Well, it's been quite a while since I posted progress shots on a build, what with a new baby to help take care of and all. My JGSDF LAV is stalled for the moment as I'm at the point of deciding whether to leave the doors open or not and can't make up my mind. As a result, I decided to take the plunge and start a new kit and build it OOB. I decided on Trumpeter's Centauro early version, just because it is a cool-looking AFV. It's taken me a couple of months to get to this point, but I have the suspension built and am making good progress on the turret.

For the suspension, I modified it slightly to turn the wheels, per a thread on the Spanish Centauro I found here. Here's what it looks like now:


In this close-up you can see how I turned the front two sets of wheels. It was pretty easy, involving just a small cut and the boring out of the mounting holes.


The hull is almost done--here's an overall shot:


Here's an overall shot of the turret:


In this closeup you can see some of the puttying I had to do as a result of a misaligned part for the turret basket.


Overall, the kit is pretty nice and well detailed. That said, the plastic is fairly brittle, so I've broken a few pieces and had to patch them up. I had one of the turret hatch hinges crack as I was pressing it down to glue it--something that hasn't happened to me before with other kits. Quite a few parts also suffer from mold misalignment and heavy mold seams. The turret basket and smoke popper parts were some of the worst in this respect. I'll post more pics as I move along. Let me know what you think.

Looking good so far jock! Finished mine a while ago. Biggest issues I had were the fit of the wheels (they sit kinda wonky and loose) and the mantlet cover was a nightmare from hell! Too long front to back and waaaay to thick. Though I didn't have any hassles with my turret basket...

Looks good so far Lucas.

This is definitly on my list for 2010, so please keep the progress shots coming....

Cheers,
Sean

Well, the build is slowly progressing, but I've come up on an error in the instructions that I don't know what to do with. Part B34, which is added in step 13 (see first picture below) appears to jump around later in the instructions.

Here is step 13:



And here is part B34 magically transferred to another location in step 14 (and in all subsequent steps). The arrow shows the original location, and the new one is circled:


I'm not sure which of these locations is the correct one. In addition, I'm not sure what goes in the other locating hole, as there is no corresponding part shown going in either hole anywhere else in the instructions (and believe me, I've pored over them at least ten times).

On a side note, I'm finding the fit of the parts for the turret spaced armor lacking--the support beams don't match up with the indentations in the armor very well. This kit looks nice, but some of the fit/finish issues have made it a bit annoying. I'm dreading the mantlet cover now, Christian...

I can't tell from the pics you have but is that prt, B34, a beacon light? The orange formation lights found on vehicles in transit? If it is, I would put it in either one then fill the other with some styrene rod. Just my two cents.

This photo here shows the placement of B34 in step 14 to be the correct spot. Step 11 shows B10 going in the corner.

Cheers
Shane

Take a needle file and CAREFULLY file the inside of the cover while test fitting the whole time. I cut off the front and rebuilt the canvas seam and tiedown rope using the correct gauge wire. There has to be an easier way

Thanks, Shane! I should have thought to look at Prime Portal!

Now on to the rest of the build.

Well, the mantlet cover did indeed prove to be a pain in the @ss. I filed it down as much as I dared (until I could see light shining through the thinnest spots) and even then it didn't fit well. Bottom line, the cover is too deep and overhangs the front of the mantlet by quite a bit. I found several threads at ML that described different ways of correcting the problem, but I took the lazy way out (hey, the deadline for the Mighty Wheels campaign is the end of the month, and with a baby to take care of, I'm running out of time!) and simply glued the mantlet slightly forward, reducing the gap and overhang significantly, but not eliminating it.

I've got most of the model built now, but I'm now struggling with the POS PE that comes with the kit. It's flimsy, there are no fold instructions at all, and some of the parts plain don't fit the way they should. The tow shackle holders, for example, are too wide for the plastic shackles, which need to be sanded down quite a bit. The headlight guards bend the wrong way just by looking at them, and the steps that attach to the side are hellish to build. I hope I can get the kit done without it looking like crap. Oh well, I need to remind myself it's just a hobby...

LOL! Forgot bout the PE! Had just as much hassles as you're having. The little steps on the sides were the worst. The instructions don't show that there should be braces on the inside of the steps, though they are on the fret. And they're thinner than paper . I wish Trumpeter would decide to stick to a decent thickness for their PE

Lucas if it's not to late heres the correct layout for the sensor on the turret rear.



As you can see the resulting hole left in the middle of the deck should be filled.

Thanks, Luciano! I've placed the sensor as per that picture and filled in the other hole.

Well, I was putting the last parts on the turret today--C40, the two tiny rings that go on top of the CITV--when one of them launched itself off into oblivion. I've spent twenty minutes looking for it on the carpet (which is tan, unfortunately) and can't find it.

