gcdavidson Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Decided to re-start this project after it stalled when we moved from Edmonton to Ottawa. The background is simple enough: lacking an armoured air defence capability that could provide integral AD to a tank Regiment, the RCA was allocated centurion hulls which were adapted to fit dual bofors 40mm AA guns mated to an autonomous radar / optical fire control system. Build is basically a kit bash of the very nice AFV club Centurion, and the very not-so-nice Heller AMX DCA 30. 90% of the work is sussing out how the turret would look. I wanted it to retain enough centurionishness so its roots would be obvious. Step 1: slice & dice! Centurion Twin 40mm by gcdavidson, on Flickr Centurion Twin 40mm by gcdavidson, on Flickr Centurion Twin 40mm by gcdavidson, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Glad you are restarting this one Graeme, great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 Cheers Dave, it was originally intended for the What-If GB here a while back. Going to be interesting to see if I can get it back on the rails seeing as I am currently without a workshop. No need for fine measuring here. Some 4-thou strip will help with higher profile of the DCA front. Lashings of CA glue hold it all together: More 4-thou and gobs of apoxie sculpt for the base of the cent' turret: Strips get sanded back flush with the cent bits and now it gets a gross check for width: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 Other side of the turret: Quick mock up to make sure it doesn't look too ridiculously high: Apoxie sculpt slathered on to fair the different widths. Figure that the SPAAG would use a cast turret like its MBT brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 19, 2011 Author Share Posted October 19, 2011 Had to be pretty generous with the putty on this side. Due to the asymmetrical nature of the turret, the left side required a good dollop Sanding, sanding, sanding...STOP. What the *&^*. The apoxie sculpt did not stick well to the smooth plastic and I was unable to get a feathered edge. Do you smell that? Tamiya putty son, nothing else in the world smells like that, go on, inhale... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Wet sanded back. Purple marker reveals some low spots. Not sure why I bothered getting it so smooth as the cast texture that would be applied later pretty much negates the wet sanding! More low spots Decided that a 'cast in' base for the optical sight should be added. Some random green bits were sourced from the spare parts box: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Radar base gets a bit of detail and a boost in height for the dish itself. Can't have the crew commander's brain being fried by microwaves, or he'd be sent out of the artillery over to the armoured corps Painters tape used to protect parts that won't get the cast texture: Good idea fairy struck and I decided to solder up a stowage basket for the right side. This will be used to hold the 3 large cam nets the twin-forty uses in the static role My putty fume buzz was wearing off, so time to stab on some more. Tamiya putty mixed with testors liquid cement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Cast texture will get knocked back with a flat sanding stick. There's a couple Cents at my old base, and I was surprised just how rough the texture is, and how sloppy some of the bins fit to the turret. The aim was to make the turret look like a one-piece casting: Built an APU-thingy, or is it an air conditioner for the crew? Also the optical sight unit gets a bit of detail in the form of cooling fins. A/C added to hull rear: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyhawk174 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Graeme looks great and as you say, you can still make out the Centurion heritage. Good to see you picking this up again. DI you not have this out ot one of our meetings when you were here? Look familiar. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Hi Chris, its possible I brought it to an Edmonton IPMS meeting - the kit has been my longest 'in progress' build ever. Years literally. Have you guys decided on the 2012 GB subject? Some gas can racks to feed the APU (I guess its not an air conditioner afterall!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damocles Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Graeme, This looks great, I really like the texture of the putty/cement mix. I am sure I will find a use for it somewhere. I really like the sctatch building and kitbashing, for me it makes it far more enjoyable. Looking forward to seeing some more. chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Thanks Chris! I've just been sharing your hesco / alaska wall threads with some friends on another DG. Really like the DIY aspect and the great effect you've achieved with both of those projects. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahut Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Awesome. I like the turret stippling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 That's really cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc2324 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Thats a great bit of kit bashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Some very neat scratchbuilding there mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 That is really impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 This is looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 cheers guys! A couple overall pics. Barrels are just blu-tacked on at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I'm not normally an armoured guy but wowsers, that's one impressive build there Graham! Will follow this one for sure. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Really looking the part. What markings are you planning? Isreali? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Looking grteat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Oops, missed this one. Looking great. Can I ask what kind of documentation you're using for this one? If I'm not wrong, you're Graeme Davidson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcdavidson Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 Thanks guys! It'll be a while before the next update. Markings will be for "Z" Battery, 1 RCHA when it was part of 4 CMBG in Lahr Germany, circa 1975. Paint will be the standard cam of OD, Khaki, and Black. If I'm not wrong, you're Graeme Davidson? You're not wrong! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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