Far-Ranging Yak

Historical Background

In 1939, Alexander Yakovlev designed a tandem-seat advanced trainer, designated I-27 (and then UTI-26). Armed with a single 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun in the cowling, the aircraft was later redesignated Yak-7UTI. In the meantime, a team from Factory No.301 headed by one K.A. Sinelshchikov, was detached from Yakovlev's OKB to supervise the production of the aircraft. A Yak-7UTI was pulled off the production line was fitted with an armoured backrest plate over the rear position, self-sealing fuel tanks, three launch rails for RS-series rockets, a 20 mm ShVAK cannon firing through the propeller spinner and two ShKAS machine guns. This particular aircraft was gibven the designation Yak-7/M-105P (as it used that particular Klimov engine). When informed of the changes, Yakovlev was sceptical. However tests showed that the new aircraft performed better than the Yak-1, LaGG-3 and MiG-3. The aircraft eventually entered production, from August 1941 as the second member of the Yakovlev fighter family.

Like most aircraft, the Yak-7 also has a number of variants, one of them was the long-range -7D and -7DI. The -7DI was further lightened with increased usage of duralumin in its construction, allowing a number of modifications being made upon the basic design, and, perhaps most importantly, allowing greater flexibility. Now designated Yak-9, the aircraft was placed into production in October 1942. The Yak-9 can be fitted with two types of wings, five different engines, six different fuel tank combinations and seven types of armament configuration (including anti-tank). The first production version was powered by a Klimov M-105PF engine rated at 1,180 hp and the typical armament fit was a 20 mm ShVAK cannon (120 rounds) and a 12.7 mm UBS machine gun with 200 rounds in the upper decking. The wings have that distinctive Yakovlev-designed shape while visibility was better than previous Yaks because of the usage of bubble canopy.

The Yak-9 entered service in October 1942 and its first action was during the Battle Of Stalingrad where apart from air superiority missions, it also undertook light bombing, anti-tank escort missions, reflecting its versatility. It excelled in low-level operations where it was faster and more maneuverable than the Bf 109, although armament was a bit inferior. As with the Yak-7, a long-range version of the Yak-9 was developed as Yak-9D. The -9D has its fuel capacity increased from 440 liters to 650 liters, allowing a maximum range of 1,360 km. Lack of suitable radio navigation equipment meant it was mainly used as a short-ranged fighter. Nevertheless it was further developed into Yak-9DD with fuel capacity of 845 liters, giving it a maximum range of 2,285 km. It was mainly used to escort Peltyakov Pe-2 and Tupolev Tu-2 light bombers although the Yak's speed advantage was marginal over the two bombers. The -9DD was also used to escort USAAF's B-17 bombers taking part in the so-called 'shuttle bombing' missions.

The Yak-9 was provided to Soviet client states post-war and received the NATO ASSC name of 'Frank' and was used during the Korean War. A total of 16,769 Yak-9s of all types were built from 1942 to 1948.

The Kit

The Yak-9DD was one of ICM's early efforts, being released together with Yak-9T and Yak-9K in 2000. The parts count was pretty low : 55 parts in dark olive green and 2 in clear styrene. The advantage it has over other kits was the presence of an engine block, allowing 'opened engine panel' style of display preferred by certain modellers (admittedly, the detail isn't up to much, but you do get an engine as basis. The cannon barrel was also included. Furthermore the ailerons and the rudder were positionable. There are however some flash on my example, notably on the engine air intake. Sink marks were also evident on the fuselage and wings. One thing I was warned through reading online reviews (and one I have never experienced before) was the presence of oily residue of the mould release agent and my particular example as no different. The olive green parts feature nice (but not as nice as the Japanese companies') panel lines (where appropriate as the Yak was partly made from wood). The small, flat-finished decal sheet provide markings for three aircraft:

- White 2, unknown unit, 1944 (grey/blue)

- White 21, Normandie-Niemen Regiment, 1944 (2-tone grey / blue)

- White 86, Warzawa Fighter Regiment, 1944 (black/green/blue)

Construction

Before saying anything else, let me start by saying that this was one of my earliest kits done after I decided to re-enter the hobby back in 2001. It was only this year that I managed to write about the experience. Anyway, since ICM includes the engine block, construction started there. The engine was painted Steel (even though I intended to have the cowling panels closed) while the cannon barrel was painted Gun Metal. The engine/cannon assembly was then set aside while I work on the cockpit. Not surprisingly, the cockpit is very spartan, with just the floorboard, the seat, control stick and rudder pedals. Despite that, the last two mentioned were quite fragile and I managed to broke the rudder pedals. The cockpit parts were painted overall XF-53 Neutral Grey with the seat back and the top of the control column painted flat black. The engine block and the cockpit was then tested for fitting. I found out that the engine prevented the fuselage from closing up properly so it had to go. The fuselage can now be closed up properly.

