Centurions: Fist of the Empire

Shot Kal with the box:

At some point Shot Kals received the new searchlight and mount, post YKW:

but most of the times the “new” equipment was kept a secret and under blankets, literally:

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Great images Nikos, and its pretty clear the Amusing Hobby Shot Alef should really be classed as well after the VoT & YKW. And now I am thinking I should of done the inner headlights as IR ones … damn it !

The easiest fix ever: just paint them glossy black. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I was going to do that tonight when I get off duty lol :+1:

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Some vehicles had the soviet made Luna searchlight:

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Some final details remaining before priming.

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Really looking the part Nikos. You’ve done a great job so far… Very very nice work :+1:

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I got some work done today too!



Overall wash with AK Brown for German Dark Yellow.

Unfortunately I’ve had some issues with my clear coat in places. I don’t know what happened or why as it’s a combination I’ve been using for some time. I can only guess that I may have not sprayed it evenly enough as it’s all on one side of the model. :man_shrugging:

Still happy with the overall look. Just need to add the spare track to the bustle and the commanders MG. Maybe some dust.

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It’s looking very good Don, that cam scheme stands out for sure. You have done a great job with it :+1::+1:

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Princess Leia has been scalped!

Gotta love the Israeli ‘Cinnamon Buns’…


image

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Love it!!! The camo makes it a unique showpiece. :+1: :+1:

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The one and only time we painted our tanks something cool.

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IR lights done… At least this went ok tonight lol…

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Can someone please explain the wirecable configuration on British Centurions? The IDF used the same pattern. Is it a double run with one length split in half and joined together or the joints in the middle keep both runs together?

This is a photo from Eureka XXL site, it shows it clearly but why would the cables be set up like that?

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Not sure on Cents but from experience of MBT recovery, the top 2 cable set up make no sense and would not be safe as they have to many weak/fracture points where the cables can break /snap or separate - as far as I know each recovery cable were 2 straight cables which connected in the end sections (eyelets) with no joins along the length of the cables. The only reason I can see for having 2 cables opposed to one, is for a redundancy back up in case one breaks while recovering a vehicle. Just to note, that when you are using a recovery cable to pull out a tank, once the slack it taken up and the cables are fully taught, if one snaps and someone is stupid enough to be stood to close, the cable will happily cut you in 2 without any issue. Hence all crew personnel on the stuck and recovery tank should be closed down and the recovery driver guided by someone outside from a safe distance of at least 2 cable lengths away.
As for the 2 cables in the bottom of the image, they are simple recovery cable connectors if you are going to carry out a double cable recovery or a long pull. HTH

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Thanks for the feedack @Johnnych01

I think I figured it out. It is not a double cable but a single cable double run. The part in the middle is where the cable ends meet.

At the “ends” the cable is making a loop, wraps around a teardrop eyelet, so the only weak point is the middle where the cable ends are attached, contrary to single length cables where there are two weak spots, where the cable mates with the endlink. :nerd_face: :nerd_face: :face_with_monocle: :thinking: :thinking:

Got it in one! (Saves me typing the explanation…)

If its a single cable on a double run, that makes sense of the top set of cables in that image. Would be nice if an image of a real 1 to 1 cable can be found as in my mind and having used cables for recovery, it still seems to be a weaker than needed set up as the break point will now be guaranteed to be in the center and you could have a whiplash effectively double the length.
I just tried to find some images of the Cent recovery cables fitted, and it looks like that the bottom 2 cables that are connected are in fact just 2 shorter cables connected into one which are then joined to another short one.


Again, not sure if that is one cable on a double loop or 2 cables per section ??
Maybe Ossie is the man to ask as he was on them ?

Cables are manufactured in “straight” lengths, not loops, and then cut to the wanted size.
Two cables can be placed next to each other and joined at the ends.
A single cable can be bent over an eyelet and spliced to itself
or
taken all the way back to its own starting point and joined to itself.
The difference in strength between a cable looped around an eyelet and clamped to its own starting point, two parallell cables clamped together at both ends and a cable looped around two eyelets and joined to its own starting point with two clamps depends on the strength of the clamps.
The geometry is basically the same so it depends on the diameter of the eyelets (how tight the bend is) and the friction in those clamps (welding seems dangerous since it could change the tensile strength of the wires in the cable).
If the ends get pulled out of an end clamp there will be two cable ends whipping around.
If the ends get pulled out of the central clamps (the Erureka cables in the top image) there will be two, albeit shoter, cable ends whipping around. If this joint breaks the other side of the doubled cable will suddenly be exposed to the full pulling force adding one or possibly two cable ends whipping around.
The key in all this, if the cables as such are equal, is the relative strength of the clamping devices.
They hold it all together …

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@Michael_Orsbourn or anyone else know if the Cents were particularly prone to exhaust staining on the rear fenders? I’ve got like 400 reference photos and not a single one shows a good angle of the back end of an operational vehicle.