A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: RESIN SCALES CENTURION AX

Most pleasing of all was the chance to handpaint much of the camouflage, my normal reliance on airbrushed colours applied with the aid of masks, being replaced with acrylic paints applied with kolinsky sable paintbrushes.

10th March 2025

With some time off over the next ten days, today has been a period of housekeeping, tidying the studio and taking the final shots of my latest build, the Resin Scales 1/35 centurion AX.

That being so, this update is really a showcase of the completed model and my thoughts on it. 

Though I’ve used a lot of 3D printed parts over the last few years, this was only the second full kit that I have had the chance to build, the first being the Aerocraft 1/72 Project 75 that I built for MAI last year. Having already completed an aircraft, I was keen to see how an armoured vehicle would look using this cutting-edge technology and how once built, the painting would be affected by the kit’s printing, and any layer lines that might be present.

The kit itself was in places very easy to build; in others, not so much. Though the hull and turret assembled easily, the running gear and tracks proved frustrating to complete, the peg and socket joints for the wheel being to similar in size to allow frictionless joints to be created with ease. All of the mounting holes on the back of each wheel had to be had to be reamed out, similar work being needed to allow the castellated joints between the two track lengths to slide together accurately. None of this was difficult, just surprising given the complexity of the rest of the kit and how well other parts dropped into place.

Detail though is sensational. The printing of the turret and hull as two large, hollow parts is impressive enough the detail on both being extremely comprehensive, but it is the turret bask that really catches the eye. This single-part print is astonishingly delicate with finely rendered frames and superb mesh, all present and correct. The part encapsulates what is possible using this method of manufacture, the delicacy of the part being very difficult to create using any other medium.

Assembled, the model was really more of a painting exercise. As I wanted to create another machine from the War Thunder universe, I had plenty of scope to create a fantasy finish with lots of weathering on show.

As you can see, I rather enjoyed the process, creating what I think might be the most rounded finish that I’ve applied to a model in years. Most pleasing of all was the chance to handpaint much of the camouflage, my normal reliance on airbrushed colours applied with the aid of masks, being replaced with acrylic paints applied with kolinsky sable paintbrushes. Having now seen how this works in action and how it can be done so quickly and with little evidence of brush strokes, I will won’t be too reticent to use these ideas as part of future projects.

So this then is my completed Centurion. A full article on this model will appear in a future issue of Tamiya Model Magazine International where you will find plenty of information on the construction of the kit, those scratchbuilt additions and how I painted and weathered it, as you see here. 

See you tomorrow.

• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: WHY HAVE I NEVER BUILT A LIGHTNING?
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A TRIP TO BRISTOL…
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A RELAXING DAY…
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: HOW MANY MORE KITS DO I HAVE, HALF STARTED?!
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: 2025 ALL WRAPPED UP!

1. 

   Spenser Lucky to escape with 1-1 with the saints. Still very good reading your daily comments and the last book…

2. 

   Wow! I built a dozen back around 1980. Entered them as a collection at the IPMS USA Nationals. Didn’t win…

3. 

   Yes, stop procrastinating……build a Lightning🤣

4. 

   Who knows, you might even consider publishing another bookazine on building the BAC Lightning as well?

5. 

   I am glad that the man was talked down. It’s definitely hard to see without knowing the outcome, until later.…