November 2011 - Sea Hawk & Centurion

Selected WW2 70th Anniversaries this month:

Between 2009 and 2015, I will be pursuing a general modelling theme that marks selected 70th Anniversaries from WW2.

13 Nov 1941 - HMS ARK ROYAL delivers more Hurricanes to Malta, but as she returns to the east she is torpedoed by U-81. Despite heroic efforts to save her, early next morning she capsizes and sinks within sight of Gibraltar.

18 Nov - The Eight Army crosses back into Libya (Operation Crusader) and engages with Rommel's Panzer Group Africa. By December, they have brought temporary relief to the forces trapped in Tobruk.

26 Nov - A large Imperial Japanese Navy battlegroup, including 6 aircraft carriers, puts to sea and heads toward the Hawaiian islands.

27 Nov - German tanks reach the outskirts of Moscow.

HMS ARK ROYAL

IWM Photo - Beadell, S J (Lt) Royal Navy official photographer

The German Navy seem to be very keen on decorating their Lynx aircraft. MFG-3 at Nordholtz Air Base operate two variants of the Lynx Mk88, in the ASW and ASUW roles. Unlike the RN Lynx, the German aircraft have a more modern 360 degree nose radar, can carry a dipping sonar, and some are equipped with an nose PID.

As noted last month, this year marks the 40th Anniversary of the first flight of a Lynx helicopter. After completting my Black Cats Lynx, it seemed a shame to discard the excellent "Tiger Meet" decals provided by HobbyBoss.

I have in fact used a set of HobbyBoss cabin doors on this Airfix Lynx, to ensure that the decals would fit, and I have also replaced the oversize Airfix top door rails with a strip of plastic. I also used the HobbyBoss weapons pylons and undercarriage stubs. Wire engine intakes are Milliput Putty.

Decals fitted well, although I panicked a bit when they started to crease around the tail boom/fuselage joint. Fortunately they shrank back as they dried.

Centurion Mk.5 Universal Tank
6 Royal Tank Regiment, Bur Said, Suez 1956
in support of 3 Commando Bgde Royal Marines.

The Centurion is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful tank designs ever, combining the hard won experience of WW2 to produce the first ever true Main Battle Tank, a classic design that saw first-line service from 1945 until the end of the 20th Century, with converted Israeli Centrurions deployed as recently as 2006 in Lebanon.

Although designed originally for the central european front, Centurions saw their first combat during the Korean War, but it was in the desert that the Centurion earned its enduring reputation. In the hands of the Israeli Army, its devastatingly lethal perfomance against the Egyptians, Jordanians (who also operated the Centurion) and Syrians has become legend, but Centurions also saw combat with the British Army in Aden and Suez, the Australians in Vietnam, South Africans in Angola and with the Indian Army against Pakistan.

Originally powered by a Rolls Royce Meteor petrol engine (a derivative of the Merlin), Israel modified its remaining Centurion based vehicles to take a modern diesel powerplant.

Centurion Tanks of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment were landed from Tank Landing Ships at Port Said in November 1956, during the Anglo-French occupation of the Suez canal, Operation Musketeer. Marked with a white recognition "H" on their turret (for Operation Hamilcar, the orignal code-name for the invasion), the tanks were hurredly and rather crudely camouflaged in desert sand.

This is one of the earliest Airfix AFV kits (1964) and is slightly lacking in detail. It is also quite fiddly to build, with poorly supported sloping hull sides that are difficult to assemble. That said, a little care and basic add-on detail works wonders.

This one came in a type 4 box, without transfers. Determined to do it in desert colours, I started with an Aden scheme, but eventually settled on Suez. To bring the kit to life, I added the mantlet canvas cover, deeper front mud/sand guards, radio antennae, plus some upper deck stowages.

The kit represents a Mk.8 from the early 1960s, so to convert it back to a Mk.5, I also shortened the barrel, removing the muzzle brake/counterweight. Paint is Humbrol enamel, weathered with water thinned Games Workshop acrylic washes.