Centurion #44 received

[mick whittingham]

Hi all,
new member Mick Whittingham here from South Yorks UK.

Just received my Cent and started to unpack and stash away all the parts ready to begin the build. I have assured the Minister for domestic finance that this build will take years so if I rush it then future funding cannot be assured.

I am staggered by the quality of everything I have experienced from Gill and mark so far and the unwrapping continued the feeling of awe. The mile wide grin is still in place and will take some shifting.

I hope to post regularly but won't be blogging every step unless i hit on anything tricky etc.

Just one question for now though, has anyone has experience of TIG welding the mudguard joints instead of using epoxy etc? Not sure if it is do-able or indeed necessary.

Regards,

Mick

[Bob Gould]

Welcome Mick.


Good luck with the "nothing else to spend for years" plan!

Best stay away from the craftsman's market forum then or you'll get hooked
On accessories like the rest of us mate!

[Robin Hinson]

Bob,

You have made a good point there. Is anyone going to introduce parts for the Centurion or have I missed something

Rob

[sean kerambrun]

I hope there will be some nice goodies made.

Maybe we should work on a wish list and see if anyone bites ..


Cheers

Sean

[paul&robinmargle]

I'd like:

Filler caps
Antenna bases
Bin latches
Phone box
Tow shackles, etc.
Formation lights
Head lights
Fittings around drivers hatch
Periscopes
Commanders vane sight

Although working out how to scratch build them is an interesting challenge - I suppose

Robin

[Kevin Hunter]

I can only agree that accessories like these will greatly enhance our Centurion builds. I'm new to all this but one cannot fail to notice the vast array of extras out there for the WWII armour, especially the German vehicles. I realise that relative popularity and economies of scale may inhibit any market for Centurion parts but it would be a shame if nothing were available.
Here's hoping
Kevin

[Bob Gould]

I'm sure one of our enterprising craftsmen will oblige

[mick whittingham]

Thanks for the welcome all, its great to be here as a builder.

I began slowly just sorting out brackets and screws for the hull but then got all caried away and assembled the hull as per the page 13 drawing.

All seems ok so far but I am not sure about the front edge of the deck plate where it meets the glacis plate. There doesn't seem to be any kind of attacment forward of the front stretcher. There is a small hole on each side piece which does not seem to come into the picture, but I may have missed something.

Is the deck attachment dependent upon filling between the deck and glacis plate?

Also as an aside, is there any method of retaining the turret to the deck other than gravity? has anyone made a retaining system for other AFV's or am I overthinking things?

I am going to slow down again now for fear of doing something daft.

Regards Mick

[leesellars]

Hello Mick

With Armortek tanks the turrets are purely held down by gravity. There is some location with the turret ring gear and motor gear. wait till you have the turret fully assembled and you will see why gravity does its job.

lee

[Adrian Harris]

Not sure about the later models but the clamp parts for holding down the Tiger turrets was shipped as part of the Motion Pack.

Probably best to wait and see what Mark's plans are for the Cent.

If there's hole in the floor dead centre of the turret aperture, it's a pretty good bet he's planning something to hold the turret down. Though it might be in the battery tray instead.

Keep Calm And Carry On

Adrian.

[Armortek]

Hi Mick

There is no fixing between the the front edge of the deck and the back of the glacis. We always try to keep deck fixings to minimum so that it is not too much of a pain to remove the deck for internal access. The two side holes were drain holes to let the rain water out.

The first Armortek models did feature clamps to hold the turret down, but we found this to be unnecessary very early on. The Cents will not have any turret clamping.

Mark

[mick whittingham]

Ah Haaa!
I see, I see.... that makes sense to me now. The turret does not seem to want to go anywhere even now that I have just attached the bearing ring and gear just to see how things look, so gravity at 9.81 m/s/s would seem to be more than sufficient.

The drain holes make sense too and I can see how lessening the number of deck fastenings would ease access to the main compartment.

I am going to spend some time playing with scrap ally to sort the best filling and weld simulation options, I have rear other threads about the subject so will try to apply some tried and tested methods along with my own thoughts, I'll let you know how I get on.

Regards Mick

[mick whittingham]

Hi all, just trying to attach images to my post so bear with me. Hopefully you will see my build area and the model so far.

I am progressing steadily with the build, taking my time and enjoying the experience so far.

I think that I will complete as much of the hull build as possible and then mask everything up for painting. Does anyone have a preferred method of painting as in paint all the smaller structures and then assemble or assemble the whole, mask and paint?

Also I am considering spraying but would like opinions on brush painting also, whats best for authenticity?

Regards Mick

[Adrian Harris]

That's a lovely collection of machine tools you have there - and in the warmth by the looks of it

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Mick

I agree with Adrian, a workshop to dream of. Is that a horizontal mill? Don't see many of those at this level.

The more of these I do, the more I'm inclined to break down into sub-assemblies including paint, particularly priming. I do a trial fit then etch prime every part on its own in order to maximise the protection. Once I've completed a sub assembly, I give it a coat of sanding primer, do any texturing and welds and then apply a base coat of colour. I then assemble the major components, add details, apply a satin clear coat and do the weathering on top of that. Seems a long way round but does produce good results. I've never used brush painting at all. I did the whole Pz III with a small hobby airbrush perfectly satisfactorily using model acrylics. If you get the thinning technique right, you wont use more than perhaps half a dozen pots, which isn't too expensive. You could go to a car paint supplier and get a mix. I'd still stick with acrylics, the cellulose and two part paints are too toxic without protection but might be appropriate if you favour running the vehicle hard but at the expense of accuracy. If you look at some examples such as one well acclaimed JP recently completed, you can see this type of painting at its best although there are plenty of other outstanding models on the forum. Another which comes to mind are the Sherman and Tiger from down under or the Sherman and Comet recently up for sale. I've left these examples anonymous because it's not fair to single out some from among a stack of outstanding models.

Looking forward to seeing your build. It's a great kit by Armortek.

Regards

Stephen