A41 Heavy Cruiser (prototype Centurion) Operation Sentry.

[diablo rsv]

On 25/11/2021 at 10:49, Bullbasket said:

How was it with the heating and bending?

Thanks John,

It doesn't take too much heat from the hairdryer to make them pliable and they remain so for a minute or two so they can be moulded to the basic shape. Once they are in situ additional heat can be added to fine tune them. The amount of heat required isn't enough to melt the surrounding plastic but I was still cautious.

How was Telford? 

 

Wayne

[Bullbasket]

58 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

How was Telford? 

Brilliant! I saw my Grandson for the first time in two years. Got one gold, one bronze and a commended in the competition. Oh and spent a shed load of money, and not just on kits. That cafeteria was blooming expensive!

 

John.

[diablo rsv]

On 27/11/2021 at 09:58, Bullbasket said:

Brilliant! I saw my Grandson for the first time in two years. Got one gold, one bronze and a commended in the competition. Oh and spent a shed load of money, and not just on kits. That cafeteria was blooming expensive!

 

John.

 

That's great John! Must have been lovely to spend some time with him.

Congratulations on the competition results, what did you enter? I take it you belong to the IPMS then or can anyone enter?

 

Wayne

[diablo rsv]

I have managed to find the time to do some more detailing work, mostly around the turret and with varying degrees of success.

To start with, the turret bins had moulded on tie downs, which are fine if you don't want to add any stowage. I decided to remove them and replace the handles. The straps will be added later.

There should also be a weld seam around the edges of the bins which I created with stretched sprue.

The bins need a spacer fitting behind them as there should be a gap between the turret and the bins.

  

 

Apart from one or two, most images of the prototype Cents don't show them with a mantlet cover, however most of the Mk.1 images do and I would have thought that those prototypes that were involved in Operation Sentry would most likely have had them.

As AFV don't provide one and there is no after market available, yet, I decided to make one.

Using what photos I could find I masked of the area of the cover and sculpted one from Fine Milliput.

I also added some cast texture to the turret front as AFV's was a little too uniform and didn't look quite right.

 

  

 

The reinforcing ribs are made from Tamiya masking tape and I have given it all a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000. There is still a little tiding up to do but overall I'm happy with how it's turned out.

Another detail AFV has missed are the casting symbols just above the mantlet. I struggled to find a clear view of the exact detail. If I ever get to Bovington I must remember to take a selfie stick and try to get reference shots of the top of the turrets.

I did manage to find a build on this forum of @Enzo Matrix's where he has used the Accurate Armour conversion and I copied their symbols on the assumption that they had done some research. ( Did you ever complete it Enzo?)

The symbols were added with Archer transfers. I didn't have enough 2's so the numbers are not quite right but who's to know.

 

 

The 20mm Polston supplied in the kit is a little basic and I was hoping to replace it with the RB Model 20mm Oerlikon L/70, which is similar to the Polston. Sadly it seems RB have ceased trading and trying to find one in the UK is proving impossible. I have found a couple in European shops but they are quoting 15 Euros postage for a 3 Euro item. 

So I had ago at improving what I had by drilling out the barrel and adding a spring. Unfortunately my ambition outweighed my abilities this time and it's not a great result. Looks like I will have to make up an order from one of those European suppliers to make the postage worth while, every cloud....eh!

 

       

 

 

My next challenge is what to do with the kits very basic tool clamps. I don't want to buy a complete etched detail set just for a few clamps so it looks like I will have to attempt some more scratch building.

 

Wayne 

 

 

[APA]

That mantlet cover is work of art. 👌👍

 

Andrew 

[simmerit]

Mantlet cover looks ace, and thats a shame about RB going down the toilet.  I'm guessing everything thats out with distributors will have been snapped up already once that news broke.  Looks like you are really cracking on.

[Jasper dog]

Great work with the mantlet cover Wayne, who needs AM!

Attention to detail first rate, as ever.

Interesting that non of the warping that is supposed to plague the AFV Club kit hasn't manifested itself on any of the three being built. (Obviously I'd guess the diesel Shot Kal would have had a new unique deck but good all the same).