However I was now presented with another problem; the exhausts were supposed to be mounted onto the engine block! I solved it by cementing the exhausts to the separate engine access panels. I still goofed by not placing a blanking plate plus I most probably have placed the exhausts too deep inside the opening. When trying to fit the panels onto the fuselage, they still did not fit properly. The solution: remove all the stringers from the opening. Even this did not completely eliminate the fit problem. The wing halves were mated together and then cemented onto the fuselage. This however resulted in gaps along the upper joint (I should have checked first and perhaps cemented the upper wing halves to the fuselage first). The separate ailerons were cemented in neutral position (they should never both in up or down position!) Fitting the rudder, tail planes and the oil cooler intake finishes the pre-painting build. Oh did I mention about sink marks? There were a number of nasty ones - one on each of the horizontal tail and another inside the carburettor intake. The ones one the tail were filled but I simply paint the inside of the intake flat black to hide the imperfection. 

Painting and Decalling

After looking at the options available, I decided to paint the Yak in the green/black colour scheme of the Warzawa Regiment. I weren't sure of the nearest Tamiya equivalent for the Russian Underside Blue but decided that X-14 Sky Blue with several drops of XF-2 Flat White was the best (I actually have trouble looking for the best colour; in some photos, they look akin to lightened X-14 but in other photos they look similar to XF-23 or RLM 65). X-14 has a gloss finish and while glossiness is good for decalling, I toned it down by adding X-21 Flat base, making it semi-gloss. The black was painted using Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black while XF-5 Flat Green was used for the green portion. The prop spinner was painted Flat White overall before being masked and painted a mix of X-7 Red and XF-7 Flat Red for the red portion. Once the paint has dried, the decals were applied. As mentioned before they have a flat finish, but nevertheless are fairly thin. There is however registration problems with the large VVS stars on the fuselage. I also managed to have the right-side fuselage star and number lower than the actual positions!

Finishing

As usual, this process was started by preparing and assembling the landing gear. All the landing gear parts were painted XF-22 RLM Grey and Gunze 8 Silver for the relevant parts. The completed landing gear was then cemented to the surface with no problems. However, the smaller of the wheel bay doors have no 'hinges' to be slotted into the lower wing surface whatsoever and they were merely cemented onto the the latter. The canopy was another item which did not sit properly in its place. I was thinking of drilling the hole for the cowl machine gun but with the rather shallow firing troughs and a short pin vise drill, I did not proceed. I decided to forego the panel line wash was not done as per my usual practice due to shallow panel lines and proceeded straight to spraying the model with Flat Clear, finishing the build.

Conclusion 

Some companies hit it with the crowds with their first release. Although ICM eventually won many people over, their first venture wasn't really a success. The kit was pretty problematic with (some) fit issues, nasty sink marks (perhaps I should call them 'holes'), an apparently wrong canopy shape and the oily residue. Nevertheless I for one welcomed the Yak-9 as no other manufacturer has released any version in 1/48. Though I haven't seen them, I believe the Alanger dan Ark Model releases used the same mold as the ICM one. The inclusion of the engine is interesting although the execution was rather disappointing. The kit is still very buildable although I do not recommend it to complete novice.

Imperial Chicken Walker

Fictional / Real-World Background

During the Clone Wars, the Rothana Heavy Engineering subsidiary of Kuat Drive Yards developed a new bipedal walker mech, known as the All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST), based on their experimental AT-XT. The AT-ST was used by the Galactic Republic late during the Clone Wars and it saw major usage with the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. The AT-ST was a light, but heavily armed ground combat vehicle. The stock model was armed with a chin-mounted double blaster cannon, an E-Web twin light blaster cannon on the port side an a concussion grenade launcher on the starboard side of its 'head' structure. The chin-mounted double blasters have a range of 2,000 meters and was used for anti-vehicle purposes while the light twin blasters and concussion grenades were good against short-range infantry attacks and light fortifications. For targetting, the AT-ST used the same holographic targetting system as the larger AT-AT.

