Centurion References

[mick whittingham]

Great images of the drivers hatch and turret, so useful for detail work.

I am currently working on the rear hatches and would love to see similar images of the engine deck area showing grab handles etc. If there are any photos then please post as they would provide invaluable reference material.

Regards Mick

[Stephen White]

Some more great pictures thanks to Paul Scott in Australia. Robin - Paul saw your last post and thought these would help:









Some detail of the 100 gall external fuel tank, for those of us constructing one:













And finally, detail of the fuel/water filler caps:









Thanks Paul. Mick - I'll see what I can find.

Stephen

[paul&robinmargle]

Great pictures! I see the welds are much smoother than I've done them and there are also some more under the rear strip, but I'm much happier with my filler cap after seeing those shots - I was basically guessing the shape!
I'm in the process of working out the ribs on the drive housings and that is the clearest I've seen
Keep them coming

Robin

[sean kerambrun]

Hi Stephen,

Fantastic photos they will help me heaps.. i appreciate it.

What thickness plate to you think the long range fuel tank was made from?

Cheers

Sean

[Stephen White]

Glad to be of service but the real thanks are due to Paul Scott in Australia, for his world class restoration and unfailing generosity in providing information. So courtesy of Paul, the plate thickness on the 100 gall tank is 16mm or 5/8th inch. Paul has sent me some measurements which I'll post and some photos of the final drives.

Stephen

[mick whittingham]

Hi,

just taken delivery of "Centurion in detail" book by Wings and wheels publications. Its a model makers photo manual and has some great close up images of the mark 3, 5 and 6 variants. Its really good quality and has 120 pages of colour close ups which should help with any build.

Regards,

Mick

[paul&robinmargle]

That's a very useful book, I picked it up at Tankfest last year. It's starting to fall apart with all the flicking through it
It has good shots for the aussie cent builders and dozer blade.

Robin

[Simon Peck]

Hello All.
Apologies if this has been picked up o before, but thought it might be useful to some:

Cheers

[paul&robinmargle]

We are going to Duxford on Sunday for their Open Turret event I mentioned in another thread. We want to get some closer photos and measurements of certain Cent details (side lights, rear reflectors, antenna mounts) bearing in mind it's on the back of a transporter
They are also doing tours of the workshop so we should see the Cent they're restoring (as seen on Tank Overhaul).
If anyone wants any particular shots I'll see what I can do.

Robin

[paul&robinmargle]

For anyone who's not done the aerial bases yet, these are from a Saracen but the British had universal ones:

Robin

[Stephen White]

Robin - thanks for posting, always helpful.

I have to declare an anorak past as an ex regimental signals officer, so I hope you won't mind me offering a small correction. The photos actually show a later base from the Clansman radio era. Cents were equipped with the previous Larkspur range of radios. I'll illustrate the difference:

Larkspur Base Aerial Support No 28:



Clansman Base Aerial Support No 31 Mk6:



Here are some reference photos from Paul Scott in Australia:








If you want to spend a fruitless half an hour on the interweb, try looking up the difference between aerial and antenna..... Unfortunately, I must have been kipping for that part of the course but it's a subject that keeps radio hams awake at night.

Regards

Stephen

[Kevin Hunter]

Often wondered about your background Stephen. Miltary obviously, RTR avatar, signals too?
Shame about the Clansman base- Armorpax do one for those of us less skilled. Did all Cents stay Larkspur, or did they upgrade the later Mks with a new radio as well as up armoured glacis etc?

Wonder I you could possibly also explain the different aerials for us? In the drawing below, there are 2 long whips and a shorter aerial in what looks like a VHF mount?

What diameter and length were they?

Cheers.

Kevin

[Stephen White]

Kevin, I'll try. Here goes:

The Larkspur whip antennae came in four foot sections. Usual fit for VHF was two sections joined ie an 8ft whip. When Clansman came along, the standard whip was a 2m length in two sections.

Centurion gun tanks came with a standard fit of two radios, a larger set intended for communication on the tank squadron net and a smaller set which was (rarely) used at troop level or for monitoring the regimental net or talking to attached infantry.

There was also a second variant, the Command tank with an extra larger set. These equipped squadron HQ tanks and the regimental CO's vehicle. All tanks were capable of upgrading to command tank fit, with the extra antenna base blanked off.

The early marks (up to Mk 5) would have started life with the wartime radios, one Wireless Set No 19 and one Wireless Set No 88. The 88 set was introduced in the late forties and was the first effective VHF FM set fielded by the British Army.

The diagramme you posted comes from the Mark 3,5,6 User Handbook (which has some errors) The two larger antenna are for the 19 set and the antenna front left on the turret was for the 88 set. At some point (and I'm not sure when) one of the A set antenna bases was moved to a plinth on the front right of the turret.

Larkspur radios were developed in the late forties and were introduced in the mid fifties. Clansman came in the late seventies but Larkspur was still found up to the mid eighties. I think it's unlikely any Cent gun tanks had Clansman, although the artillery forward observers kept Cent until late on and they may just have seen Clansman. Clansman would have equipped the Cent variants which served on into the nineties.

The normal Larkspur fit was one Station Radio C42 (large VHF set for command use) and one Station Radio B47 (smaller set used for infantry - tank co-operation, used in preference to the tank telephone).

The Royal Australian Armoured Corps followed the same equipment fit, which caused untold problems in Vietnam, where the M113 and most other arms, including infantry and helicopters used incompatible American sets. You will see photos of Cents in Vietnam carrying a manpack US ARC 25 set on the turret roof, to talk to accompanying infantry.

Hope that helps.

Stephen
The

[paul&robinmargle]

Wow Stephen, you certainly do know a lot
My dad (Paul) was in REME and worked with radios - maybe his memory's going

Robin

[Kevin Hunter]

Seems a fairly complex subject Stephen, many thanks for the details.
Not knowing what the errors are in said handbook, may I pick your brain a little more?
Plan view of tank in the handbook shows 2 "No 19 wireless set" aerial bases at the rear of the turret, with a single "no 88 set" base mounted front left. Were they all the same Larkspur type mount you posted or were any - as shown in the previous diagram - the type in an inverted cone shaped frame? Again, assuming that the British Army made few changes to the hardware, the latter appears to be available at Armorpax.....?
Cheers
Kevin