[Bullbasket]

13 hours ago, diablo rsv said:

Congratulations on the competition results, what did you enter? I take it you belong to the IPMS then or can anyone enter?

 

Yes, I am an IPMS member, and the competition is only open to members. My 1/48th Tamiya T55 conversion to Tiran 4 got the gold, the welded hull M51 got bronze and the 1/48th IDF M1 Super Sherman got a commended. Oh, and my credit card got hammered!!

That's excellent work on the mantlet cover and the casting numbers. Nice one.

 

John.

 

 

[edjbartos]

Good work Wayne, this is coming along very nicely indeed, well done

 

Ed

[Enzo the Magnificent]

23 hours ago, diablo rsv said:

I did manage to find a build on this forum of @Enzo Matrix's where he has used the Accurate Armour conversion and I copied their symbols on the assumption that they had done some research. ( Did you ever complete it Enzo?)

 

 

 

It's about 80% complete.  You may have given me the KUTA that I need to complete it. 

[Jasper dog]

13 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Yes, I am an IPMS member, and the competition is only open to members. My 1/48th Tamiya T55 conversion to Tiran 4 got the gold, the welded hull M51 got bronze and the 1/48th IDF M1 Super Sherman got a commended. Oh, and my credit card got hammered!!

That's excellent work on the mantlet cover and the casting numbers. Nice one.

 

John.

 

 

And well deserved too, I particularly liked the Tiran myself, congratulations! 

[PlaStix]

Hi Wayne. What a fantastic project and your modelling, as always, is so impressive! Looking forward to seeing more.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Flyingdutchman]

I found this photo; is this of any help?

 

[diablo rsv]

On 06/12/2021 at 20:55, simmerit said:

Mantlet cover looks ace, and thats a shame about RB going down the toilet. 

Thanks Si, yes it really is a shame, I use them quite a lot so I hope they are just taking a break.

 

On 07/12/2021 at 08:21, Bullbasket said:

Yes, I am an IPMS member, and the competition is only open to members. My 1/48th Tamiya T55 conversion to Tiran 4 got the gold, the welded hull M51 got bronze and the 1/48th IDF M1 Super Sherman got a commended. Oh, and my credit card got hammered!!

 

I was so tempted to drive up there but I didn't think there was enough that I needed to make the journey worthwhile . Somehow I've managed to buy plenty since then on stuff I didn't know I needed.  It would have been nice to see your builds, all worthy winners.

Hopefully next year things will be closer to normal.

 

On 07/12/2021 at 19:45, Enzo Matrix said:

You may have given me the KUTA that I need to complete it. 

 

Glad to hear it Enzo, it would be a shame to waste all that effort.

On 12/12/2021 at 18:46, PlaStix said:

What a fantastic project

 

Thanks Stix, I'm surprised that I can't find any completed builds on the internet, not sure what's putting people off, maybe because it's an odd looking Cent.

 

On 13/12/2021 at 10:40, Flyingdutchman said:

I found this photo; is this of any help?

 

It's a great photo, thank you. 

[diablo rsv]

I've spent the last few sessions on upgrading or replacing some of the smaller details.

Unfortunately, after spending a few hours making tool clasps and brackets from strips of thin brass sheet I discovered, from period photos, that these early Cents didn't seem to carry any tools, at least not on the track guards. So I then spent time having to fill in holes where AFV would have you place them.

The kit exhausts were drilled out and plastic strip was glued in to represent the supports/baffles.  The AFV gun cradle seemed oversize so I scratched another one from plastic card. 

 

 

There were a few weld beads to add here and there and some metal plate edges were thinned down to give an illusion of scale thickness. 

I was going to use the Accurate Armour Bazooka plates but they are drilled for the grab handles and have the later attaching method so rather than filling the holes I decided to use the kit ones which once thinned down a bit are just fine.

I did notice the way the plates are attached on the museum tank seem to be the later method and differed to period photos so I assume the Bovington tank has been altered at some point in its life.

I managed to mess up the Accurate Armour towing cables by cutting them to short but it was the length suggested in the instructions, I guess they forgot it has an extended hull. 

That's pretty much it for the building stage. 