The AT-ST was piloted by a crew of two Imperial Army pilots. An advanced gyro system, located underneath the command module (i.e. the 'head' of the walker), provided balance although the system was susceptible to battle damage. The bipedal propulsion system was one of the major weakness of the AT-ST. While allowing speeds of up to 90 kph on flat, even terrain, the bipedal construction meant that the walker can easily topple when confronting uneven or shifting terrain. Furthermore, while the armour was sufficient against infantry blaster shots, it was not effective against heavier weapons, even another AT-ST's blaster cannon shots. The armor was also ineffective against physical, low-tech assaults to the head and the legs. All the weaknesses were proven to great effect during the Battle of Endor when AT-STs were toppled by a rolling log trap and logs rammed to the walkers's sides. Another AT-ST, hijacked by the notable Wookie, Chewbacca and two Ewoks destroyed other surviving AT-STs and forcing Imperial stormtroopers to scatter.

OK, that's the story of the AT-ST in the Star Wars Universe. In the real world, in the 'scrapbook section' of the 27 June 1982 issue of the Star Wars comic strip, a depiction of a walker named 'Two-Man Imperial Scout Walker' was made although it actually resembled half of an AT-AT rather than the more familiar shape of an AT-ST. During the production of The Empire Strikes Back, the modelling department of Industrial Light & Magic created the original model of the AT-ST. George Lucas thought it was neat and decided to add it alongside the AT-ATs. The AT-ST model then received a more extensive makeover for Return Of The Jedi, hence the difference between the AT-STs in the two movies. The AT-ST made further appearances in the Star Wars Universe such as the computer and role-playing games.

The Kit

Unsurprisingly, successful films like the Star Wars saga came up with huge number of merchandise, including model kits. In the 1980s and 1990s, the licence was held by AMT/ERTL which produced a number of kits, some of them were of the snap-fit style while all of them having no standard scale. When the prequel trilogy came up, Fine Molds was granted licence, who then proceeded to produce some of the most stunning sci-fi scale models I have ever seen (but never having even one) and they came in the standard 1/48, 1/72 or 1/144 scales. With the release of Episode VII, the licence was granted to Bandai - a manufacturer best known for its toys and mechas, specifically Gundams. I decided to give it a try, despite my initial and rather irrational, misgivings. After mulling whether to buy any of the fighters or the AT-ST, I decided to buy the latter.

The small-ish box looked a bit bulging and when opened, it was because of the jam-packed sprues (six of them) inside, the highlight of which is the multicoloured sprue A (it was a Bandai specialty, a carry-over from their Gundam kits). The parts are well moulded and having crisp details, The instructions are entirely in Japanese but the diagrams are clear enough (I still need help though through the internet). The downside is that the interior would be entirely invisible unless you open the roof and the front hatches (even then barely, as it turn out). Another downside is the funny-looking crews, who have nice helmet details but totally stiff pose, with funny-looking arms and oversized boots. Strangely, the included Chewbacca figure has better (fur and facial) details! For markings (although no AT-STs were shown to have markings in the movies), a decal sheet and a sticker sheet was provided to cater for 'serious' modellers and the more casual Star Wars collector. Also included in both sheets are 'scorch marks'. They are best discarded as they show rather visible pixellation.

Construction

Before building, I realised that the parts feature rather large locating tabs and corresponding holes rather than the usual shallow holes and small locating pins in the plastic. When dry-fitting, they fit nicely, making the kit a virtual snap-fit style although I did run Tamiya Extra Thin Cement along some of the the joints. Construction started at the erm, pelvis of the walker. Part C1-11 was a tight fit and since I was half-asleep while building this kit, it only got partway through its slots, causing problems when I initially tried to fit parts C1-4 and -5. I pulled out part C1-11 and reinserted it, allowing the other two parts to fit properly. Part C1-36 was actually optional but since I can't understand any Japanese characters, it was inserted into place (apparently, as other modellers remarked, Bandai used two different original studio models as guides). The cable parts were then cemented (they fit nicely but I'm not taking any chances) to their places. This was where I discovered another Bandai speciality - the cables are made from malleable plastic, on that three-colour Sprue A. Impressive! (in Vader's voice)

The next two steps are concerned with the walker's legs. Construction started with the segmented, but not workable lower leg - just the 'ankle' is moveable, The feet were then assembled. The wire-cutting 'claws' have a ball joint, making them moveable. However I found it difficult to insert the main feet section to the ankle/internal feet structure properly, leaving a gap at the 'heel'. I decided to trim off the male joint at parts D1/D2 6 and D1/D2 7  (the internal feet structure) and afterwards the feet fitted properly. The thigh was then assembled; each thigh consisting of two parts with the part containing the slots for the leg-body joint trapped between them. The thigh was then joined with the lower leg. Here Bandai gave an option whether to put Part D1/D2 3 or D1/D2 3 at the joint. Part D4 has extra plastic tab matching the groove inside the joint, locking the joint. Bandai's instruction suggested that Part D4 be used if one is 'going to display the AT-ST for a long time' which I read as 'if you are not going to play with it!'

