Tamiya's 1/35th scale
Centaur Mk.III 95mm
Kit no. 35235

By Juho Ala-Jaaski

History

The Centaur started out as a cruiser tank, equipped with the poor Pegasus engine. It was to become the Cromwell, but before it did, it came out in many different versions including the one with the 95mm howitzer. Later, Centaurs were re-engined, thus becoming Cromwells, resulting in early Cromwells having the internal track-tensioning system of the Centaur. Even later, the Cromwell was to inspire the first British MBT, the Comet.

The kit

The kit comes molded in green styrene, and shares most of its components with the earlier Cromwell. A new sprue is included with the parts for the 95mm gun, different ventilators, and the gun sighting mechanism. Also new are the roadwheels, this time with lightening holes in the rubber portion. An extra crew figure is also included and has awesome detail.

What the kit doesn't have from the earlier Cromwell kit is the Cullin hegerow cutter and the exhaust shield. The turret parts and the clear parts are the same, but this time you don't use the turret spotlight. The fit overall is very good, and the separate turret and lower hull outer walls fit very well. The suspension arms are positionable by the removal of a locating pin. For those of you who have built the Cromwell, well, you'll know what to expect. I opted to use the figures in this kit as they are VERY nice indeed.

The Hull

The lower hull consists of the separate road wheel arms, road wheels, and the outer double walls. The roadwheels arms have molding seams that need to be removed. You'll be better off, painting the walls of the inner and outer walls before attaching them as this makes painting A LOT easier. At this time, you must decide whether you want to use the internal or external track tensioning system. I used the external one as my references said that the version I built had that. The tracks are the glueable type and have nice detail on both surfaces. I decided to paint the roadwheels before attaching the tracks, to make painting easier. The rubber portion were painted with lightened black, and the metal parts were painted Tamiya Flat Earth. The tracks were drybrushed with silver.

The upper hull has all the hatches positionable to enable a complete engine and crew figures to be fitted. You don't use the hull machine gun on this version, and I'm not sure if any Centaurs had one. Tamiya provides the necessary cover for it. The hull has the front and rear armor plates separate, to allow for maximum detail. The cast effect is VERY nice, and looks really like rolled armor plate. A mesh screen is provided for the rear engine intake, and separate PE parts for these screens are sold by Tamiya , which I hear are VERY nice!! This time I didn't add the side screens, as I did on my Cromwell, as I now know better, and they wouldn't show anyway!!! All the detail parts are very nice, but some have moulding lines that require removal.

The Turret

The gun is different than on the Cromwell, but the 95mm gun is at least as nice as the 75mm on the Cromwell. You don't use the spotlight or the external sights of the Cromwell. A new sight for the 95mm gun is provided, which is basically a box shaped structure, that goes on top of the right periscope.

All of the turret parts fit well, and I had no problem with them. A word of warning though, apply the decals for the traverse numbers BEFORE the bolts with the hooks on the turret sides!! I learned this the hard way and screwed up some of my numbers on the decals.... You don't need to paint the turret interior if using the crew figures as I did. I painted the figures with acrylics and enamels with a black wash and drybrushing for the clothing and a brown wash for the skin. The only thing I added to the model were the intercom wires for the headphones on the figures!

Painting and decals

I painted the model Tamiya flat earth, with gun metal for the MGs, and white for the outer light guards. The tools were painted Gun metal and flat earth dry brushed with desert yellow.

The decals were applied to a gloss suface, with micro sol. The decals are very thin and require care and patience. Especially the degree marks for the turret sides.

Over all the model is VERY nice, and definately worth it!!!

THANK YOU GREATMODELS WEBSTORE FOR THE REVIEW SAMPLE!!!!