Everyone knows about the legendary Centurion. The wondrous British tank that may not have been the best armed, armored, or mobile, but was extremely decent at all these. It was so extremely decent, that everyone wanted one, being sold to many countries including Sweden, South Africa, and Israel!
But this is not that Centurion. This is the one that was built to fight Panzer VI Tigers. The forgotten Mk.1.
The biggest differences between the Mk.1 and the much more famous Mk.3+ are the lack of gun stabilizer, the unique turret face, and the old-but-reliable 17 Pounder cannon. This made the Centurion Mk.1 well built for fighting the Panzers of Germany, but outclassed against the newer Soviet tanks like the early T-54 and IS-3. And thus the Mk.1 quickly faded into the shadows of obscure production tanks that were never used in combat.
Except for the legendary, unmatched, tank strategy anime that is Girls und Panzer! Being featured in Girls und Panzer: Der Film and Das Finale, it is used by the legend Alice Shimada on both the All-Stars University team and the St. Gloriana Girls Academy high school team.
This version of the Centurion Mk.1 is easily recognizable because of it's extremely clean appearance, without any major marks or external field modifications, and the iconic St. Gloriana crest on the turret sides.
Moving on to the model itself, AFC Club made it very detailed, with fully functional suspension and wheel. I, being highly mediocre, struggled with detail that couldn't fit into my gen z brain.
The decals are custom printed and the paint was supposed to look boring on purpose, as the version seen on TV is entirely monochrome and empty except for the crests. I also tried making it look much more cell shaded than other tanks I've made by applying lighter paint on the edges of panels and adding a gloss coat overall.
I hope that you learned something new!