Next, the head of the walker. Before assembling the cockpit module, I decided to paint it. The cockpit was painted XF-22 RLM Grey overall with certain panels painted XF-1 Flat Black. The crew figures were painted XF-81 RAF Dark Green for their helmets, X-18 Semi-Gloss Black for their visors, XF-54 Dark Sea Grey for uniform and XF-24 Dark Grey for the harness/belt. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered because when the cockpit was boxed in, it looks like the Black Hole of Calcutta!  Good thing I didn't detail-paint all the button and knob representations and weather the cockpit! The weapons were then assembled. No problems here but hole in the left cheek weapon cluster was too tight for  the mounting tab for the shield and I almost snapped the tab. The sub-assemblies remain apart for the painting and weathering process.

Painting and Decalling

One thing I forgot to mention. While painting the interior and the figures, the paint was inconsistent in its adherence to the plastic and I suspect that residual mould release agent was responsible. Therefore the sub-assemblies were washed using dishwashing liquid. At the same time, online reviews stated that the problem persists even after washing and seemed to affect virtually all Bandai kits.  The best bet here would be prime the model first. Unfortunately I have run out of surface primer and had to resort to using spray-can paint (I used Tamiya AS-5 Grey Violet). Even so, the acrylic paint still has lingering problem with adherence. I didn't face the same problem when using the same paint when painting my Hurricane kit, so I guess there is something 'funny' with the plastic. Although decals bearing the Galactic Empire insignia were included, I decided to forego the them to maintain the 'movie-accuracy' of the AT-ST.

Finishing

Before making the model whole, it was given a dark grey wash to pop up the details with emphasis especially given to the pelvis area, in keeping with the spirit of 'used universe' in the movies. However I had to admit that I was a bit gung-ho in the application of the wash, darkening the model unnecessarily. The front viewports, like the entry hatch on the roof are available in open or closed position. I chose the open position, the AT-ST looks better this way. I decided not to use the display base but it was consigned to the spares bin should I fancy dressing it up. Watch this space. As for the 'laser blasts'? I threw them away as they look too cartoonish. The sub-assemblies were then sprayed with Flat Clear. Afterwards, they were assembled, finishing the build. And what did I do next? Play with it Re-enacting the Battle Of Endor (complete with sound effects) of course!

Conclusion

I confess that I am a Star Wars nut and having built several of MPC (AMT/ERTL) kits during my college days, I decided to revisit the old days. I missed out the Fine Molds kits (because of the pile of unbuilt kits at home at the time). Now that the pile has thinned out plus my interest in sci-fi modelling has been 'awakened' by Episode VII, I decided to take a plunge back into the genre. Bandai has come up with a kit that satisfies a broad spectrum of geeks Star Wars fans : from collectors to veteran modellers. The kit is simple yet having very acceptable level of details (not up to those set by Fine Molds though, but in any case, sci-fi models are models of models). The kit was designed so that it has a fair degree of movement to the main parts (head, weapons and legs) to allow playability different display poses. I was looking forward to build others in the range (especially the projected 1/48 AT-AT, shown at the Shizuoka Hobby Show... I wonder how big it would really be like).

Cents In The Jungle

Historical Background

In 1943, the Directorate of Tank Design was ordered by the British War Office to design a new 'heavy cruiser' tank design, designated A41. After a history of fairly mediocre tank designs, coupled with the threat posed by the German 88 mm gun, the A41 was required to have increased durability and reliability, the ability to withstand a direct hit from an 88 mm gun and an increased protection against mines while remaining within a maximum weight of 40 tons. A high top speed was not required although an agility on par with the Comet tank was needed. The Directorate responded by creating a longer hull (lengthened by adding a sixth wheel) but using the same set of long-travel five-wheel suspension of the Comet. The entire drive train consists of three bogies with two wheels each. The original Christie suspension was replaced by the externally-mounted Horstmann suspension. While having a lesser ride quality, the Horstmann suspension took up less room and was easier to maintain. The hull was redesigned, incorporating welded, sloped armour while the turret was partially cast. Armament was the well-regarded Ordnance QF 17-pounder gun. A 20 mm Polsten cannon was mounted to the left of the main gun on a separate mounting. Powerplant was the tried and trusted Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The A41 was named 'Centurion'.

