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Amusing Hobby 1/35th Centurion Mk5 build


simmerit

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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  I guess it's been superseded by the arrival of the new AFV Club Cents.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.

 

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I've gone for a bit of after market, so there is quite a bit of work to do on this build

 

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Bit of Eduard etch, and

 

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A set of skirts from InAccurate Armour

 

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and a set of resin wheels from Sovereign Models as the kit wheels and PanzerArt wheels are incorrect, without the reenforced rims.

 

 

 

Edited by simmerit
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Interesting project mind if I take a seat?

Got love a Cent and I was lucky enough to drive Bovington Tank Museums Swedish Cent a few years back.

 

    Stay safe             Roger

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43 minutes ago, simmerit said:

and a set of resin wheels from Sovereign Models as the kit wheels and PanzerArt wheels are incorrect, without the reenforced rims.

Great project, looking forward to watching this (I've the Shot Kal boxing).

Interested on your take on the Panzer Art wheels, I've a set here with the reinforcing rings...

 

Good luck

Darryl 

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39 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Great project, looking forward to watching this (I've the Shot Kal boxing).

Interested on your take on the Panzer Art wheels, I've a set here with the reinforcing rings...

 

Good luck

Darryl 

 

They must have corrected them - the originals were incorrect and identical to the AFV Club wheels, only in resin.  Makes you wonder why they bothered.

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12 minutes ago, simmerit said:

 

They must have corrected them - the originals were incorrect and identical to the AFV Club wheels, only in resin.  Makes you wonder why they bothered.

Short discussion on wheels within this little lot.

The reinforcement rings are slightly different to the Sovereign models one but...

The PA wheels are the same size as the AFV club ones so fractionally larger than the Amusing Hobby ones and undamaged. 

Should really compare it to the AFV Club BAOR kit I've stashed away.

 

Atb

Darryl 

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DEFCCDC9-99DD-44CF-B9CE-10EA533BF110

 

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I thought the working suspension would be pretty cool, but unless you screw the hull to a Board with the tracks on whatever obstacle the tank was crossing, it just bounced back into place, so I went for fixing it permanently.

 

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The running gear goes together well, with no misfitting at all.

 

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Again, a complete rip off of the AFV Club kit.  

 

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and those lines are absolute stinkers.  

 

Note the tracks, which have 102 links per track.  I really liked them as they click assemble, but the detail is just not quite what you get with metal tracks, so I went for MasterClub and had a bundle of fun on a track bash which I did in two sittings.....

 

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I must admit I really like these.  The pins fit easily and they are quick to assemble once you get into the swing of it.

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Short discussion on wheels within this little lot.

The reinforcement rings are slightly different to the Sovereign models one but...

The PA wheels are the same size as the AFV club ones so fractionally larger than the Amusing Hobby ones and undamaged. 

Should really compare it to the AFV Club BAOR kit I've stashed away.

 

Atb

Darryl 

 

Ta for that - I'll take a look.

 

The Sovereign wheels are marginally smaller in circumference than the Amusing Hobby kit wheels.  I'm not sure which is correct to be honest.  I do have a link from another poster on another site I will post when I get a minute which is a PDF and an absolute mine of info on the Cent and well worth a read.

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I do like the look of how this is coming together! (Never tried anything from Amusing Hobby before).

Do wonder why manufacturers gives us gimmicky suspension bits, how many of us intend to take advantage of it? (Probably the main reason for holding back on the AFV Churchill). 

 

Reckoned on a pretty much OOB build for mine with possibly just a mantlet cover.

Your Masterclub tracks do look nice though....must resist the temptation! (Had planned a quick no frills build 🤞).

 

Atb

Darryl 

 

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45 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

I do like the look of how this is coming together! (Never tried anything from Amusing Hobby before).

Do wonder why manufacturers gives us gimmicky suspension bits, how many of us intend to take advantage of it? (Probably the main reason for holding back on the AFV Churchill). 

