Ron Bell Posted June 19, 2013 Report Posted June 19, 2013 (edited) If you're not familiar with this kit, it's very well done. Crisp detail, nice molding. Includes the wading equipment. The tracks are hard plastic and are in a one piece loop. They tell you to put on the inner parts of the road wheels, idler and drive sprocket, then the tracks and then the outer parts of the wheels. That works, but makes painting a nightmare. You can get around it by putting the idler and drive sprocket in their places on the track. Then glue the assembled road wheels in place and then slide the track/sprocket/idler assembly over them. The biggest drawback is the detail on the track is not that good. Compared to the Revell offering on the same subject, the Airfix one seems "beefier". However, it's also cheaper and has the wading gear. Anyway, I did this one as one of the Royal Marines' Centaurs with a 95mm howitzer for close support that they used on D-Day. While the Centaurs had the LIberty vrs. the Meteor engine of the Cromwell, the exterior differences were almost nil, being confined to a track tensioning device on the glacis plate, which is almost invisible. The decals are from Bison and snuggled down over all those rivets and hatches very well. However, when they dried, the ones on the turret got a sort of milky hue to them They're not silvered nor is it "blush", it's the decal itself that is milky. I don't know why, but it's too late now. Anyway, here 'tis. Edited June 22, 2013 by Ron Bell
Mark Deliduka Posted June 20, 2013 Report Posted June 20, 2013 Brilliant work there Ron! One suggestion that worked for me when some of my decals got milky: Try brushing another coat of gloss over them (I use Future) and then dullcoat again. That almost always takes away the milk. Keep these gems coming!
Ron Bell Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Posted June 20, 2013 That's something I've also done in the past, Duke, but this time it's not the finish, it's the actual decal that's milky, so all the overcoats in the world won't change that.
ghodges Posted June 21, 2013 Report Posted June 21, 2013 Cool subject, though the tracks and running gear sound like a handful. As an airplane guy, can you explain the numbers posted on the turret? GIL
Ron Bell Posted June 21, 2013 Author Report Posted June 21, 2013 The Royal Marines were going to use the 95mm howitzers as artillery as they approached the beach. The numbers were suppose to aid in aiming much like a normal gun sight, only on a bigger scale. However, I've never read anything about them actually firing from the landing craft, so I don't know if they actually did or did not use them. If you could read them, they are the degrees of a circle with 0 at the front and going clockwise through 360 degrees.
Ron Bell Posted June 22, 2013 Author Report Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) OK. I contacted a couple of friends who know about this stuff and here's the scoop. Originally, the Centaurs were to be used for artillery support on the run in to the landing. They were not even suppose to land. As a matter of fact, the original plan was to remove the engines and stick them on firing platforms in the LSMs. But, the decision was changed and the engines were left in, they would not fire on the water but would land and provide artillery support within a mile of the shore. They were to come off at the end of the first day. However, they wound up 10 miles inland and were there for two weeks. They were then withdrawn back to England. So there. More than you ever wanted to know about the Royal Marines' Centaurs. Edited June 22, 2013 by Ron Bell
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