On pre-order status for some months, Amusing Hobby has now announced that the kit is now available through its distribution channels.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I see that the part of the upper hull where the drivers hatch is located, is a separate piece. maybe there is a MK II in the future? A turret basket would be needed, and a bore evacuator for the main gun IIRC, what other changes would be needed for the MK II?

This upper hull won't make a MKII, that would need slightly sloped engine deck...

Cheers,
Greg

Mark I also had sloped rear part of the engine deck - if this kit doesn't, then it is just inaccurate for any Mark...

The second image suggests a horizontal engine deck tmho

Some photos of the engine deck so that we can conclude if it is correct or not:




Feel free to ask for any other information.

Thanks for the info guys, I was not aware of the slope of the rear deck. Thank you for posting the photos Nikos, to me in photo #2 and #3 the rear deck looks like it might be sloped, but in photo #4, not so much. Can you tell for sure since you have the part in hand Nikos? Pawel & Grzegorz, are there any other differences to be aware of?

The deck is angled when comparing to the fender, in two angles, 1 small angle (about 2-3 degrees) at the front end of the engine louvres and 1 more obvious where the rear louvres begin.

I tried to point them out in the following photos:

Well slope or no slope, after a 50 year wait I finally have a Conqueror on order. Previously I had only the Minitanks version! Would have bought an Aurora if I ever had the chance. Dragon really disappointed this time. Even from the pictures I prefer the AH tracks and turret...

So, if I use Centurion mk3 turret with this hull, does it make it Caernarvon Mk2?

Interesting kit. Would make quite a beast in the collection.

I guess the conclusion is that the rear deck is accurate?

The Caernarvon was indeed the combination of a Conqueror Mk.1 hull (it was a preproduction series to test out the logistics of using a tank of unprecedented size while the FV214 turrets were being produced) and a late pattern Centurion Mk.3 turret with Type A 20pdr barrel.
Theoretically therefore you need an FV214 Mk.1 hull from Amusing Hobby and an AFV Club Centurion Mk.3 turret with an after market barrel. Not sure what the turret ring changes might be: there was an adapter on the real vehicle but it might not have been visible when fitted with the turret from the Centurion.
When these were rebuilt into operational FV214s they had a mixture of Mk.1 and Mk.2 features. The one at Bovington is one such Conqueror hybrid. Bob Griffin's book is the best resource.

I have LionMarc resin turret for mark 3 Centurion, and also spare AFV Club Centurion w/dozer kit which has 20 pounder metal barrel included (plus I'm planning to take some other turret parts from that kit). I looked for mentioned book but it was kind of expensive, and for single project I can't justify that purchase. But I'll settle for close enough

I just realized that I have TankArt 3 book which has article bout Caernarvon by Accurate Armour, it's one with 17 pounder but should give pretty good idea what's what.

Couple of pics. AFV Club Centurion turret base, ring is actually bigger in diameter that opening in Conqueror:


LionMarc turret:


These are just tentative pics, I have couple of other projects before I'll start this one. But all basic stuff is now there.

Dude! That looks really badass! Can't wait to see you get this underway.

Paul

I was just reading a review on Cybermodeler that says this kit has no transparencies so that's at least one advantage the Dragon kit has. Transparencies for lights etc should be standard on new kits now.

Plus even though the Dragon kit has those damn DS tracks and I much prefer indie links the sprue attachments on the AH tracks look a bit obtrusive.

For what its worth, the previous morser 38d didn't have any clear parts either, though said tank had much less visable lenses than the con.

Yes they're quite visible on the Con. Why they decide to do lights in non transparent plastic in 2017 I don't know. Ridiculous!

You can buy the Voyager bright series set for better looking lights, though.

I'll start forum topic as soon as I really get this going, million things to do... You know how this goes

Hey Guys, Amusing Hobby must have made a change, I just received mine today, and the tracks are not the 2 piece ones that are in the review, but some beautiful one piece clickable/workable links that snap together easily! I just put together 5 links in about 2 minutes, the attachment points are on the flat side of the link so they are easy to remove and clean up, they seem sturdy but I'll have to wait to see how a full run stays together when I get to building the kit. WAY TO GO AMUSING HOBBY!!!

Amusing Hobby Conqueror Tank

Some observations on the finally released Amusing Hobby Conqueror Tank. Based on the old Mk 1 eyeball, lot's of photos and the excellent Chris Meddings review of the Dragon kit on PMMS.

It is certainly not a perfect kit but I think it scores over the Dragon offering in many ways:
The main gun is not split lengthways.
The turret shape is better, but I can clearly see differences from the real thing.
Really nice tracks that click together and are articulated.
Rear deck looks better to me
Correct glacis for Mk 1

Alas if you want clear parts or something to replicate the canvas cover, you won't find it here! At least AH include PE strips for the cover, so you aren't totally thrown to the wolves here.

Now of course the AH kit is the Mk 1. So what are the (external) differences for a Conqueror Mk 1 vs Mk 2? I tried to come up with a list. Feel free to add to this is you know/can spot something I've missed.

Mk 1
----
Glacis slope, hatch
3 driver vision blocks
Main gun - no fume extractor
No turret basket
Fuel filler caps on side on engine deck


Mk 2
----
Glacis slope, hatch
One driver vision block
Main gun has fume extractor (sometimes retro-fitted to Mk 1)
Turret has basket (sometimes retro-fitted to Mk 1)
Fuel filler caps relocated from side to top of engine deck
Exhaust pipe and cover look different


I'm convinced AH will one day come out with an extra sprue to make the Mk 2. Interestingly the box art for the Conqueror is dated 2012 and the FV215B (183) is dated 2013, so AH has been planning these for a while. Behind the Mk1 is a Mk 2 on the box art. Hinting, perhaps?

I also have the AH FV215B (183) kit which I am building first to uncover any problems :-) So far so good. I am using the 'real' spring option though the wire ia rather under-scale. The other option is a solid piece. I've put the FV215B (183) into the Tank Hunters campaign. Strangely for a vehicle that never made it to service AH have 2 different designs of gun clamp!

The turret I plan to reshape slightly and give a new, rougher, cast finish. Front 'cheeks' still need to be flatter, with a less pronounced lower edge. The curve of the round off behind the commanders cupola should be less sharp. There should be a slight build up of the casting below the RH turret side hatch.