Hello All

Been working on this for some time. I have to add the commander and do some other minor details. Used Eduard PE and replaced the track guard with brass sheet.

I think this cent was named, "The Very Diabolical", so it should have the name on the barrel, but I haven't seen any photos of it. Until I can find one, I'll leave it off.

If anyone intends building one, I'd recommend using roughly 70% Tamiya Khaki Drab with 30% Buff and maybe a touch of yellow. I used khaki drab only, but later used this paint mixture to paint the 'Australian' (British) water cans. This colour looks closer to the photos of cents in Vietnam.

Anyway, I'll post some more photos when it's finished.

Nice work sir !

Rick

Looks really sharp. Very nice job on the weathering. Great job on a rarely visited yet popular AFV.

Very nice Brett. I love the Centurion tank and have built this kit myself. Very nice job on the weathering. especially the red clay. One thing I'm wondering about though.... were the smoke grenade launchers at the sides of the turret not fitted on this tank? If not, shouldn't the mounting points and the cabling be removed?

cheers......


Bob

Brett-- you have the red clay down! Very nice workmanship.
Well done
DJ

Yes, very nicely done. Has a very realistic rust/clay finish.
Scott

Hi Brett,

Very nice rendition of the ubiquitous Cent. I love the weathering and it fits great with the base. Looks just real!
I agree that the grenade launcher cables should be removed for later Nam configuration without the launchers, but posts were still there then.

Cheers
Greg

Beautiful job on the painting and weathering it all ties together perfectly, very well done.

Ron.

Brett looking good mate.
The name was indeed on the barrel, pretty sure i got pics here somewhere, if you want i could try and find them for you, if not you can take my word for it
Cheers

Thanks all for the comments

After studying the cents in Vietnam, I decided to leave the cabling for the smoke grenade launchers on as they can be clearly seen on some photos. The launchers were taken off as they got ripped off in dense jungle.

I made the red Earth colour from Tamiya red brown, orange, yellow and earth. I later added Mig's Vietnam Earth pigment. The photos look a little 'redder' than the model actually is (due to my poor photography skills), but close enough.

Any photos of this tank would be much appreciated. I don't think my model is 100% accurate, but it's a fair representation of the cent in Vietnam. As usual our Army is a little poor so modifications were usually done in an ad hoc way which resulted in many variations between the tanks.

I've got a Sheridan on the way and am going to try a new weathering technique. I live in South Korea currently, so they have some products I haven't seen anywhere. They've got this product which is a pigment 'substitute'. It's a fine white powder you can add to diluted paint and brush over your model. It's incredible stuff and cheap. You don't have to buy different pigments all the time, just make up the paint colour and away you go. Also, it's much finer than pigments so you can get that very fine dust look.

I'll post photos of it in the near future.

Cheers all

Great job on that one! Really effective weathering with the red Vietnam clay/mud.

You should enter this into MOM competition when it is finished.

Thanks for sharing

I agree with Jesper, this is a MoM entry for sure Brett, really very nice!!

Bob

Brett,
You've done a lovely job on the Centurion.
One question I have is did you use the vinyl track that comes with the kit or a different set of tracks?
I've got this kit and splashed out on the lionmark turret for it, I'm not sure about getting a new set of tracks for it though?
Cheers
David

Hello David

I used the vinyl tracks in the box, mainly because I'm a little lazy , but also because photos show the tracks either taught or with a little slack. I think the individual links would look much better if you want to go the extra distance, plus the price is reasonable. Check out centurion-mbt.com, plenty of reference material and ideas. Lastly, either buy the eduard turret ammo box rack or scratchbuild your own like I did. I used Legend productions ammo box set which gives you plenty of Vietnam era boxes to use for a reasonable price.

Good luck

Hello All

Finally finished the Cent. Here are some photos without the base.

Thanks for looking

Hey Brett,

She came out great! All the details and equipment make really well for a "lived in" look, also the mud looks very real!
Good job on painting the commander, he doesen't look as p***ed as mine in the end

Cheers for finishing up this beauty of a tank!
Greg

Great build! All you need is "The Very Diabolical" on the barrel

Here's a snap of the real tank ... note the cam patterns on the turret bins:

Nice Cent. I have a couple in the stash waiting to be built lol.

Great work I would put this in the MOM! . One thing you might want to conisider is the height of the spare wheel on the glacis plate on the drivers plate was often lowered to give the driver better vision.

Hi,
Very nice work, i do like the red dust weathering
Cheers
Emilien

Is the paint mix you used Brett, your interpretation of 60's era British Bronze Green or Aussie Lutreless OD? The colour looks spot on but curious to know which colour it is spot on for

Hey Brett!!

Absolutely a great build. I'm a big fan of Aussie Armour and finished building this kit just over a year ago. To do it right you can't build straight out of the box... you've got it right!!

You've nailed all the field mods... turret basket supports, side stowage bin supports, you replaced the grab handles, removed the grenade launchers, canvas cover over the mantlet, shortened front fenders, etc etc.... BANG ON!!

Three absolutely minor things, but are in no way wrong or making your build incorrect (completely optional extra field mods!). The Infantry/Tank telephone on the LHS of the long range fuel tank on the back had a very small piece of steel plate put on to protect the cable from the phone into the tank.... you can't even see it, but if you're interested I can send you a picture. Also, the Aussies had different style jerry cans, but traded with their American counter parts... so American jerry cans (and ration boxes) were typical.... did you use the Mouse House Modern Jerry Can set for all your extra stowage on the engine deck?? The radio sets didn't work very well so they modified the extra ammo rack on the turret top to hold a hand radio set, I replaced mine with the MH one, but by no means is your incorrect.

I post to help educate, NOT to criticize! You are the man!

Here's a picture of mine... your's is far superior.. I love the red clay finish!!! My antennas are too think I need to replace them...

Awesome build and very nice pics, great weathering, would love to see more pics.
Kudos for a job well done.

I haven't been to the Vietnam forum for some time, so I was surprised to see some more comments albeit 4 months ago. Thanks all for comments and the photo of the tank "The very diabolical". BTW, I can't remember where I got the water cans, but they were either Plus model or Legend productions. I think they were modern british plastic water jerry cans; they looked pretty close to the Australian ones.

i have about 10 pics very diabolical while it was serving in Vietnam
ill find them and post them up if keen

if anybody needs a walk a rounds of a Aussie centurion i can provide them of my own personal centurion tank that i own it served 3 tours in Vietnam, and still has 99% of its mods

keep on tanking fellas

Two cracking centurions... the weathering contrasts are rather good. Intereasting finishes to them both.. I need to crack mine out now...

BRENTON PM inbound