Centurion Mk.5/1

[Angus Tura]

I meant to post this in the Chat thread and messed up. My apologies.

 

Dear F4U &c.

 

I'd like to complete this build here. I wonder if you'll think it's OK 25%-wise.

 

 

It is going to be an RAAC centurion and was started in the Vietnam GB. The bits at the bottom are cleaned up or assembled and the gun and everything above are not. I am hoping to make a base for it "dug-in", and a figure, and I think it's less than 25%. But do please let me know.

 

Alan

Edited January 12, 2021 by Angus Tura
wrong thread

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

12 minutes ago, Angus Tura said:

I meant to post this in the Chat thread and messed up. My apologies.

 

Dear F4U &c.

 

I'd like to complete this build here. I wonder if you'll think it's OK 25%-wise.

 

 

It is going to be an RAAC centurion and was started in the Vietnam GB. The bits at the bottom are cleaned up or assembled and the gun and everything above are not. I am hoping to make a base for it "dug-in", and a figure, and I think it's less than 25%. But do please let me know.

 

Alan

I don't think that is anywhere near 25%, if all you've done is cleanup. That and some basic joins like the hull and turret, then you are good to go. 

[Angus Tura]

Thanks. You say, "all you've done is...basic joins like the hull..." The hull has had hours of fettling to get it to this point!

 

However, I don't want to undermine myself and...thanks!

 

Alan

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

15 minutes ago, Angus Tura said:

Thanks. You say, "all you've done is...basic joins like the hull..." The hull has had hours of fettling to get it to this point!

 

However, I don't want to undermine myself and...thanks!

 

Alan

I understand, I was referring more to the amount of plastic attached to itself over the amount of time. Im sure you've got more time invested than overall amount completed. 

[JOCKNEY]

Great to see this one on here, I've never built a Centurion, this isn't helping the already too big stash at all !

Best of luck 

 

Cheers Pat 

[Angus Tura]

Hi,

 

Sorry for the delay on this. I finally picked it up again.

 

There is no clearance at all between the mudguards and the tracks and the fit of the mudguards is not very confident.

 

I've taped them on and drilled holes to take brass pins which will make it easier to fit the mudguards after the tracks are all done.

 

The turret needs considerable fettle. See you later.

 

Alan

Edited March 16, 2021 by Angus Tura
missed a bit

[Angus Tura]

Hi. Turret fettling a go go.

 

 

I've stuck together the very centuriony turret boxes and then over sanded them so they've all gone a bit wonky. They're not very well molded. Luckily I have this in the stash:

 

 

It has a set of the turret boxes in spite of the fact that it has a different turret. So, I'm going to have another go. The turret basket is a bit fiddly but it is pretty beautiful.

 

 

Here is a little jig to get it squareish. I couldn't get it completely square because it's not completely square!

 

Here are some bits and pieces:

 

 

See you later.

 

Alan

[Angus Tura]

...Later.

 

I was completely wrong about the FV4005 boxing: it doesn't have spare turret boxes, more's the pity. These have been resuscitated therefore with bits of plastic,

 

 

and Mr.Surfacer 500 and a lot more sanding and they now look OK.

 

 

I'm mostly just posting to post. All of the bits on this have sink marks and mold lines and frankly its hard work. I do also have a horrible feeling that the Dragon Mk.1 will appear as soon as I'm finished. Anyway so far:

 

 

and,

 

 

I've been fretting about priming the turret basket mesh. I don't want to spray on anything that'll block up the pores in the etch. I'm just going to try Gunze metal primer on a bit of photo-etch frame from the turret basket and the unused side-skirts. Has anyone used this stuff? Does it melt plastic? Does it melt superglue? With what can one clean it off brushes?

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Alan

[Peter Lloyd]

Alan I'd suggest any primer that is dark-coloured. The pigments are finer and you have less chance of blocking up the mesh.

 

[Scargsy]

Haven't tried the Gunze stuff, I tried some AK metal primer before but it didn't seem to stick to my PE! I'd be tempted just to use some lacquer paint: it's got a high thinner to binder+pigment ratio so should be less likely to 'gunk' up fine details.

[Angus Tura]

Thanks Scargsy. I haven't tried spraying over the gunze primer yet but it certainly goes on easily. It seems to clean up very easily with lacquer thinners and it doesn't seem to damage anything else. I'm hoping to try out spraying later.

 

Meantime this goes on OK. 1 month to go on this GB.

 

I have noted a new problem of the mudguards.

 

 

I've put these pins on to let me take them on and off while painting/weathering the running gear, but only just noticed that putting the running gear on is going to stop them going on and off:

 

 

The flanges on the insides of the mudguards, front and back, are going to stop this working. It will only be worse with the tracks on. Hopefully reducing the flanges and shortening the brass pins, or removing them all together, will do the trick.