However, it was soon realised that the requirement to withstand 88 mm projectiles cannot be met within the 40-ton weight limit (the limitation was set so that the A41 can be carried on the existing Mark I and II transport trailers, which have a 40-ton weight limit). The War Ministry dediced that it would be better to build new trailers rather than altering an already excellent design. In addition, heavier designs were being contemplated, carrying armour comparable to the best-protected infantry tanks while having the performance superior to the early cruiser tanks. In short, the A41 was the first British tank to incorporate the best features of the infantry and cavalry tanks in one package, known as the 'universal tank'. The design mockup was built by AEC Ltd and was viewed in May 1944. Subsequently 20 pre-production vehicles, designated Centurion Mark 1 were built. Divided into four groups they were armed with a 17-pounder gun, a 20 mm Polsten plus a 7.92mm Besa in the turret rear; another batch has the same armament but having an escape hatch instead of the Besa; 17-pounder and a co-axial Besa and finally a 77 mm gun and a remotely-operated hull machine gun.  The Mark 1 has a glacis plate 76 mm thick (actually thinner than the Churchill and Matilda) but the sloping armour actually gave it a higher effective thickness. Three vehicles were sent to Belgium for trials in March-April 1945 but they arrived too late to see any action.

Concerned with the Soviet armoured threat, the Mark 2 was introduced in 1946. It had a new cast turret and a thicker (110 mm) frontal armour. It entered service in December 1946 with the 5th Royal Tank Regiment. Marks 1 and 2 were later upgraded into Mark 3 standard when the latter entered service, or converted into recovery vehicles. In 1948, the Mark 3 was introduced. The Mark 3 introduced the new Ordnance QF 20-pounder (84 mm) gun which incorporated a fully-stabilised gun control system, enabling it to fire even more accurately than previous tanks. The introduction of a more powerful gun plus the fact that 20 mm rounds were unnecessarily large against infantry, caused the Polsten gun to be removed from this mark, and was replaced with a 7.62 mm machine gun. The Mark 4 was an abandoned 95 mm gun-armed close support version. The Mark 5 was the most advanced of the A41 variants. It featured a thicker armour, a more powerful version of the Meteor engine, a Browning 7.62 mm machine gun for the commander's cupola and a ranging 12.7 mm machine gun. The sub-variant 5/2 introduced the famous Royal Ordnance L7 105 mm gun, developed after the 'capture' of a T-54A tank during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. The rest of the Marks (up to Mark 13) are basically upgrades to the Mark 5 with improved armour, redesigned features or with additional equipment. A total of 4,423 Centurions, including specialised versions were delivered by the time production ended in 1962.

The Centurion first saw combat during the Korean War. Three squadrons of Centurion Mark 3 belonging to the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars landed at Pusan (now Busan) on 14 November 1950, and were subsequently followed by other units. The British Centurions faced combat in sub-zero conditions, akin to what greeted the German Wehrmacht in Russia during World War 2. The Centurions covered the withdrawal of the British 29th Brigade during the Battle of Imjin River from 22-25 April 1941, losing five of their numbers. The Centurions of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment were also instrumental in defeating the Chinese forces during the Second Battle Of The Hook (28-19 May 1953). In general the Centurions showed better performance than the American M26 Pershing. In tribute of the Centurions, General John O'Daniel of the US 1st Corps remarked that "...In their Centurions, the 8th Hussars have evolved a new type of tank warfare. They taught us that anywhere a tank can go, is a tank country: even the tops of mountains". The Centurions were also deployed during the 1956 Suez Crisis. When the 6th Royal Tank Regiment landed at Port Said on 5-6th November 1956, they fought against Egyptian T-34 and SU-100, suffering no losses. In the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the Indian Centurions proved superior against the Pakistani Pattons at the battles of Assal Uttar, Khem Karan, Phillora and Chandiwa. Israeli Centurions (called Sho't by the IDF) was used from the 1967 war onwards; their 'finest hour' came during the engagement at the 'Valley Of Tears' at the Golan Heights during the 1973 Yom Kippur War where roughly 100 Sho'ts of the 7th Armoured Brigade defeated around 500 T-54/55 and T-62s of the Syrian Army. Modernised Sho'ts also took part part during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982.    

