Looks good...sounds like the old line..."measure twice and cut once"!

Hello All!

I decided to reuse my headlight guard frames as opposed to using the Accurate Armour frames.

The Accurate Armour PE frames are 2 dimensional. Since the real part is anything but flat/2-D, I decided the AFV Club frames still are the way to go. Here is a picture of the real thing (courtesy of ToadMan's Tank Pictures):



Notice the frames are pretty substantial.

SO, I plopped the frames with the oversize mesh into a bottle of Purple Power paint stripper:



I will let it sit overnight so that all the paint falls off and then stick the Accurate Armour PE mesh in place.

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Looking ahead which tracks are you using?

If you use the Hush Puppy tracks make sure your spare track links are the same.

Hi Jason,

I am going to be using the standard Centurion tracks, not the Hush Puppy variant.

Thanks for the heads up though!

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Hi All,

I was on business travel the past week, sorry for the lack of updates.

So my previous plan of reusing the AFV Club headlight brush guards failed. To speed things up a bit, I used the Accurate Armour PE set for their Centurion Mk.11 kit.



A bit of adjusting was needed to get it to fit on the AFV Club glacis but it turned out ok.



Then on impulse, I decided to start applying camouflage. The black camouflage pattern comes from a mixture of Tamiya Flat Black and Tamiya NATO Black. I used the NATO Black paint to dull down the Flat Black and make it look a bit faded.

The entire pattern was hand brushed on in one sitting. It really wasn't too difficult and the Tamiya acrylics was applied on with one smooth coat. I first drew the outline of the camouflage pattern and then filled the outline with the black mixture.



The entire vehicle was painted in a little more than four hours:



Again, the color looks a bit off with my cellphone camera.

That is all for now, cheers!

+Y.C.

Very nice camouflage...Cold War cam in hand painted hard edge always looks good.

Jason,

Thanks! Actually, I love hand painting camouflage. It is a calming, introverted activity.

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Hi All!

More updates today. First of all, my Firestone, oops, Firestorm tires arrived:



I can hardly wait to try them on the AFV Club parts.

Also, I decided to paint details on the Accurate Armour turret today. There are so much to take care of since Accurate Armour did a great job depicting the nitty gritty details of the Centurion turret. After painting details, I applied a dark wash.

Much to my relief, my bright green paint job now looks pretty decent!



The canvas cover looks pretty garish up close with the contrasting colors but looks pretty nice zoomed out.



Nonetheless, I will tone down the contrast at some stage.

That is it for now. I gotta stretch a bit!

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Hello All!

Not much to update today. I painted some details on the hull and applied a dark wash. Tomorrow, I am going to start work on the running gear (roadwheels and tracks).



Also, I will do something to tone down the contrasts in the mantlet cover. This is my first time painting fabric in a model.

:)

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Hi All!

Good progress today. I pretty much finished constructing and painting the roadwheels in one evening's work. As I mentioned previously, I got my hands on a set of Firestorm resin tires to replace AFV Club's vinyl/rubber ones. These are no doubt the best fitting after market parts I have ever had the pleasure of working with!



The Firestorm parts required NO clean-up and they fit perfectly. Each tire requires a tiny bit of super glue to stick to the roadwheel.



I usually hate assembling roadwheels but completed assembling them in less than 30 minutes!

Next, I created my own "mud" mixture from clipped model railroad grass, pigment powders, Tamiya acrylic paint and Liquitex fiber textured gel. The mud mixture was applied to the entire lower hull and suspension.

One thing to note, I am trying to build a vehicle that ran through a muddy field like what we see at annually at Duxford. A tank ain't a tank unless it is muddy!



After painting my roadwheels, I applied mud to them as well. I purposely left the front idler wheels off so that I can fit the tracks on as I complete this build.



I am done for tonight. Getting tired!

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Y.C. looks great

Hi Thanks!

I am trying to make it look acceptable. I have been building German WWII tanks so far and got too used to dunkelgelb base coats. Not used to post-war colors and ways to weather them.

