject will look forward to seeing it completed

 

  Roger

[Redcoat2966]

Glad to see your back on it John, and looking really good so far. 

 

The actual kit arrived Friday and managed a few hours so far over the weekend. I concentrated on the turret mostly and the chassis this morning for a couple of hours. The more I get into the Voyager PE, the more Iwished I’d chosen another brand.....😩

 

I dry fitted the already size incorrect stowage bins, to discover they overshoot the location by nearly 2mm.......nothing really to worry about, but confirms the wrong sins on the stowage bins is an error of overall size and not just the lid being wrong in width.

 

Anyway.....I’ll post where I stand on my Centaur tonight............we got ourselves a mini group build.....😀

 

Catch you later

Simon

 

 

 

[Kris B]

Everybody I think have a some project like this, looking from the shelf and begging to being finished. Nice that you come back to it. 

[Bullbasket]

2 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Interesting subject will look forward to seeing it completed

 

  Roger

Thanks Roger. Still looking for a suitable Signals build, preferably a Bedford RL or Austin K9. Just need some decent photos.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, Redcoat2966 said:

Anyway.....I’ll post where I stand on my Centaur tonight............we got ourselves a mini group build.....

We have too, but probably approached from different ways. If you are still having problems with the bins, my advice would be to get hold of some pewter foil and use the shells of the bins from the kit, but replace the lids with the p/foil. It's easier to make them look slightly damaged also.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, Kris B said:

Everybody I think have a some project like this, looking from the shelf and begging to being finished. Nice that you come back to it. 

You're right Chris. Trouble is that I have got about six or seven more that need finishing.

 

John.

[Kris B]

Do not hesitate then John. We will enjoy your WIP's. 

[Bullbasket]

I used the string that comes with the kit to make the tow ropes as they are easily positioned, and as they have to be fed into the brackets on the side of the two right hand stowage bins, I thought that using the string meant less chance of the brackets getting broken off. They don't look bad once they're painted up.

They were usually carried in pairs, so two sets were made up and I attached the front ends to the right hand towing shackle with a loop that I made from 15 amp fuse wire. The rear ends were just glued to the engine deck.

 

 

I made the rear sloping portions of the track guards from thin card. The kit supplied parts are wrong for this Centaur as they didn't have the step effect, they were just plain, as per this example at the Musee des Blindes in Saumur (ignore the weird colour scheme).

 

 

In the Accurate Armour set for the Centaur, they include on the etched brass sheet the wading trunk. It's fine, but my soldering skills leave much to be desired, so after I made a pigs breakfast of it, I resorted to the good old standby, plastic card. I used the one in the AA set for the dimensions, cut out the parts and then assembled it. I'm reasonably happy with the end result, although it does bow inwards slightly, but I can live with that. It's just sitting in place here as I don't want to fix it in place yet as I'm bound to knock it off before finishing the build.

 

 

That's it for now. There's not much further to go, just the tools and some stowage. Thanks for looking.

 

John.

[Hamden]

 

Nice progress

 

 Roger

[Kingsman]

RMASG is clearly flavour of the month again.  Two current threads on here and one on Missing Lynx.

 

Well done on getting the front trackguards correct, sloping from the front edge of the stowage bin level with the hull front.  Tamiya goofed this as almost all Centaurs had the sloping trackguards and they can be seen in most RMASG photos from the right angles.  It is harder to notice with the front sections removed.

 

But hold on!  Hunter - as kitted by Tamiya - and Vidette (at least) did indeed have flat-top trackguards.  A couple of the memorial Centaurs in Normandy still have the full front sloping trackguards fitted.  Hard parts to source for a restoration.

 

On your tracks, try a touch of Vandyke Brown Metallic oil pastel on the spuds and guide horns.  It's the best representation I've found so far of the colour of manganese steel.  It was - is - neither silvery nor graphite-y in colour.