AFV Club RAAC Mk5/1 Centurion 1/35

[Hank]

Hi there.

This is my first post on ISM and I've only been modelling since around last September. I wanted to start out by sharing a work in progress so this is my Centurion Mk5/1 that served with the Royal Australian Armoured Corps in Vietnam plus an appropriate diorama base I will also be working on.



I received the kit as a gift at Christmas so I've felt really motivated to make it the best I can and add extra details. All the armour I had completed before this has been WW2 and I had never really considered bothering with any post WW2 subjects before I started this.

The tank is more or less together. Prior to this one I had just completed AFV Club's Churchill Mk3 AVRE so I was already a fan and I already knew what I was in for. There have been a few slip ups (gluing the metal 50cal ranging gun where the 30cal should go and vice versa was a big one) but nothing that's spoilt my enjoyment of the build.



As I mentioned, post WW2 armour wasn't really something I had considered so I'm ashamed to admit I was quite ignorant of the topic. I was always under the impression that more modern armour just took on a "generic MBT shape" and as a result was never terribly interested. For some reason I also had it in my head that tanks got smaller and lighter. Well I have to say, building this kit and reading up on the machine has blown all those misconceptions away. I think the Centurion as a tank looks fantastic (especially from the side) and as soon as I cobbled the hull together I quickly realised this thing is massive. I love it and I forsee a lot more post war armour in my future. I guess the centurion had it's beginning in WW2 so lets just call this my bridge into a new found territory.

Anyway, moving on to some of the details of the build:




Things like the tow cables and the searchlight have just been temporarily stuck on with a spot of blu tack since those will be painted separately with the tools, wheels and tracks. The mantlet cover has been scratch built with a bit of tissue paper and plasticard. It's all a bit rough at the moment so I will be sanding bits down and generally neatening it up. I am also yet to add bolts to the strips that secure the canvas in place. The wires that run the smoke dischargers were originally moulded on but I didn't like how they looked so I shaved them off and replaced them with copper wire. Once glued in place, I also intend to wire up the searchlight in a similar fashion. Speaking of the searchlight, that's another feature of this tank I think is ace but I'm still in two minds as to whether I should leave the lens clear or make it a dark red to be an IR lens.



AFV Club supplied a bit of black string to serve as the tow cables but because the Centurion cables are doubled up, they only supplied enough to make one complete tow cable or two incorrect cables with a single line. Maybe it was overlooked but I wonder if anybody else has had the same thing. Not that it matters though since I opted to twist up some copper wire of my own and I'm quite glad that I did so.




These are the last two pictures until I post with an update. I've been so pleased and excited with this kit that I wanted to give it a diorama base to really frame it. I have begun construction with a bit of black plasticard and some foam for the basic shape. I'll be modelling a narrow Vietnamese dirt road with plenty of surface variation to really take advantage of the workable suspension and give the model a real sense of weight. I'd really like to add a sense of scale for how big this vehicle is so no doubt I'll be adding a figure or two in there at some point.

Thanks for reading and I welcome any comments.

[Benwar]

Love it! good job sofar!

[Donkeywalloper]

Niiiice.
I love the Cents.
A big beast of a tank.
You have done a wonderful job on this mate.
The AFV range is not a range I have used yet but the Cents are a model I would like to have a bash at next.
Keep up good work,
John

[Gav0909]

Welcome to ISM, and what a great kit! I had this on order from Wonderland Models, but it was out of stock and taking forever to get replenished so I cancelled the order. I may still get it in the future though.

[pmarshall]

Great start

When I built one the vinyl tracks were horrible - either they were a couple of links too long, or just too stretchy, so needed quite a lot of tension to get reasonable. You are right about the tow cable, you do only get enough length for a single doubled up cable.

[Paul]

Excellent build and welcome to ISM

[schweinhund227]

Nice work thus far ! Keep it up !
Looking forward to your next update !

[gustavlekstal]

Its really shows that you put some tlc in to this one. Great build. Looking forward to the paintwork.

[Hank]

Thanks for the welcome, folks. Lovely community you've got here.

Just showing off a couple of important bits that now make it possible to move on to the painting stage. I applied the bolts by heating up and stretching a bit of sprue to the desired width, then cut it up into fine discs. Glued those on and then they were all sanded down uniformly



I also glued all the suspension in place so it now sits right on the terrain instead of just floating.