The Centurion was also used during the Vietnam war by the Australians. Following field reports stating that the Royal Australian Armoured Corps' (RAAC) M113 ACAVs were too light and too vulnerable to support an infantry attack against a well-equipped and determined enemy, the Australian government eventually decided to deploy a reinforced squadron of 20-pounder armed Centurion tanks (The Australians retained the 20-pounder gun as they deemed it to be adequate for operations in South-East Asia). On 24 February 1968, 'C' Squadron of the 1st Armoured Regiment landed at South Vietnam and was headquartered at Nui Dat in the III Corps Tactical Zone.  After several weeks in-country, the Centurion crews removed the side-skirts in order to prevent mud and vegetation build-up between the side skirts and the tracks. Additional armour was welded onto the glacis plate to improve protection against RPGs. The normal basic load was 62 rounds of 20-pounder shells, 4,000 rounds of 12.7 mm and 9,000 rounds of .30-cal. 

The Centurions took their first active participation in Operation Pinnaroo in March 1968 to clear the VC from their strongholds in the Long Hai hills. The tank crews developed a standard method for bunker clearing by firing three to four canister rounds to clear the thick jungle foliage and then firing one or two APCBC rounds to destroy the bunkers. Fire from the two .30-cals and the single 12.7mm were also effective. Centurions also took part in the largest battle the Australians fought in Vietnam, at the Battle of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral from 12 May to 6 June 1968. The Centurions again supported the infantry by attacking enemy troops and bunker complex and also became a mobile bunker for defence. In May 1968, a third troop, which included tankdozers, was formed and by September of the same year, 'C' Squadron was up to its full strength of four troops, each with four Centurions. By the end of the Australian involvement in Vietnam, 'B' Squadron of the 3rd Cavalry regiment and the 'B' and 'C' Squadrons of the 1st Armoured Regiment has made their tour of duty. A total of 58 Centurions were deployed, 42 of them suffered battle damage (6 beyond repair) and two crewmen killed.

The Kit

For years 1/35 scale modellers have to do with the long-in-the-tooth Tamiya kit of the Centurion. In 2006, AFV Club of Taiwan responded to the call for a new-mould Centurion by first releasing the Asutralian version of the tank, which was used in Vietnam. The kit consists of 410 parts in olive drab plastic, 18 in clear plastic, metal main gun and co-axial MG barrels, vinyl tyres and tracks, metal springs, vinyl polycaps, a length of steel cable, a small mesh and a small PE fret. Also included (in the initial batch of the kit) is a resin commander's figure (hence the 'Special Parts' claim on the box top). The standard of moulding is excellent with crisp details. I haven't dry-fit the parts but based on previous AFV Club kits I have built, it should be a positive experience. The only major problem I read about this kit is the fit of the fume extractor, as it cannot slip through the muzzle. AFV Club did add a small errata sheet (suggesting the modeller to enlarge the opening) but I believe this in turn would make the extractor hanging loose around the barrel. Also, there is no accessory whatsoever included. Decals provide markings for five Centurions:

1. 31B, 'C' Squadron, 1st Armoured Regt, Vietnam 1968

2. 4C, 'Uc-Dai-Loi Or Bust', 'C' Squadron, 1st Armoured Regt, Vietnam 1971

4. 1C, 'A' Squadron, 1st Armoured Regt, Vietnam 1970

5. 3C, 'Pussy Eater', 'C' Squadron, 1st Armoured Regt, Vietnam 1971

There is a decal with another vulgar nickname ('Clitoris Pubis') but was nowhere noted in the instruction sheet.

My Centurion is a second-hand kit and included in the price are Eduard's PE set and AFV Club's mantlet cover.

Construction

The kit's construction started with the suspension units. All six were made workable by the use of springs while four of them (front and rear pairs) can also have their suspension arms made workable by using a heated head of a nail to flatten the excess plastic on the joints. I left off the wheels first although the instructions have you assemble and place them on the suspension at this time and jumped straight to the lower hull assembly. After shaving off unwanted details (as instructed), the final drive cover were cemented to the hull. Extra details from the Eduard PE set were added to the bottom of the hull even though they were not visible to the casual observer. The idler mounts were cemented to the hull and thanks to the Perth Military Modelling Website, bolt details for the idler mounts (which were on the sprue but not mentioned in the instructions) were added. While Eduard provided PE exhaust deflector, I decided to use the kit one instead. The mountings for the return rollers were cemented to the hull but like the road wheels, the rollers were left off at this time.

