1/35 scale Centurion Mk.12

[Scratchbuilder]

Waiting for a couple of bases to dry after adding the ground texture, had a look through the stash and came out with this.

But I had forgotten that I had done some earlier work to change it into a Mk.12....



I had started off with just the mantlet, then added the front top of the turret and realised that the turret now had to be re-shaped... So set to work with filer and two part putty before getting the basic shape with a knife and finally sanding to shape. Then a final coat of filler (Tamiya) and a sand down got me where I wanted to be.

These are the products obtained for the conversion. The turret roof (SMM) was obtained just in case I totaly messed up the turret, so is now spare. The 'Pagoda' engine louvres are a resin part from Scorpion Miniature Models, Firestorm have provided the wheel 'rubber' tyres as I am too lazy at the moment to get out the casting resin and produce my own... And the tracks are the AFV Club workable Centurion tracks (180 per side)....

Would not be a build without the etch, so it will be new bins, plus odds and sods, the Bazooka plates will possibly not be used as there are a lot of tie downs to add, but we shall see...

Here is the reference material in paper format, plus of course the interweb will provide other information. (notice the tie downs....)

First job today was to cut off the rear, ready for the new rear end of the engine bay....

And here it is test fitted, again from SMM, it will not be glued in place untill I am ready to start fitting the engine louvres....

The glacis plate has a new strengthened plate added over it, and I did not forget to remove the awfull injection pins from the underside....

Try taking them off when fitting the tracks....

The deck plate has a 3mm piece removed from the rear and the fuel filler caps removed and sanded away, also the 7 bolt holes are filled as they are not required...

And that is where I am at end of play for today, as you can see there is a metal barrel in place - I do have a resin one, but at the moment I am not too happy with it as there are a couple of air holes with one at the muzzle end of the barrel, so I could end up making my own....
More later
Cheers
Mike

[vizenz]

Very interesting and very complex! I am eager to know what happens next.

[Guest]

Cool, another Centurion

[A_J_Rimmer]

Fabulous! I do like Centurions, such a cool looking Tank. Looking forward to following one of your builds from the start - it looks like this is going to be a rather fun conversion.

[scottie3158]

Chair pulled up to watch another masterpiece.

[Ian M]

Interesting these Centurion tanks, I will have to have a go at one, one day. In the meanwhile I'll watch how its done.

[Scratchbuilder]

Very interesting and very complex! I am eager to know what happens next.

Hopefully it all goes together :smiling5:....

[Scratchbuilder]

Cool, another Centurion :smiling3:

To go with the other one I built some time ago, but that was scratchbuilt... (pics below)

[Scratchbuilder]

Fabulous! I do like Centurions, such a cool looking Tank. Looking forward to following one of your builds from the start - it looks like this is going to be a rather fun conversion.

Not a bad conversion to start with, hardest part would be the turret, but if you take your time and dry fit and dry fit, then you should be ok.

[Scratchbuilder]

Chair pulled up to watch another masterpiece.

Welcome Paul, front row as usual.

[Scratchbuilder]

Interesting these Centurion tanks, I will have to have a go at one, one day. In the meanwhile I'll watch how its done.

The AFV Club kits are not bad, if you remember to remove those annoying injection pins.... I have the Amusing Hobby AVRE, and if this is an example of their standard then there really is no comparison in quality.

[Guest]

That sentence has me confused: do you mean Amusing Hobby’s effort is better or worse than AFV Club?

[Scratchbuilder]

This is the earlier Centurion I built....




This was modelled on a vehicle based in Germany and the version was a MK.12, Artillery Observation Vehicle... Again based on the AFV Club Centurion. But in this case there was a lot of scratchbuilding to it.
Turret - re-profiled, stowage bin lid scratched.
Cmdrs cupola - split hatch and scratchbuilt.
Gun mantlet and barrel - scratchbuilt.
Engine deck and rear - scratchbuilt with the 'Pagoda' louvres made from plastic strip and aluminium sheet.
Bazooka plates - scratchbuilt...
Hull - stowage bin from etch set, light guards from etch...
Tracks - Fruil, wheel tyres from my own casting.

So let's hope I can get this one up to the same standard.
Mike.

[Scratchbuilder]

That sentence has me confused: do you mean Amusing Hobby’s effort is better or worse than AFV Club?

Sorry Jakko, I meant the quality was the same, and in fact I am sure you could interchange a lot of the parts.

[Guest]

I’ve not built an Amusing Hobby one, but I did look through the instructions once, and it looked familiar enough that I also had that thought just from the illustrations.