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In-Box Review
135
Centurion III shields

by: David Maynard [ DRADER ]

Introduction

Currently, the only available 1/35th scale plastic Centurion is Tamiya’s Mark III, which was originally issued in 1971 (the Academy Centurion is a reworked copy). The bazooka plates are very badly portrayed on the kit, clipped to the trackguards by fittings that look nothing like the originals.



Contents

Two medium-sized PE frets, largely taken up by the bazooka plates themselves, which are suitably thin. Remaining etched parts consist of fittings and a few components to improve the front end of the trackguards. There are two pages of colour-coded instructions in the usual Eduard style



Description

Assembly is simple, involving the removal of the clips on the trackguards and their replacement with more accurate PE components. There is a little bending required, mostly of the small loops attached to the bazooka plates; luckily the Mark III has far fewer loops than later marks of the Centurion. Missing from the set are the rectangular plates mounted on the ends of the braces at the lower hull sides (see link). This will mean a simple bit of scratchbuilding if the model is to be shown with missing bazooka plates, though it would have been easy enough to include in the PE set.

The references cited in the instructions are minimal (an issue of Panzer magazine) and there is no mention of web-based resources which is a shame. I found walkarounds on Prime Portal (see review of 35845), Tanxheaven and Howitzer.dk which are easily accessible and helpful.



in conclusion

This set will substantially improve the appearance of the Tamiya Centurion, removing some of its most toy-like features for little effort. Recommended.



My Thanks to Eduard for the review sample.


SUMMARY
A simple set of PE parts which will replace the bazooka plates of the elderly Tamiya kit with more accurate versions. Since Tamiya will probably keep recycling their mould, this set may be useful for a while. The plates can be used without having to buy the Eduard detail set 35845
  ACCURACY:80%
  COMPLEXITY:60%
Percentage Rating
70%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 35862
  Suggested Retail: $24.95
  Related Link: What Eduard forgot
  PUBLISHED: Apr 12, 2006
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 83.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 88.59%

About David Maynard (Drader)
FROM: WALES, UNITED KINGDOM

From south Wales originally, I became an archaeologist by chance and have continued being one for about 20 years. Which is a lot of mud shifted. The nursing home where I was born is now part of the Celtic Manor and, by a nice bit of irony, I did the archaeology for several of their golf courses. I h...

Copyright ©2021 text by David Maynard [ DRADER ]. All rights reserved.


   
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Photos
Click image to enlarge
  • 01
    Sheet 1
  • 02
    Sheet 2
  • 03
    Fret 1
  • 04
    Fret 2
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