Moving on to the upper hull, AFV Club have the usually single-mould part broken down into seven. I started at the rear (as recommended) by cementing the engine panel and intake grill first and worked forward. I also skipped some interior parts as they won't be really visible to the casual observer. The inside face of the upper hull panels were however littered with ejector towers. While I usually left them alone, they interfered with assembly and need to be trimmed away. The engine grill panel was made of two parts, allowing greater amount of detail. The instructions have you drill two holes on the driver's panel but as no indentations were made on that part as guide, I skipped the procedure. Going back to the rear of the hull, I added all the grab handles and due to easier handling, I opted for the kit ones. The auxiliary fuel tank was assembled but I found the fit wasn't very good (or perhaps it was just me). Certain parts were substituted with PE although again the grab handle remain kit part B29. Returning to the front hull again, the driver's hatch was cemented to its place. Certain clunky features were shaved off and replaced with Eduard PE. AFV Club provided a couple of PE pieces for the hatches but I substituted them with the more refined Eduard pieces.

Square-shaped blobs on the fenders ( I guess they are the mountings for the side skirts) were removed and replaced with PE. The storage bins were assembled and before attaching them to the fenders, I pondered whether to replace the plastic latches and grab handles with PE substitutes. Not wanting to prolong the build (I'm actually a slow builder nowadays), I left them as they were as and only using some small PE parts and replacing the rear mudguards. Before attaching the fenders to the hull, I added Eduard PE boot scrapers. I found it a bit clumsy to assemble, mainly because of the close proximity of the scraping surfaces. As the fender placement grooves on the hull sides looked rather shallow, I inserted blobs of plasticine underneath the fenders, removing them once the glue has cured. Having said that, the right-hand side fender was warped, causing gaps which could not be completely covered. The exhausts were then assembled. As I was going to use the PE parts, the moulded-on heat shield on the muffler was cut and and sanded off while the heat shield for the exhaust pipe was completely replaced with the PE substitute. I should have taped the PE parts on the originals before bending them as they ended up being crooked a bit.

Next, I turned my attention to the turret. The basic turret consists of five parts: bottom, roof, two sides and the mantlet.  Fit wasn't that good with seam lines between the roof and the turret walls with the worst-fitting areas on the back of the turret. The instructions also erroneously marked mantlet I14 to be used; but the illustration showed mantlet I9. Quickly checking the box art and photos on the internet, the actual mantlet to be used is I9 and I acted accordingly. The mantlet was secured to the turret using vinyl keepers. However the sockets on the turret sides were too small. I therefore removed the vinyl keepers and simply installed the mantlet without them. Of course they are loose inside the socket but I believe the fitment of the mantlet cover would eliminate this problem.  The storage boxes were assembled but owing to the same reason as the hull storage bins, they remain as they were. The smoke grenade launchers were assembled but I only use the PE tube cover detail and a grab handle on the side (the rest of the PE parts were discarded). Most of the fittings on the turret were then cemented into place or replaced with PE substitutes.

Before dealing with the barrel, I put the separately available gun mantlet cover into place. It did not fit properly but being vinyl, a bit of a stretch allowed it to have a better fit. The cover however does not include an opening for the IR spotlight mount. I tried cutting a hole on the left hand side of the cover but it was still hard to maneuver the mount into place. In the end, I cut along the joint between the top and the front face of the cover, insert the spotlight mount and superglue the cut. And as expected, the cover effectively 'freezes' the mantlet in place. To fit the fume extractor on the barrel, I sawed the barrel at the location of the fume extractor, inserted the latter and re-attach the barrel together. The barrel was then superglued to the turret. Returning to the back of the turret, the stowage rack was assembled. It was quite fiddly and the less than perfect fit between the segments complicate the assembly a bit. Once the cement has dried fully, the metal mesh from the Eduard PE set was used instead of the nylon one from the kit.

The IR searchlight was the last component added to the model before painting. While many photos show RAAC Centurions without them in place (usually stowed on the turret rack), I decided to mount it on the mantlet (apparently the Aussie tankers re-mount the light with the approach of  the night). I can fashion a cover a la the IR searchlight cover on my M48 Patton, but I decided to test my skill in making the reflecting surface of the light. To simulate the reflecting surfaces, I used aluminium kitchen foil. Unfortunately the one used by my wife has patterns on it so I had to burnish them first. They were attached to the relevant parts using white glue and the excess foil was then removed using a sharp blade. The glass face was cleaned up of the moulded-on protrusions and were replaced with Eduard PE parts.

Painting and Decaling

The AFV Club instructions have Olive Drab as the colour although I doubt it was the 'straight' OD for Australian vehicles. An article (for a 1/72 Australian Centurion) in an issue of Model Military International suggests Humbrol French Artillery Green but I don't have this colour. I eventually settled on Chris Wauchop's interpretation of the colour: an equal mix of XF-62 Olive Drab, XF-58 Olive Green and XF-49 Khaki plus a bit of Gunze H312 Green FS34227. The mantlet cover was painted XF-49 Khaki. The base paint was then given a filter wash of brown. The exhausts were given a base of burnt iron and were then were given the hairspray technique treatment. Various browns were painted and before the paint cured fully, a stiff brush was used to scrape off the brown paints in an irregular manner. Afterwards I applied Tamiya Weathering Rust to tie the colours together (for the exhausts that is).

