G'day all,
this is my second build of Afv club's R.A.A.C. (royal australian armoured corps) centurion tank in Vietnam.
this is a very good kit but in areas it, like any kit, needs some help from the aftermarket, I grabbed an update set from Firestorm models to get the ball rolling on my project. but first, i will give a history lesson. in 1968, the army dispatched a squadron of centurion tanks for use over in Vietnam, after their first operation (operation pinaroo) it soon became apparent that a few things about the tank would have to change. First to go were the side skirts as they compacted mud and vegetation which would over-tension the tracks and sometimes break the idler wheels. another problem was that the fender mounted stowage bins would be distorted by the thick jungle which would also make them spill their contents out. but, us aussies being as inventive as we are, changed and adapted new solutions to these problems, we removed the side skirts and welded american "u" picket to the sides of the stowage boxes for added strength, we also added an infra-red searchlight that at night was mounted above the gun, and when not in use was stowed in the stowage basket. The Centurions were used in many ways from being utilised at fire support bases to finding and destroying bunker systems.
anyways, on with the project, I started with the suspension bogeys:
the bogeys are straightforeward to build and each has a metal spring to articulate them with. after they were out of the way, I made the roadwheels and replaced the kt supplied rubber tires with resin items form Firestorm which are a MUST imho. with those done, I built the basic block of the tank and the turret, I am making a mantlet cover out of thinly rolled milliput, which will be easy to make.
here the basic form of the tank is done, I replaced the glacis armoured plate with a resin item from Firestorm, but shaved off the bottom weld seams so that it would fit and replaced them with milliput.
that's al for now, any questions and comments are welcome
There's no such thing as a clean tank!