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
where 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.



Specification Centurion MK. III MBT

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)
Hobby Master 1/72 Ground Power Series
HG3509
British Centurion Tank Mk.III
C Sqn., 1st Royal Tank Regiment,
Commonwealth Div., Korea 1953
Authentic Detailing
Pre-Painted by professionals
Accurate paint colors
Markings Tampo (pad) applied
Fully Assembled
Die-Cast Model
True to Scale (1:72)
Turret turns and main gun elevates
Metal turret and main gun
Realistic tracks
If you arrived at this page using a
search engine or a link from another
site please click on the home button
once during your visit so my visitor
counter will add your visit.
Thank you.
HOBBY  MASTER  COLLECTOR