 

Alan

[Angus Tura]

Hi again.

 

Here is the Gunze metal primer in action. I should say that this is Mr.Metal Primer and not Mr.Metal Primer-R, which looks more opalescent.

 

This is a bit of etch frame stuck to the unused skirt of the RAAC centurion,

 

 

It's been brush painted with the primer and then sprayed Mr.Color C303. 

 

 

Very easy peezy. The paint does seem to stick really well and doesn't fall off with flexing the etch a bit. I'm pretty pleased with the colour match between the metal and the plastic too. I don't want to undercoat the tank because I'm worried that the etched grills will get clogged up. The primer does do something to the polystyrene which I hope you can see here:

 

 

It seems to smooth it out a bit: maybe it just coats it.

 

Anyway. A relief. I think this will work.

 

Alan

[Angus Tura]

'Evening all.

 

This is finally ready for some paint.

 

 

The wheels sprue is all cleaned up and the wheels all reduced to a single sprue attachment so that I can paint the tyres, mostly, on the sprue.

 

The turret has some Mr.Surfacer 1500 cast effect, but not too much. The join between the top plate of the turret and the cast body looks very clean in the walkaround photos I've seen and so I haven't added a weld bead there. The cast numbers of the turret are tiny and on the cast surround of the periscope left front of the turret. I haven't figured out a way to do those "OOTB" and have left it alone. Will Alcott on "On-the-Way" describes the worst fit in the kit being of the cover (the 3/4 circle above the hatch,) for the cupola periscope covers (the copper bits around the cupola.) I wouldn't disagree. The cover is a bit too short: that is it needs to be about a 7/8 circle instead of a 3/4. So the vertical end has been cut off and a new plasticard end put on and that buys about a millimetre. There should be a vertical in the middle of the longer bit of the circumference of it but there's no space between the etch periscope covers to accept it so I've just cut it off. The storage bins and smoke dischargers and the bits to go in the basket are separate still to make painting easier. The front left/port storage bin was DBG and not olive drab on the particular tank I'm making so I can paint it DBG without masking this way also. The cannon has been agony because of sink marks and mold-slip but is eventually OK. There was a particularly trying sink mark under the three etched counterbalance strips on the smoke extractor but with the mighty magic-sculp and the equally mighty Mr.Surfacer it finally looks OK.

 

The bogies aren't stuck together yet so that I can paint their interiors and the springs separately. The auxiliary fuel tank isn't stuck on so that I can paint the back of the hull and the front of the fuel tank separately and the  spare wheels and the jack similarly. Another problem Will Alcott describes is that the stub axles for the idlers is too short to hold them properly when the vinyl tracks go on. The idler halves and their axles, which are the little cylinders lying in front of them, have been drilled out with a 0.3mm drill which I'm hoping to drill out to be big enough to stick in a steel pin/hypodermic or something once they're on the hull.

 

I hadn't noticed, before making this photo, how much the one track-half I've taken off the sprue had stretched. I don't know where the other tow cable has got to...but it must be somewhere.

 

Mañana.

 

Alan 

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Alan

Any progress on the Centurion  ?

Cheers Pat 

[Angus Tura]

Pat,

 

Thanks for the query. There has been progress but not enough. I was going to post on here today as a mea culpa.

 

Here are the road wheels painted and the bogies and fuel tank inside faces painted to let me complete the construction. This is Mr.Color C303 + 10% white.

 

 

 

The molded detail is good, but it's soft. So, painting the tyres has been trickier that I'd hoped. These have been washed with W&N Payne's grey and then painted with Vallejo Panzer Aces 306 Dark Rubber. But then the rims needed a dry brush with Humbrol H117 & 10% white, & a bit more white, to look OK. The H117 is very close to C303.

 

 

Here is the fuel tank on the pre-painted hull rear and the turret basket getting sprayed. The Gunze C303 is pretty fine and it sticks to the Mr.Metal Primer-primed etch pretty well, but I have spent a bit of time with a pin cleaning up the paint-filled holes in the etched mesh.

 

 

The other pitiful excuse for DNFing is that I've wanted to try out glue and plastic primer with the vinyl tracks for a Roden IS-3 before using then on the yet weirder Ace Models vinyl tracks for the Centurion. And the IS-3 isn't done yet:

 

 

I've also been a bit waylaid by a PR.XIX in the Unarmed GB.

 

Apologies,

 

Alan 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Angus Tura
forgot to add picture

[exdraken]

Looks nice so far!

Please keep on posting anyways!