Novice Centurion tank builder

[Stephen White]

David, I'm admiring your pristine workshop every bit as much as your fine model. It's wonderful to see a Cent in such fine fettle. Enjoying every bit of your build log.

There's no great magic to airbrushing. If you can learn to use a mill from scratch, the airbrush won't hold any mysteries. There are a few good instructional videos on DVD and on YouTube. The Knowledge Base has some thoughts about selecting an airbrush here:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... f=2&t=5506

Final thought. The interior of the episcopes presents a challenge. I'm really not sure about the best coating to use. They certainly shouldn't remain in natural metal. The real ones had a dark anti-reflecting coating as seen here:





Looking forward to the next installment.

Regards.

Stephen

[Frank Breitenbach]

Hello David
Your turret details are realy a high stadia rod!
Kind regards
Frank

[davidwilkins]

Sam / Frank

Thanks for your kind words very much appreciated, I have been following your tiger and centurion builds with great interest. Some very impressive work and modifications going into your builds.

Stephen,

Thanks for your input and recommendation always very much appreciated. As regards to my workshop it is still in a process of changing from a general DIY/storage room to a tank building factory.

I only have one regret about the workshop that I have and that is I should have bought the next version up as this would have been a bit bigger and would have had two small rooms inside. One room would have been used for milling and turning (I am always in trouble with the boss for bits of aluminium coming into the house

[davidwilkins]

Sorry hit the wrong button on the PC

The second room would have been ideal as a spray booth room. It was only a few months after I bought the log cabin that I was introduced to the world of armortek when they were demonstrating a panther tank at local model show. My overriding memory was Gill standing on top of this panther and saying it's not a plastic toy. From that day all my efforts have been about getting myself into a position to purchase and build one of these brilliant kits. Now I am totally addicted to this hobby I just wish I had bought the three room cabin
(sorry about the split message me and computers do not get on but this forum makes me use a computer so it is all a learning process)

Regards

David

[davidwilkins]

Hi All,

I have been working on finishing a few outstanding jobs on the centurion and I am really pleased with the end result even though they are small additions I feel they have a big improvement.

I have also tested out my new triple tank storage rack and it moves around the workshop easy enough although I do not know what it will be like with 3 tanks on it. (I just hope that I have made it strong enough)

Regards

David

[davidwilkins]

Hi all,

Since my last update I have mainly been working on improving my workshop setup. I have just installed a new milling machine although I was very impressed with the performance of my previous milling machine and it did everything I wanted it to in making my model including clamping the Centurion turret to the table, I did however find the working height uncomfortable and was causing problems with the disc's and nerves in my spine and neck.

So I have now have a new mill which has a much higher table height than previous mill and all of the controls are near the base. The minister of finance was not to impressed with this latest purchase but I did remind her that she gets to fly in a spitfire in September when we are down in the Biggin hill area for a few days. (that put a smile back on her face)

After setting up my mill my first job was to make a bracket for quick setup when fitting the vice to table and to make sure it was square to the table, tested it out and very pleased with the result and it is very quick to setup

So my first real job with the new mill was to try and put some riffling groves into the main armament I used 0.4mm brass plate and a 1mm milling bit and set the depth to 0.2mm and started to cut some lines. I was very pleased with the result although I was expecting the milling bit to break as the spindle speed is to slow for this size bit.

Regards

David

[Stephen White]

David, congratulations, you must win the tidy workshop award, it's very "tiddly" as the Royal Navy might say (never understood sailors).

That engineer's vice is superb. I have one too and use it all the time. I've taken off the rotating base and milled true the two side flanges so that I can set up with a set square. This seems to cover most applications.

You've really nailed the rifling technique, looks superb. With supply from the after-market looking a bit uncertain, I'm sure you'll attract a lot of attention.

Thanks for posting, very interesting and useful.

Stephen

[davidwilkins]

Stephen, Totally agreed with you on the vice it has a great capacity to clamp large pieces of aluminium, I just need to purchase the high jaw extension.

As regards the rifling I think it was more luck than skill on my part but l am pleased with result.

David

[davidwilkins]

Hi all,

There are two main jobs still to be made for my model, they are the covers to go over the loaders and gunners periscopes. Unfortunately these jobs are on hold for the time being as these are soldering jobs and I have not purchased all of the tools and bits and pieces to tackle this part of tank building. I am going to have to delay this a bit longer now as I have just put a deposit for the new Panther tank that has been released.

When I first ordered the Centurion it was only going try build one model, I am about to start my tiger 131 build with the Panther to follow this is a addictive hobby but one that I really enjoying (just need another British tank and I will have a good balance between iconic British and German tanks)

I would like to thank everyone for your help and advice it has been very much appreciated, here are a few photos as my Centurion as she stands now, I will update this build thread when I get those last few jobs done. So it's now over to my Tiger 131 build.

Regards

David

[Stephen White]

David, as said by many others, no longer a novice (if you ever were). Your Cent is quite magnificent and your build has been a pleasure to follow. I'm sure there are many who would appreciate seeing her on the Centurion Tank Appreciation Society Facebook page (sad, I know) here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/134672933274865/

And it wouldn't do Armortek any harm either!

Addictive hobby - yes.

One question, Celerity is a Third Tanks name, well known through the Comet of the same name. I was half way through my Comet Celerity build when the Cent came along and I'll return to it. I'm curious to know if you've any photos of a 3RTR Cent with the name. I know a fair few people, not least the son of the Comet Celerity who would be interested. It raises the prospect one day of having the two tanks side by side.

All the best with the Panzerwaffe and let's hope for a large, British tank (with a 120mm gun) to appear one day....

Stephen

[davidwilkins]

Hi Stephen,

I have never been on Facebook before mainly because of my lack of experience in using a computer but after speaking to the boss she said that we would look into putting a post on there about my Centurion model.

As regards to the identification markings on my Centurion these I found on a 1/35 model that I found on the internet and if they are correct all credit must go the builder of this 1/35 scale kit. I was just looking to put some kind of marking onto my model just to give a bit more character. I have looked on the internet for some photos of this particular tank in real life but unfortunately I have not able to.

As regards the British 120mm gun tank I would love Armortek to release this model in 2 or 3 years time and would look forward to building one along side the masterpiece that you would be building.

Regards

David

[davidwilkins]

Hi All,

I thought I would give a update on this build as I had a bit of a surprise on Christmas day. The Minister of finance,AKA the boss my other half has been carrying out a secret mission with my Centurion tank build blog. She has produced a book of my tank build and to say I was surprised would be a understatement.

She has done a wonderful job and I now know way she seemed to be taking such an interest in this build with all the questions she had been asking me.

Regards

David

[Stephen White]

Genius, David. Your wife understands the disease. A best seller in the Wilkins household. Of course, she's now set herself up for the sequel on the Tiger. And then....?

Happy New Year.

Stephen