The problem with the turret that comes with the kit is that it does not feature the canvas mantlet cover which seems to be ever present on this tank. AFV Club do sell a cover separately –  shouldn’t it come with the kit? – but this seems to have fitting issues. An alternative is the LionMarc complete resin turret replacement (LM33002), with cover included. This is what I went for. Apart from having the necessary cover, it also means that I didn’t have to bother with joining turret sections and the resulting filling work. Of course, the downside is the problems I have had with all major resin pieces – slight deformations, air gaps and minor patch up work. I think it looks OK in the end. It is a real multi media effort – the metal barrel, brass etched pieces and various plastic pieces. I must admit I don’t like how they do the clear parts – semi flexible clear plastic pieces. No doubt some people will appreciate them, as you could mask off the windows before painting. I replaced the plastic turret .30 cal machine gun with a metal barrel from Aber (35L62).

I’d be lying if I said that certain parts of this phase of construction were not fiddly! It seems to have taken a long time to get to this point. I had been cursing myself for choosing this particular mark of Centurion. The front headlight guards were very delicate to remove and handle. In fact, they were bent on the sprue which I fear will be somewhat apparent on the finished model. Well, there is not much I can do about it.

Nice detail on the road wheels and suspension, although much will be hidden by the skirts. Makes painting easier I guess.

The vehicle

This vehicle has a strong claim to be the best main battle tank the British have ever produced. Starting with the prototype vehicles built in 1945, it served with the British Army in Korea, the Australians in Vietnam, the Indians in Kashmir and the Israelis in the Middle East [1] [2] [3]. Also, it proved to be a good platform for special variants, such as the British AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) or BARV (Beach armoured recovery vehicle) or the even more exotic Israeli APCs Nagmachon and Nagpadon.

The kit

The present kit builds into either a Mk.5/2 or Mk.6 (which has an extra armoured plate on the front glacis) [4]. I went with the latter.

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_tank
2. https://skarachsworld.co.uk/2012/09/16/german-tank-museum-munster-2012-centurion/
3. http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/daryl_nightingale/centurion_mk_5/
4. http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/afvclub/afv35122.htm