I'll use the pantyhose/vacuum cleaner trick tomorrow morning in one last effort to find the part. If I fail, I'm not sure I can scratch the part, as it's really tiny. What ticks me off even more is I had just finished drilling out the part, too. The other one is ready to install, but I'll hold off on doing so until tomorrow, as I'll have to decide if I want to use it without its counterpart.

Hallelujah! I found the blasted part!

I used the pantyhose/vacuum method, but that didn't work. Just when I had given up and cleared an area of my desk to begin trying to scratch a replacement, I saw it. Apparently, it bounced off of me and ricocheted there. The rings are now firmly installed. I'm a happy camper now! Back to struggling with the Trumpeter PE.

Dear Lucas, You're braver than me! I wanted the Centauro buuutttt! The PE super glue thing is still beyond me at the present. I can't wait to see your finish,michael.

Well, here are the latest in-progress shots. I've finished about 95% of the build--the only missing items are the PE steps. I've assembled one already (the smallest one) and have four more to go. The PE is definitely the most annoying part of the build. I had trouble with the front headlight guards--they kept wanting to bend in all the wrong ways.
Here's an overall shot of what she looks like now:


I ended up creasing the driver's side guard and bending the top. I fixed it as well as I could, but you can still see the problem in this picture:


Here's another view of the headlight guards.


I added a couple of bolt heads to the tow eye holders. You can barely make them out in this pic:


I'm not sure if I want to leave the holders empty or try to fit the plastic parts on.

Here's what the turret looks like from a few angles:




Let me know what you think.

Super ! but I really can wait to do the jerry can racks on the back of my YPR-765 (35016) so I'll just watch , Michael.

Well, I wrapped up assembly this weekend and primed the model. The PE steps were a real pain. I lost one of the small pieces, and found that the others are very undersized, leaving a big gap that needs to be bridged to assemble the step properly. As a result, I fabricated replacements for all of the small parts from strip styrene. They're too thick to be in scale, but it's the best I could do with limited time. Here's what they look like:


Here's an overall shot of the body:


And from the other side:


While priming I broke off the gun mount and one of the antenna springs. I repaired them and they look as good as new. Here's what the turret looks like:



I also painted the tires with Tamiya NATO black mixed with a small amount of NATO brown (I just eyeballed it instead of measuring) to give them the dead-flat, slightly faded look of used tires. I'll post pictures of them later.

Well, I'm getting ready to paint this sucker, but I'm not entirely certain which color I should use. The instructions call for Gunze H303, which works out to FS 34102, but the pictures I found on Primeportal seem to show a color closer to olive drab (see picture here ). Does anyone who knows more about the Centauro than I do know if this is the right color?

For my Spanish Centauro, I used Tamiya XF-49 Khaki airbrushed over Tamiya light grey primer. After everything dried I used a Vallejo German Camouflage Black Brown filter which brought out the detail and darkened everything down a tad. Pigments for dust and dirt where added to weather things a bit but I kept it light. I think the result is the right shade of olive/khaki green.

Here's a pic of the finished model:



Hope this helps.....

cheers,
Bob

Thanks, Bob! Your Centauro looks very good, by the way. Someone else suggested Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green, so I'll experiment with both colors to see if they come close to the Italian paint. If someone has other ideas, let me know!

I finished the basic painting of the Centauro this weekend. It took me longer than anticipated, as I couldn't get the color quite right. Bob--I tested the Tamiya Khaki on a spare model, but couldn't get it quite right, so I base-coated with XF-58 Olive Green (which was too dark to be the main color) then sprayed Polly S. NATO Green mixed with Grimy White (a light tan color) on in very think coats. I left some of the Olive Green visible on lower surfaces and crevices to add a bit of depth. Here's what the finished product looks like. I'm afraid my sucky photography skills and point-and-shoot camera were not up to the task, and the model looks less olive in the pictures than it does in reality. It's also hard to see the shading effect of the Olive Green basecoat.

Here's the hull:


And an overall view of the turret:


In these two shots you can see a bit of the shading effect:



In this closeup you can see how I carefully drilled out the two eyes on top of the CITV (it was one of these tiny parts that game me such heartburn when it flew away from my tweezers):


Next steps will be detail painting, gloss-coating, decaling, and weathering. Let me know what you think! I need to get all of that done soon, as this one is for the Mighty Wheels campaign, which ends in a week!

Great build Lucas
Paint job is clean so fare
i will keep an eye on it
Cheers
Seb

Looking good so far! I used Tamiya Nato Green myself. Came out a bit dark, but I'll see what it looks like after weathering. Good luck!

Thanks guys! I'll try to find time today to glosscoat it.