The Centaur seems to have been a relatively unknown British tank, especially compared to the better known Cromwell, despite the Centaur being a Cromwell with a different engine. The Mk IV Centaur armed with a 95mm Howitzer was the only version to have seen combat, being used during the Normandy landings to tackle pillboxes on the beach. So it’s nice to see this tank available in plastic kit form.
This comes in the usual Tamiya tray and lid type box and consists of six sprues and the hull tub all moulded in dark olive green, a small clear sprue, and the two vinyl track lengths. The mouldings are the typical Tamiya quality which is to say very good with no flash, minimal clean up of mould seams and nice clean, sharp detail. The instructions are clear and easy to follow making assembly very easy.
The turret unusually is made up of a main turret moulding to which side panels are added to give the correct look of large bolted on plates. The 95mm howitzer comes as two moulded halves with a seperate muzzle brake and also has a basic breech which can be seen through the top hatches, both of which can be positioned open or closed as desired.
The hull is a single moulding so there is some degree of simplification of the smaller details or, as is the case with the headlight guards, a little heavier than they really should be. Details such as the tools, stowage bins, rear guards with the steps, and the tow shackles are still all separate parts and the tow cable is provided as the eyelets plus a length of nylon string to use as the cable. A section of flexible mesh is also provided to use as the mesh screen of the engine cover on the rear of the engine deck.
The suspension arms are separate parts and again the hull tub has an add on side panel on each side. Each roadwheel is made up of two halves with a polycap and a hub while the sprockets are made up of four parts plus a poly cap each. The tracks are the usual Tamiya single length vinyl “rubber band” style.
The kit comes with two figures, a commander wearing tanker overalls and loader wearing a long leather jerkin. Both are wearing headsets. The loader suffers from a common Tamiya ailment in that he is 47mm tall which scales out at 164cm or 5’5″ while the commander who comes from the original Cromwell kit is a healthier 50mm or 175cm/5’9″. Other than that the mouldings are good.
The clear sprue is for some extra parts which are a very nice little addition as it includes wine bottles and googles for use wherever you like.
Decals and markings are provided for two vehicles – RMASG 1st Armoured Support Regiment, 2nd Battert, H Troop ( Normandy ) and RMASG 5th Independent Battery ( Normandy ). As these vehicles were intended to be fired from their landing ships as they came in they were given special calibration markings on the turret in degrees so that spotters on the beach could help line them up, these markings are also included with the decals.
This is actually a great little kit of a seldom seen tank that would make a terrific Normandy landing diorama rather than the endless DD Sherman dioramas. Certainly as with all Tamiya kits it could be improved with after market detail sets and better tracks but even as it is this makes up into a very nice kit.
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