discussion Andi's Centaur Mk.IV 1/72 IBG Models

[vizenz]

Hello,
I finally manage to present at least my model for the Group Build!
I will be building a Centaur Mk.IV in 1/72 from IBG Models.
I haven't even started researching yet, but I hope it will be a simple OOB build to represent one of the Royal Marines' vehicles from D-Day.
More to come.
Best regards,
Andreas

The Box Art:


View into the opened box:


Building instructions, decals and a small PE sheet:


And the parts still packed:

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks like you get two track and wheel options there? Is that a one piece moulding and separate parts, or is it a one piece moulding that is detailed using the separate wheels? Either way, it should be interesting.

 

[Geoffers]

One of my favourite AFVs :smiling4:

Looking forward to following your build, front row seat for me please Andreas :thumb2:

Geoff.

 

[vizenz]

Welcome Geoff, I hope I can build something useful out of this thing

Tim, there is only one set of tracks in the kit. The back of the rollers is already attached to the tracks and the fronts are included as separate parts.

I like that, I like simple models like this. It looks really good too. The only drawback is the attachment of the tracks to the hull. There is only one pin at the front and back and all the rollers in the middle are hanging in the air - if you know what I mean. So it's not for the detail lover (the transitions with the swing arms and torsion bars are missing).
I'll probably add a few contact points made from sprues - simply because I usually take these types of models exactly where the tracks are weakest. And I don't want to damage anything in the future.

Here are the sprues in detail:

 

[Guest]

Despite the apparent simplifications, it looks like a pretty good and detailed kit where you can see it. One small thing:

torsion bars are missing

None of this series of tanks (Cruiser Mk. III through Comet) had torsion bars Their suspension was actual Christie, with long springs diagonally above the suspension arms, and not the torsion-bar suspension that commonly got called Christie suspension since the 1950s (at least in the Netherlands, anyway). The springs were outside the main hull armour but had a second armour plate over them to protect them:

View attachment 511552

 

[Airborne01]

I love Centaurs in RM markings - go for it mate! Looking forward to the end result!
Steve

 

[Lee Drennen]

Very nice looking Model kit hood to goes together easy for you. Seated front row.

 

[vizenz]

None of this series of tanks (Cruiser Mk. III through Comet) had torsion bars :smiling3: Their suspension was actual Christie, with long springs diagonally above the suspension arms, ..

Thank you Jakko, I learned something new again!

I love Centaurs in RM markings - go for it mate! Looking forward to the end result!
Steve

Based on my research, I think I'll build a second one at some point...
But I'll need some additional parts and I don't have the time to organize and build them at the moment.
For now, there's only one - OOB.

Very nice looking Model kit hood to goes together easy for you. Seated front row.

Welcome, please take a seat.


I glued the first parts together yesterday. The kit almost falls together by itself.

You can see from the chassis why the front of the wheels has to be glued separately, because otherwise you would have reinforced transitions like on the back.

At the rear, you have to fill in some details and remove others. A few holes also have to be drilled in the fenders (which I refused to do).

There is a small error in the assembly instructions - the wrong front armor part is supposed to be glued on! , even though the right one (extra sprue "R") is included.

After about an hour, half of the work is done, the fuselage is closed and the running gear is also pretty much finished.

And here is one of the reinforcements for the chassis that I'm installing. Otherwise the wheels won't have any contact with the hull and I'm worried that I'll damage something when I pick it up.

Best regards,
Andreas

 

[Waspie]

I had no idea RM's used to use armour. (Another school day).

 

[Guest]

Only for the Normandy landings. They had eighty Centaurs IVs* organised plus twenty Shermans for command duties — four Centaurs and one Sherman per battery. According to Wikipedia, these were disbanded two weeks after D-Day.

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* This is the version armed with a 95 mm howitzer; of which exactly eighty appear to have been built in total. There is a popular misconception that all tanks of this type that are armed with that weapon, are Centaurs, while the rest are Cromwells. The real difference is the engine, Centaur having a Liberty engine (going back to the Mk. VIII tank of 1918 …) and Cromwell, a Meteor, as was later used in Centurion. Because of variations in all kinds of details, you really have to know your stuff to tell the two apart, because even the most commonly quoted difference, the engine deck, is not a 100% certain giveaway.

 

[Lee Drennen]

That really looks good especially those pre-made tracks are very detailed. I may have to get one.