Great start

When I built one the vinyl tracks were horrible - either they were a couple of links too long, or just too stretchy, so needed quite a lot of tension to get reasonable. You are right about the tow cable, you do only get enough length for a single doubled up cable.

Yeah, I was never really a fan of vinyl tracks to begin with. As much good as I have to say about AFV Club kits, their vinyl tracks seem to be especially awful (at least they are in the kits I own). The Aussie Cent doesen't have side skirts to hide an unsightly track seam behind so I've decided to do away with the vinyl and replace them with these:



They're alright. Go together quickly but I'm dubious as to how durable they will be when it comes to the final fitting. Also maybe it's the way I clipped them together but laid out straight they sort of bow out to one side like this:

It's not a problem since when I did a test fit, the wheels and rollers kept it in line. I'll see if the same thing happens when I finish the second track.

The vinyls have at least had a use before they get chucked to the back of the drawer. I used them to print track marks in the terrain which is just several layers of toilet paper and pva over the foam. It's going to get a fine layer of garden soil and pva so the vinyl tracks might be made useful a second time.




I think I'll get my hands on these two kits at some point and have one of the blokes perched at the top of the banking waiting for the Cent to pass. My mind still isn't made up though so any suggestions or recommendations for suitable figures, be they military or civilian are very welcome.




The paint has been ordered. I'll be using vallejo acrylics. Thanks again for the encouragement.

[Hank]

I was going to post an update shortly after it was primed or preshaded but I ended up on a roll and got carried away . The basecoat is down and the wheels are all painted. I assembled it all together to see how the tracks fitted and if I would need to remove/add any links before those get painted too. The mantlet cover has had a slightly lighter tone to the body brushed on.

[Yevgeny]

Very neat.
The base looks great too.

[Hank]

Since the last update, the Centurion has been glossed, had the decals applied, glossed again, washed, tools have been painted, it's had a matt coat, then rust and chipping has been applied very sparingly. The tracks have also been painted and are currently drying after a wash before metal is dry brushed onto the teeth.





Once again, copper wire has provided an electrical cable for the lamp.




The tank won't be weathered further until the diorama base is mostly complete. From them on I'll make a judgement on how best to go about it. Right now all I know is that it will be very dusty. There are many details that still require touch-ups and I have only discovered more whilst reviewing these photos.

[PaulAyrey]

Really impressive. A grand piece of work so far and cannot wait to see some more!

[FishBowlMan]

Very nice work on the Centurion, and the base looks impressive as well.

[JediBoer]

Stunning build Hank!

[gustavlekstal]

Stunning work and that diorama gonna have some amazing texture!

[Coen]

That's excellent work bud.

[Hank]

Thanks everybody.

The final few pieces of the puzzle arrived today.



Cracked the Cub kit open to have a look. Nice crisp details and I can't wait to get started on them. Think I'll do the red twin seat.




Thank you everybody for the encouragement!

[Hank]

The c100 is built. Clear parts will be attached after painting. It and it's rider will be situated up on the embankment.

[FishBowlMan]

That C100 looks superb. Lovely details. The PE spokes are fantastic.

[Gav0909]

Lovely work so far. The tank looks great, and I can't wait to see it weathered up.


That wee motorbike is really cute. Lovely little kit, and should add a nice realistic touch to your model.

[Hank]

I'm afraid I haven't been updating this thread recently since I've been without a proper camera but just to prove the project isn't dead, lots of progress has been made between now and my last post. The following photos have been taken with my phone so apologies for the poor quality/bad lighting.






As you can see, I also acquired the HobbyFan Australian infantry and RAAC crew resin figures. I still need to scratch/acquire some more stowage for the turret basket and the engine deck, I may even add more foliage where I can but this is for the most part, complete.

[schweinhund227]

Awesome results....

[HIghAltitudeScale]

Nice, and I really enjoy the extras bits you did to draw interest to the dio, good imagination.

[OneSmallStep1966]

Brilliant

[Augustus]

That's proper nice, I've got one of these on its way to me now, would be well chuffed if it ended up anywhere near as good as this.

[Noobmodeler521]

Looks Great, love the addition of the civilian with the motorcycle. Well done.