Here's a photographic Preview not a review of the new AFV Club Centurion 105mm. Full in-depth review to follow shortly. (It's nearly Christmas after all!)

AFV Club Centurion Mk 5/2 - Mk 6 105mm Gun (NATO)



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Looks outstanding.

Now is the the same Centurion used by British forces in Desert Storm in 1991?

James, the only Cent still in service during Desert Storm was the AVRE version. This is one of the production models used from the 1950s. It was pretty widely exported so it has some interesting possibilities...

Beautiful!

Still cant seem to find a mantlet cover anywhere in this kit. Im hoping they didnt leave it out again.

Yep, they did check the review at PMMS;

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/afvclub/afv35122.htm

You would think this would be something AFV would include .

Mike

Jeremy! Guess what? :-) They did!

Terry Ashley's review: Centurion Mk.5/2, 6 105mm Gun (NATO)

Vinnie

I just got mine from Luckymodel Tuesday and it looks very good. Now the tough part figuring which ones to model. I'm tempted to use the Aussie version to make a Berlin Cent with the early 20pounder barrel and Chinese eyes. The Canadan cammo also looks pretty interesting. Oh the choices.

Tom

Why??????????????

oh well any updates to the original kit will most surely be an excellent kit in my books since its good to begin with.

I enjoyed building their Vietnam version. If you follow the PMMS article on either or both you should have no trouble producing a fine model. :-)

Looks like a nice kit

Looks great! Really surprised by the lack of manlet cover issue though. Would this kit be suitable base for IDF representation in Six Day War or Yom Kippur? Or would you have to go with a Tamiya/Legends sort of hook up?
cheers!

Not having seen the kit personally, I may be talking out my fourth point of contact, but it APPEARS by the box art to be closer to what you need for a '67 Cent. than the Aussie version. I say this because of the headlights and the gun. You can rearrange them to depict two lights, one behind the other, centered on the glacis. You may build it as is, but by '67 most of the Cents had a fuel tank extension welded to the lower hull in the rear. AA sells parts separately, so their piece will probably fit, but by the time it arrives you can scratchbuild it easily enough. Then you'll need three fuel can holders, scratchbuilt, or again from AA. A third option is to get the PE for the M51 as it comes with seven of the Israeli style holders. Scratchbuild a spotlight holder (often used as a stowage bin) add extended antenna bases, curved brass exhaust deflectors, and rotate the fishtail exhausts so that they're upright. All in all about an extra hour of work to get it right. You may or may not want to add cooling louvers on the engine deck. I used Cannon and Co. 1/87 inertial brake filters, and they fit perfectly. Perhaps I can post a photo later.

Here are some pics. Sorry about the quality, but I did these quickly. I also have the AA version, unpainted, but I like this one as it predates theirs by about 11 years. They're surprisingly similar. Several months ago I opined that you may just want to use their kit even after AFV Club's came out, which was met with some derision. But if you think about it, you already get very good quality decals, loads of PE, no rubber tires to deal with, and best of all (apparently) a mantlet cover.
As for a Berlin version, that would be too cool. Just need to add in the boxed front fenders, which I wish AFV Club had offered. You can see them on my Suez Cent in my gallery if you don't know what I mean.

I hope AFV Club have a sense of irony...................the topic announcing the Preview of the kit and somebody recommends getting the Accurate Armour one. Jeez.........................

Vinnie

It seems the British may be losing their centuries old sense of wit.
I've had a couple of weeks to read over months of posts on several sites, including this one, that I had not been able to read, and have read a littany of complaints about what is surely a fine kit. Therein lies the irony. Rubber roadwhels, no mantlet, toylike suspension, to name a few. I would venture few people want to build this new beast more than I, but in my unbiased opinion, those who complain have the option to do something else. Perhaps the point was lost on you. Or the IRONY that I would be actually helping fellow modellers with every single thing they need to do to make the AFV kit into a '67 version, and taking time to post pics to boot. My bad, fellas. I'm guessng soon the earth will begin spinning on a new axis.

I for one, am extremely grateful t o18Bravo for thoroughly answering my question.My thanks to you, sir. As far as irony,I will buy this kit instead of AA based on the response I received from this site's members.Was not looking for a perfect fit as far as a 67 Cent IDF goes. I can indeed do considerable scratch(read:MODELING) when the situation calls for it.As far as I know,when product previews are announced,the response always revolves around known existing products unless it is totally new and previously unattempted.
So why the consternation my British cousins? Haven't you heard there is no such thing as 'bad' PR?(not that any bad PR has occured! )
AFV has a good product line and I am sure they will continue to advertise here on this site despite certain hand-wringing from otherwise sensible hobbyists.
It's all good Brothers...........
cheers!