 

Reckoned on a pretty much OOB build for mine with possibly just a mantlet cover.

Your Masterclub tracks do look nice though....must resist the temptation! (Had planned a quick no frills build 🤞).

 

Atb

Darryl 

 

 

They are a nice addition and well worth the effort.

 

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as are the correct wheels.

 

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I'm just talking you out of your OOB build:-)

 

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One big positive with the kit is the single piece barrel, which is very nice.  I was tempted to run with it, but its got to be the L7 for me.  I'm also waiting for a DEF models Mk5 mantlet cover to turn up.  There aren't any in the UK at the minute.

 

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I'm going for Hannants Extra Deep Bronze Green for the colour and it will be an RTR Panzer.  I've got the Mid Bronze Green as well, but having debated it, felt the deeper green was the right call.  I did read somewhere the Cent in 1948 was painted US OD, but I've since had comment from a couple of lads who ate lucky enough to drive the big ones that that's not correct.  

 

Anyway - this is where I have got to

 

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I'm at a stage where its time for etch...........  there is a lot of etch........

 

This is a really good source of data if anyone wants to do a bit of research on it.  I've lifted this from another site.  It was kindly posted by one of the lads on there.  Well worth a read.

 

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Edited by simmerit
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Here's a bit of manufacturing data just to give you an idea of the scale of production in terms of what came out of the manufacturing lines

 

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Mods were done so a lot of the Mk3s ended up as Mk 10s after several upgrades.  As I mentioned, I'm on with a Mk5/2 which had the L7 barrel upgrade.  Everything else was as per the standard Mk5

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I did say there was a lot of etch...  This is just the start...

 

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The plastic toolboxes are actually pretty good, but no matter how hard I try and tell myself they are fine, you cant whack a good bit of etch.....

 

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and as ever, its fiddly, but always well worth the effort IMHO

 

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Thats the first one of six.  Oh the joys.  As you can see, the plastic is OK, but it doesnt come anywhere near the effect with etch.  Its a shame there are no fenders as I'd bin the plastic ones completely.  The fenders on the Cromwell and Centaur transformed the model.

 

The only other pain is I will have to cut the old ones off.  Bummer.

 

 

 

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Amazing what a bit of etch does to a build

 

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Look like the track guards will have to come off also.  The glacial plate is not the best fitting on this, which is a little disappointing given how simple a model it is

 

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you're making another masterpiece Si, and what a subject too, there's an old saying that if something looks right, then it is right, that applies perfectly to the Centurion. For it's time, the best tank in the world.

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18 hours ago, simmerit said:

I did say there was a lot of etch...  This is just the start...

 

The plastic toolboxes are actually pretty good, but no matter how hard I try and tell myself they are fine, you cant whack a good bit of etch.....

 

and as ever, its fiddly, but always well worth the effort IMHO

 

Thats the first one of six.  Oh the joys.  As you can see, the plastic is OK, but it doesnt come anywhere near the effect with etch.  Its a shame there are no fenders as I'd bin the plastic ones completely.  The fenders on the Cromwell and Centaur transformed the model.

 

The only other pain is I will have to cut the old ones off.  Bummer.

 

 

 

Etch....overrated if you ask me....:lalala:

 

When I were a lad and we lived in a card board box, I know, luxury...we made do with good old fashioned plastic, made a man of ya, non of this new fangled metal lark!

 

Nope still won't be shamed into it I've nothing to prove.....and I at least have mantlet cover. :bleh:

 

Not that I'm interested, obviously,  but I've not found any etch available for it, apart from the boxes, in this country.

 

 

 

Your new tool boxes might look quite nice I suppose...:whistle:

 

Great work! 😉

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20 hours ago, simmerit said:

and as ever, its fiddly, but always well worth the effort IMHO

Show me the etch that isn't! Nice work with the  toolboxes though. They do make a difference when you want to portray one that has a slightly warped lid.

 

John.