The brown filter somehow gave the model a satin finish so I don't have to coat the model with gloss clear for decalling. As for the marking themselves, I first have to filter out the vulgar ones (hey, there are kids in the house, alright?) and settled for the second option, 'Uc-Dai-Loi Or Bust' as it is more vibrant than the rest. And just like as mentioned in reviews elsewhere, the decals cracked. In this case, thankfully, just one, that is the artwork which broke into four pieces. Recognising the cause, which is not enough soaking time, the rest of the decals were soaked a bit longer than usual and I managed to put them on the model without any problems. And usual, they receive the Mr. Mark Softer treatment. The tank callsign was placed on a piece of styrene sheet which was painted flat black beforehand. Two small holes were punched into the two upper corners. Copper wire was run through them and the plasticard was then hung on the stowage rack.

Finishing

I started off by covering the entire hull and the lower part of the turret with XF-57 Buff. Afterwards, a mixture of African Earth and Iraqi Sand pigments from Mig Productions were mixed together with water and slathered all over the lower hull. The excess was then removed using a stiff brush. The same mixture was then spread over the lower hull 'dry' and I then applied some Mig Productions Pigment Fixer. I should have made a thicker mix for the original wet application as the fixer washed most of them away! Instead of fully assembling them, I just put the inner portion of the road wheels and return rollers onto the suspension Problems here were the tight fit of the poly caps and bad fit of the return roller halves. The idler and sprocket wheels were however fully assembled.The tracks were painted XF-64 Red Brown but I forego the track wash - I just dry-brush silver on the track cleats, apply pigment on the tracks and remove the excess, the tracks were then looped and glued and placed on the model. The idler mount was left unglued during assembly in order to adjust the tension of the tracks so that it will have a proper sit. Once done, Tamiya Extra Thin Cement was run on the joint to 'freeze' the position of the idler.

The rest of the still loose items can now be placed onto the model. The pioneer tools have all the moulded-on clamps removed and replaced with PE. They were painted XF-59 Desert Yellow for the wood portions and XF-63 German Grey, enhanced with pencil graphite, for the metal parts. The rack of ammo boxes were assembled and painted the hull colour while the boxes were painted straight XF-62 Olive Drab. The machine gun on the commander's hatch was assembled according to instructions. However I swapped the ammo box with one from the Academy US Machine Gun Set. I also used the ammo box holding bracket from the Eduard PE set. The fire extinguishers were given a base coat of white and were then painted X-7 Red and Flat Black. The metal braided wire used for the tow cable was positively stiff and needed annealing before it can be handled. Even so, the wire somewhat recovered some stiffness, making it a struggle to attach it to the model (perhaps because I left it for several days?)

A length of vinyl tubing was cut to simulate the electrical cable for the IR searchlight. A selection of items from Academy and Tamiya vehicle accessory sets were placed in the turret stowage basket. They were two jerricans, a food container, two MCI ration boxes and four water cans. Resources from the internet mention that upwards to 10 water cans (for the engine radiator) were usually carried by Centurions in the 'Nam but I could only find two British-style (same pattern as used by the Aussies) and two American ones (also used, according to what I read). While the ration boxes are American, I also read that they were also issued to Australian troops in Vietnam. Guitar strings were used to create the radio aerials (although I couldn't make them straight!). As for the figure, I wasn't sure what colour can be used to replicate the jungle green shirt worn but in the end I decided that lightened XF-81 RAF Dark Green can do the trick (or maybe not).

Conclusion

A great kit with highly detailed parts and (mostly) good fit. But I think the best part of this kit is the subject matter itself. The earlier Tamiya Centurion was focused on the Korean War-era Mark 3 while I guess many modellers would bet that AFV Club would came up with the famous Israeli Sho't version (or basic Israeli Centurion) first. The RAAC release also may help in reminding people that the Vietnam War was not entirely fought by US forces. The kit itself wasn't a Tamiya regarding to ease of construction; there is a bit of over-engineering as certain parts can be moulded together. Lack of an in-box mantlet cover is also disappointing as the item is seen on every photo of RAAC Centurions in Vietnam. Nevertheless it and the rest of AFV Club's Centurion family are very much welcomed!