 

 

 

Next step will be to strip it down and give it a good clean ready for the painting stages.

 

Wayne

[Hamden]

 

Stunning looking Cent all your attention to the smallest detail is definitely paying off Wayne

 

  Stay safe and seasons greetings           Roger 

[Bullbasket]

That does look the poodle's Wayne. I like what you did with the end of the exhaust. Spot on.

 

John.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Oh very nice. This is one for me to watch.

 

I've never seen resin tracks like that before, so it's handy to know how to deal with them.

[diablo rsv]

On 23/12/2021 at 06:30, Hamden said:

 

Stunning looking Cent all your attention to the smallest detail is definitely paying off Wayne

 

  Stay safe and seasons greetings           Roger 

 

Thanks Roger, I try to not get too carried away with the details but once I spot something that needs adding or alterating I just can't help myself.

 

On 23/12/2021 at 14:13, Bullbasket said:

That does look the poodle's Wayne. I like what you did with the end of the exhaust. Spot on.

 

John.

 

Thanks John. 

 

On 23/12/2021 at 20:52, Bertie Psmith said:

Oh very nice. This is one for me to watch.

 

I've never seen resin tracks like that before, so it's handy to know how to deal with them.

 

Welcome along Bertie.

I'm pleased with the resin tracks, when I first saw them I thought oh dear! but once cleaned up they look pretty good and they are actually quite simple to fit.

 

 

Wayne

[diablo rsv]

I didn't get as much time at the bench as I was hoping for over the festive period but I have managed to get the painting process underway.

First job was to strip it all down and give it a wash in some soapy water to get rid of all the greasy finger marks and dust.

 

Once that was done I used VMS' Metal Prep on the barrel and once dry the model was primed with Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black.

 

 

I left the primer to dry for a couple of days before I gave the model a check for any flaws and these were dealt with before applying an under coat of gloss white. This was applied in thin coats sprayed mostly from above. The idea is to give the top coat a little depth and accentuate the shadows and highlights.

 

 

The wheels were painted tyre black, I then cut some masks for the tyres and gave the hubs a light coat of white as well.

 

 

 

I shall give it all a day or two to dry before I start applying the top coats. In the mean time I shall get the next project underway.

 

Wayne

 

 

[PlaStix]

Hi Wayne. Happy New Year. Looks like you have been making excellent progress! Looking very impressive!

Kind regards, 

Stix

[Jasper dog]

Really progressing now Wayne. 

Looking forward to seeing it painted. 

Interesting point re' the turret bins, the AH kit has them standing off from the turret.

 

Atb and a happy and productive New Year.

Darryl 

[edjbartos]

That's looking really good Wayne, looking forward to seeing the top coats...

 

Ed

[Bullbasket]

I like the look of the masks on the wheels. Did you cut them with an Olfa P Cutter, or do you have some other item to cut them?

 

John.

[diablo rsv]

Thanks Guys, looks like I've been neglecting this thread a bit.

 

On 04/01/2022 at 14:07, Bullbasket said:

I like the look of the masks on the wheels. Did you cut them with an Olfa P Cutter, or do you have some other item to cut them?

 

I have a Silhouette Portrait cutter John, it's become one of my favourite tools now, I try to use it as much as I can to create masks so I don't have to use decals and it's very handy for the wheel masks as well.

 

  

 

I have managed to get some paint on at last. Using my preferred brand, which is MRP, I put down a base coat of SCC.15 Olive Drab and in an attempt to add some variation I mixed in some very dark brown for the shaded areas and some buff for the highlights. I like to keep the effect pretty subtle as I find that the monotone schemes are generally broken up by the weathering stages. The phone photos actually exaggerate the effect a little.

 

 

 

As you can see I have also added the markings. I used the kit decals despite what I said above, in this case the ones AFV provided were quite nice with fairly thin carrier film and good register. I used some Micro Set/Sol on them and they settled down very nicely. Once dry I gave them a slight misting with some SSC.15 to tone them down a little.

MRP paints dry to a lovely smooth satin finish which is ideal for the pin washes which is what I will be doing next.

 

Wayne

 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by diablo rsv
Added photo.