British Army Centurion, Tamiya 1/35.

Started by John Healy · 26 · 1 year ago
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    John Healy said 3 years, 10 months ago:

    This will be my first subject for the KW group build. It’s the 50 year old Tamiya kit which I’ll finish with aftermarket decals for a tank of the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars at the Imjin River in 1951. This battle sounded absolutely awful with the 8th having to machine gun Chinese infantry off of their own turrets. I’ll be doing this one slowly while I work on a couple other projects simultaneously.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 10 months ago:

    Hi John @j-healy!
    Quite a change from your astonishing Type 90!
    Looks equally great, too.
    Eagerly waiting to see what you will do with this oldie.
    I bet it will turn out a beauty!

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 10 months ago:

    Tuned in!

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    John Healy said 3 years, 10 months ago:

    I got a start on this today. The old tank modelers tricks of blanking plates and black paint at work!

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 10 months ago:

    Great start, John @j-healy.
    Loved the trick!

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 10 months ago:

    Hello John, @j-healy
    Welcome to our growing Korean War group build. You picked an iconic tank to build. These are often under presented, but their presence in Korea was just as important as the Sherman's and the Pershing's were.

    My Dad served in Korea as both a "Tanker" and in the Infantry. He told me about some of his experiences in his last few weeks of life. Some of the things he told me were exactly what you described, talking about shooting Chinese off the other tanks in his Platoon... only to ask the other tanks to shoot them off his tank a few minutes later. He told me about traversing his turret continuously in a 360 degree swing, while firing the coax MG in an effort to remove the enemy Infantry from his vehicle. The sights he described to me about what was lying on the ground around his tank, and how some bodies, (and parts of bodies) that were still on his tank on the following morning when daylight arrived were equally as horrific.

    Stories like these need to be told. I'm tuned in and watching your work your magic with this one. Your Type 90 was a magnificent looking machine ! You have set a very high standard...

    I remember building the old Tamiya M-60A1 kit many years ago. It had holes in the hull for an electric motor. Your work is already looking good.

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    John Healy said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    I’ve got the basic assembly done on this one. Some filling ahead next.

    9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    John, @j-healy
    You have been busy... and it looks good !

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    I agree with Louis, John @j-healy.
    Looks nice indeed!

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    John Healy said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    A little more work done today...The kit smoke dischargers didn’t survive removal from the sprues, so I replaced them with plastic tube.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Nice work, John!

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Closer to the road. . .

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    John, @j-healy
    The replacement grenade dischargers look great, and were most likely a marked improvement over the kit supplied parts. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. It was meant to be...

    The barrel also looks fantastic. Did you replace it ? Or is it in a nice coat of primer ? All too often many kits have a nasty little seam that runs right down the length of the gun tube... and that can be very frustrating.

    Looks great my friend, and you are definitely pushing my buttons, as now I want to drag out my Easy 8 Sherman and finish it up as a tribute to my Dad... Then I also have a M-26 Pershing that also needs finished.

    Now look what you have done...(I'm just teasing you of course) 😉 Isn't that a F-104 parked in the background ? Cool !

    Take care my friend and please stay safe.

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    John Healy said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Thanks Louis. That Is the kit barrel, carefully filled, sanded and primed. Yes, that is going to be A German Starfighter on the bench. Slow modeling, summertime!

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    John Healy said 3 years, 9 months ago:

    Time for paint. The figure is so-so, but Im also a so-so figure painter!

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.