HG3509 1/72 British Centurion Tank Mk.III, 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 1953
1/72 Hobby Master Ground Power Series
Features:
Authentic Detailing
Pre-Painted by professionals
Accurate paint colors
Markings Tampo (pad) applied
Fully Assembled
Die-Cast Model
Turret turns and main gun elevates
Metal turret and main gun
Realistic tracks
History:
The Centurion entered British service in 1949 and when production ended in 1962 there had been over 4,000 vehicles of all variants produced. Approximately half of the production were exported.
The Centurion was a great advancement in British tank design with them using some of the best features from other tanks around the world.
The Centurion was the first main battle tank in the world to use both elevation and azimuth gun stabilization in the
main gun.
All Centurions had welded steel hulls and cast turrets with welded steel plates for the roof.
There were about 25 different variants of the Centurion with each improving on the one before.
The Mk. 5 used the same 20 pounder main gun as the Mk. 3, there was no Mk. 4 produced, but most had a “Type B” barrel with a fume extractor half way down the barrel.
This got rid of fume low back into the turret and also eliminated the need for the counter weight used on the “Type A” barrel.
The Mk. 5 replaced the coaxial Besa with an M1919A4 .30 cal Browning MG and a second .30 cal MG mounted on the Commander’s cupola. The switch to the .30 cal MG was to meet NATO’s standardization policy.
The turret rear escape hatch was eliminated.
A fifth return roller was added on both sides to help prevent throwing a track.
By the late 1950’s most of the problems with the Centurion were eliminated except for its slow speed and the use of gasoline as the fuel.
In 1967 the Centurion was starting to be replaced by the Chieftain.
Specifications:
Type – Main Battle Tank (MBT)
Crew – 4 / Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver
In service – mainly from 1945 to 1990’s with some still in service
Dimensions
Length – 7.60 m (25 ft)
Width – 3.39 m (11 ft 1 in)
Height – 3.01 m (9 ft 10.5 in)
Weight – 51 long tons (52 metric tonnes
Suspension – Horstmann
Armour – 152 mm (6 in)
Armament
Primary – 105 mm L7 rifled gun
Secondary – co-axial .30 cal Browning machine gun
Performance
Engine – Rolls-Royce Meteor / 650 hp (485 kW)
Power/Weight – 13 hp/tonne
Range – 450 km (280 miles)
Speed – 34 km/h (21 mph)
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