Anyway, today I applied decals to the vehicle before the weathering stage. Here is a snapshot of my progress:



C[ ]

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Coming along very nicely.

Where did you get the idea for putting the registration number on the searchlight?

Hi Jason,

Actually that is a point of contention I pondered on for a while before plonking the decal there.

Basically, I am trying to copy Derek Hansen's build on the Accurate Armour website. His Mk.11 is what got me interested in Centurions in the first place, I felt it would be a safe move to just build what is on there before moving on to future Centurion projects:

http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=3&subcategory=8&product=759

On the same location in his build, I see a whitish decal but I cannot ascertain exactly what the decal contains, it is a white blob on my computer monitor.

I looked at my Accurate Armour decal sheet after using up all my decals for that vehicle, the only one left over is the white registration number on a transparent backing. So I figured that it could go onto the searchlight.

I could be wrong, and I am ready to either wipe that decal out by painting over it or just leave it there and claim my tank is actually a restored Centurion in private hands and the markings are not 100% accurate!





Cheers!
+Y.C.

Honestly I can't speak for the accuracy of the registration number on the searchlight.

I've never seen a vehicle number on the searchlight before...but it doesn't mean it never happened.

Hi All!

I took a hiatus but here are some updates from today.

I guess I am a glutton for punishment. Even after the model has been camouflage painted, I have been dissatisfied with the turret basket. The mesh provided by AFV Club is just too thick and as Jason puts it, looks like chicken wire.



So, I ordered the Accurate Armour diamond mesh PE set and set about replacing the turret basket mesh that has already been painted on the model. For me, nothing on a model is permanent; if I can glue a part on, I can take it off.

So, I set about cutting off the turret basket. I have also discovered that the Mk.11 Centurion may not have the jerry can attachment on the turret back. So I snipped it off too. Thankfully, super glue gets pretty brittle once dry and it came off without any complaints.



Using the template provided by AFV Club for their nylon mesh, I cut the appropriate pieces off from the Accurate Armour PE fret.



The turret basket frame was stripped of the offending nylon mesh. This wasn't easy as the super glue made sure some pieces of mesh is stuck on real tight. Still, my sharp hobby knife persevered.



The PE mesh is much finer than the nylon stuff that came with the AFV Club kit. This was bent into shape and super glued onto the now empty turret basket frame:



Once the glue dried, it was spray painted and then re-attached back to the turret. It looks SO much nicer than the nylon mesh!



That is it for today. More updates to come!

:-H

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Nice detail work, very convincing!

I want one now OR build my 1/25th kit?!!

Thanks for sharing!








~ Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the kind feedback. I am learning as I go along and writing my own playbook, so to speak. I like your handle, Panther Ausf.F, I may build one some day, with a twist.

Centurions are probably my favorite modern tanks. This is only the first one of many, just like my other interest, Tiger tanks.

Here is a quick update on today's progress. I am almost done. What I did since my last updates was:

(1) Weathering with pastels
(2) Adding mud to everything
(3) Highlighted edges with drybrushing (you can't see it in the photo)
(4) Added and painted misc details

I am on the home stretch now.



Cheers!
+Y.C.

Great work.
The reason for the reg. number on the searchlight was, probably, to prevent it from being `borrowed` by other vehicle crews who had lost/broken their own.


Malcolm.



Centurion...best tank ever made.

Malcom,

Thanks! I think I am done with basic construction, painting and weathering now. I added antennas to the model and it looks well... basically complete.

My next step is to add stowage and figures but the pace will slow down now since I do have a day job.

On the other hand, this build was really enjoyable. It is my first AFV Club kit and I learned that construction is not Tamiya style with lots of fiddly parts. On the other hand, it is a lot more relaxing than my DML Panther Ausf.D kit.

I am pretty satisfied with how things turned out. Here is today's progress:









And an overall side view of the vehicle:



Well, I can enjoy my Memorial Day vacation now. No model kits, I promised my wife.

Cheers!
+Y.C.

Y.C. it came out great.nice job

Y.C.,

Looks excellent. The range of colors and the weathering really makes it look like a small version of the real thing.