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1 hour ago, Jasper dog said:

Etch....overrated if you ask me....:lalala:

 

When I were a lad and we lived in a card board box, I know, luxury...we made do with good old fashioned plastic, made a man of ya, non of this new fangled metal lark!

 

Nope still won't be shamed into it I've nothing to prove.....and I at least have mantlet cover. :bleh:

 

Not that I'm interested, obviously,  but I've not found any etch available for it, apart from the boxes, in this country.

 

 

 

Your new tool boxes might look quite nice I suppose...:whistle:

 

Great work! 😉

 

Thank you @metadyne.  Its building into a nice model.  The only thing I think I'll have to watch is the deep bronze green, which basically kills any pre-shading base coats dead and you end up with a single block colour.  Thats going to look pretty grim on a model of the size of the Cent, which is a bloody big tank.  What I think I am going to have to do is a blend of mid bronze green and deep bronze green, using the mid bronze green on surfaces exposed to light and the deep bronze green on surfaces in the shade.  Hopefully it's not going to look odd.  Its all about the light and breaking up the single block colour.  That's the plan anyway!!!

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32 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Show me the etch that isn't! Nice work with the  toolboxes though. They do make a difference when you want to portray one that has a slightly warped lid.

 

John.

 

Yup.  Totally agree.  I was looking at the Shot and Voyager looks like they do an etch kit for the AFV Shot Cent.  Just a thought..

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I think that you're probably right that a gentle zenithal modulation would suit this one. Then post-shade with highlights and fake shadows (called ambient occlusion) around and on smaller areas (Martin Kovac on YT does this well) and that would be job done as far as paint goes.

 

You can get inter-shaded modulation out of dark greens, using darkish tan colours like yellow ochre. If a yellow pigment was used to make the real green, you can use that. I may soon have a show-and-tell which demonstrates that... but don't hold your breath!

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33 minutes ago, Ade H said:

I think that you're probably right that a gentle zenithal modulation would suit this one. Then post-shade with highlights and fake shadows (called ambient occlusion) around and on smaller areas (Martin Kovac on YT does this well) and that would be job done as far as paint goes.

 

You can get inter-shaded modulation out of dark greens, using darkish tan colours like yellow ochre. If a yellow pigment was used to make the real green, you can use that. I may soon have a show-and-tell which demonstrates that... but don't hold your breath!

 

It's going to be quite a tricky one to achieve with a very dark green.  The contrast between shaded (out of direct sunlight) and unshaded (in direct sunlight) should work OK, but the thing that needs thinking though is the block effect will still be there unless I find a way of breaking up the colour.  I can't do it by panel as that will look like a weathered vehicle thats been in the field for months.  This is a British Army Berlin BAOR Cent which means it's well maintained and clean, unless of course I do it on exercise around Bispingen in which case it can be grubby, but that defeats the objective build which was suppose to be an RTR Berlin Cent.

 

I'll have an experiment with light shading before I tackle this one.  I've seen too many models ruined by either bad or over weathering - particularly cold war and modern kit where there is rust!!!!!!!

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That's why I suggested occlusion. You can do that on panels with OPR techniques using, for example, ochre and/or lighter green for highlights and black-brown or blue-black for shadows. Blue-black especially is great over pure dark greens. You can shade panels as well as smaller objects and it doesn't represent dirt. It's a painting step rather than a weathering step.

Edited by Ade H
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3 hours ago, Ade H said:

That's why I suggested occlusion. You can do that on panels with OPR techniques using, for example, ochre and/or lighter green for highlights and black-brown or blue-black for shadows. Blue-black especially is great over pure dark greens. You can shade panels as well as smaller objects and it doesn't represent dirt. It's a painting step rather than a weathering step.

 

I'm sceptical, but happy to take a look at some examples if you have any in Deep Bronze Green.  You need to bear in mind this is as close to black as green gets.  If you've got any links, post them if you get a minute.

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typo
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