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Korean War Centurion Mk.lll.


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I originally made a start on this build about 8-10 years ago and got as far as building most of the lower hull, but then I discovered to my horror that the hull tub was warped and there was no chance of fixing it with all of those parts glued in place.

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Fast forward a couple of years, and I was at Telford and on one of the stands, someone was selling off some kits cheap which had belonged to a modeller who had sadly died. Among them was the AFV Club, Aussie Mk.V.1 for the princely sum of £15 (there was also a Dragon Conquerer for the same price, and I’m still kicking myself for not buying it). Fast forward to today, and I’m setting this as a marker for my next build. I’ve still got the M51 to finish, but it’s not as if I can go out very much at the moment, so hopefully, I can get both done. At least this hull isn’t warped.

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This is fairly new territory for me, but as I understand it, there isn’t a great deal of difference between the Mk.lll and the Mk.V. One thing that did need changing was the turret, so at the time of the original build, I had purchased a Lionmarc resin turret, which does look good, and incorporates the canvas mantlet cover.

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There’s a small etched sheet included. The mesh will probably be replaced with some Accurate Armour etched brass diamond mesh.

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Metal tow rope............

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.............and a very nice aluminium 20pdr A type barrel.

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What isn’t in this kit though are the bazooka plates as the Australians didn’t use them in Vietnam, but I’ve had a kind offer from Ben (Badger) of an etched set. Lastly, a couple of years ago I picked up a Star Decals sheet for the Centurion Mk.lll based in Korea.

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One other thing. Reading up on the differences between the Mk.lll and the Mk.V I found a reference to the fact that the Mk.V had an extra return wheel added at the front. This is in the AFV kit, but when I checked the instructions on line for the Mk.lll kit from AFV, it too had the additional return roller. Anyone know if this is a mistake on AFV’s part, or were the Mk.lll’s fitted with it?

OK, so once I have something done, I'll start to post the progress. If I get any enjoyment out of this build, then I will be looking out for a Shot Kal.

 

John.

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Looking like an interesting project to follow.

 

I have the Vietnam version up the loft - will have to check it's not warped as I bought it when they were first released.

 

All the best 

Ben

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14 hours ago, badger said:

Looking like an interesting project to follow.

 

I have the Vietnam version up the loft - will have to check it's not warped as I bought it when they were first released.

 

All the best 

Ben

'Morning Ben.

I think that the warping was a one off, as the replacement one that I have is fine.

Stay safe.

 

John. 

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On 3/28/2020 at 3:30 PM, Bullbasket said:

One other thing. Reading up on the differences between the Mk.lll and the Mk.V I found a reference to the fact that the Mk.V had an extra return wheel added at the front. This is in the AFV kit, but when I checked the instructions on line for the Mk.lll kit from AFV, it too had the additional return roller. Anyone know if this is a mistake on AFV’s part, or were the Mk.lll’s fitted with it?

Morning John,

 

Ive just had a squint through the Haynes Cent Manual. There is a really clear pic of a MkIII on the production line and it clearly shows a single return roller up front by the idler wheel 👍

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

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19 hours ago, Tiger said:

Looking forward to seeing this build develop.

 

2 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

May I join in please got to love a Centurion build

 

   Roger 

 

26 minutes ago, Vaastav said:

Mind if I tag along. The Indian Army also used these in the 1965 war, so they are of great interest. 

The more the merrier. Thanks for the interest.

 

John.

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2 hours ago, fatfingers said:

Ive just had a squint through the Haynes Cent Manual. There is a really clear pic of a MkIII on the production line and it clearly shows a single return roller up front by the idler wheel 👍

 

Thanks for that Steve. It's hard to tell with most photos of Mk.lll's as they have the plates in place. The original info that I got was from the Sqn/Sig book, Centurion in action, and that states that the additional return roller was added as an aid to stop track throwing. I did find one site though with Mk.lll walkaround photos, and it clearly shows the forward roller, just behind the idler, so I'm going to go with it. It's behind the Bazooka plates anyway, so won't be seen.

Thanks again Steve.

 

John. 

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22 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Thanks again Steve

Your very welcome John. Looking forward to see this one progress. I've got the MkV Dozer version in the loft so i may be inspired to dig it out! 

 

Regards,

 

Steve

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3 hours ago, Derbyeomanry said:

Are the engine decks the same on both marks?

 

As far as I know, yes. I think that the deck changed on later marks (Mk.10???). Basic differences between 3 and 5 were main gun, deletion of rear hatch on the turret, redesigned stowage bins and some other turret details.

 

John.

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11 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

'Morning Ben.

I think that the warping was a one off, as the replacement one that I have is fine.

Stay safe.

 

John. 

Good news as I don't fancy fighting the loft spiders again to check.

 

Some of them are as big as cats I swear!

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5 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Ben, they are cats. You've got a hole in your roof.

:giggle:

       

Don't know which would be worse to be honest!

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3 hours ago, Soeren said:

Have the mk v kit in my stash too. Only thing I did though was to build the afv club individual link tracks until now :)

The rubber band tracks in the box don't look too bad. I'll go with them, but if I don't like the finished article, the next Centurion based build will have Fruilmodel tracks.

 

John.

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Hi Carius. Glad to have you along. I have to admit that the Centurion is one of my favourite tanks and I don't know why it's taken me this long to get around to building one.

 

John.

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7 hours ago, phildagreek said:

This looks like fun!
 

I hope so. It was the first time around until I found how warped the lower hull was. I hope to be making a start on it tomorrow as I have finally finished the build of the M51.

 

John.

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Hi John, mind if I join in.

I used to build tanks many years ago and the Centurion has always been one of my favourites. I have one somewhere which I started to build a couple of years ago in a Suez Crisis scheme, can’t remember now why I stopped.

Looking forward to picking up some tips.

 

John

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3 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Hi John, mind if I join in.

I used to build tanks many years ago and the Centurion has always been one of my favourites. I have one somewhere which I started to build a couple of years ago in a Suez Crisis scheme, can’t remember now why I stopped.

Looking forward to picking up some tips.

 

John

Glad to have you along John.

 

John.

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The first time that I attempted this tank, I assembled all of the suspension units, but fortunately, I didn’t fix them in place as I discovered the badly warped hull. So, I didn’t need to assemble the units, which was a relief as they are quite involved. Each one has a pair of coiled springs inside which I find a bit gimmicky as the springs are so strong that they will only compress when pushed hard. As I say, a gimmick that can’t be seen once everything is in place.

So for this stage, there are just the finished articles to show, but I’ve included a picture of the instructions to show what is involved, plus a photo of the sprue (of which there are two).

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One aspect of the running gear that I am unsure of is the wheels. They have rubber tyres. Not sure how this will work out, but I intend painting the wheels and tyres separately, assembling them and then fixing them to the tank.

 

John.

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Hi John. Good to see you doing a build of this kit. I built it as a Vietnam version back in a GB in 2015. I remember there a few tricky bits here and there but it was a thoroughly enjoyable project.

I'm not sure it will be of any use to you - with the skills you have - but my thread can be found here:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987720-afv-club-135-mk51-centurion-of-the-raac-finished-photos-in-the-gallery/

 

Looking forward to following the magic as it unfolds here. :popcorn:

Kind regards,

Stix

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