HAYA Centurion Mk3. First Impressions.

[zooma]

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I am just finishing adding the small parts from the various sprues to my HAYA Centurion.

This has taken a lot longer than it should as there are no references to some of the parts or any diagrams to show where they all should fit.

There are no axles to fit the 4 parts D1 - D4 (heavy duty hooks).

One pair of these heavy duty hooks swings on the two front brackets (no part number as these come already fitted) and the other pair fits on the two back brackets (part K1 and K2) of the tank - one on each side. There are no axle moulding in my kit but the drawing of the sprue TK-16103 shows parts R1 - R4. These are missing from my sprue, but they look very much like they could be the 4 axles that I am looking for?

I have dug-out some 2.5mm x 10mm stainless steels cap-head screws from my model engineering stock and with a 2.5mm stainless steel washer they will do the job, but they do not look especially scale-like so I have ordered some button head replacements as they will be a lot less visible.

The cap head screws hold the heavy duty hooks on OK, but they are only being used as nothing was supplied with the tank to do the job. The button head screws have not arrived yet, but they will look a lot neater, but probably not be as good as the correct moulded parts - although never having seen them, I don't know how much better they would be.

My next job will be to get some paint on the tank to cover all the "lumo green" plastic that the plastic parts have been moulded in. I am experimenting with a base coat to try to imitate the rust on the top areas of the exhaust. Painting has never been something that I am any good at, so I will try out some ideas and see if I can get any better at it,

[zooma]

I have removed the 5 moulded parts from the sprue that make up the barrel clamp/cradle support.

The drawing shows/suggests a pair of tiny screws and a fine axle that joins them together (I think) - but no fixings come for this assembly with the tank.

I can probably make something from some brass wire to make these 3 fixings - but has anyone else found a better way to assemble this barrel clamp?

[zooma]

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There is a small square armoured (?) shroud on either side of the glacis plate and each one has a hole in it that suggests that something should fit in this hole.

Nothing is shown on the drawings that are in the instruction manual, but the line drawings of the tank shows that something should be sticking out of them (small light/sensor maybe?).

The factory built fit of this part to the front mudguard is not very good and has gaps showing (as can be seen). I will check and find out how this part is fixed to see if I can remove it and fit it properly with no gaps showing - and if not, I will revert to a tube of GreenStuff or other suitable plastic filler. I hate to see gaps like this that shouldn't be there!

[ongbenghui]

IMG_4250.jpegThere is a small square armoured (?) shroud on either side of the glacis plate and each one has a hole in it that suggests that something should fit in this hole.

Nothing is shown on the drawings that are in the instruction manual, but the line drawings of the tank shows that something should be sticking out of them (small light/sensor maybe?).

It is a handle bar, check out on your kit.

Screenshot 2024-08-13 134306.png (24.7 KiB) Viewed 622 times

[zooma]

Thanks ongbenghui - I see these two "T handles" on a sprue will get them fitted now.

They are not shown in the building manual that comes with the ARTR HAYA Centurion, but (I now know!) that HAYA put their assembly instruction videos "online" for the kit version of their Centurion tank and (I guess) is why they don't offer too much detail about where any of the parts that are on the included sprue's should fit.

Reference to the two online building videos has helped to find a home for the small parts that come with the assembled ARTR HAYA Centurion.........and now that I have found the videos I have most of the answers.

Bob.

[Guido Henn]

Hello,

please have a look here: http://data3.primeportal.net/tanks/mark ... of_71.jpg


with regards,Guido

[zooma]

Hello,

please have a look here: http://data3.primeportal.net/tanks/mark ... of_71.jpg


with regards,Guido

Thanks Guido - that's a very informative picture - nice close details.

It's the handle for the Fire Extinguisher!

Bob.

[zooma]

Although I am still working on finishing my HAYA Centurion, it was a nice sunny day today, so I gave it another run outside to re-check my initial driving impressions .

Firstly the tank is not at all fast, and when I tried to drive it on my recently cut lawn it did not have enough power to run (!) and it had to be returned to the ash felt driveway and smooth paths to be able to drive it. By comparison my Heng Long tanks have a little more power, and although they are not very fast, they are all a little quicker and have more power than my HAYA Centurion. By comparison , they all have considerably less power than my TAMIYA Leopard 2A6 tanks that have no problem at all running on my lawns and they are also a little faster too. Speed is not important, but there is a noticeable difference that is easy to see.

This shortage of power may also be the reason why the tank is so reluctant to steer when running at a (slightly) faster speed, whereas the steering is very sharp at very low speed.

When running on the wooden floor in our club hall my HAYA Centurion runs OK, but is still very slow and does not steer very well once it is moving, but has instant (spin turn!) when stationery or hardly moving!

I have checked that the gearboxes and tracks turn easily so there is no problem with any mechanical resistance and I also tested various different fully charged batteries with no difference to the lack of power so I think it can only be the motors that do not have enough power?

It could be that I need to upgrade with a pair of more powerful motors so that I can run the tank on any surface other than those that are smooth and flat........it would also be nice to be able to run it on a well cut dry lawn or ....an undulating surface ....

I would like to hear from other owners of the HAYA Centurion to find out if this is lack of power and performance is "normal", or if my example just happens to have a pair of very weak motors.

[zooma]

As previously mentioned, the excellent Rolls Royce engine sound is far too quiet and cannot be heard at all when the tank is running.

I have used the manual adjustment knob to turn the sound up to maximum, but it is still very quiet - even when being tested on the bench inside my small workshop (shed).

All of my other tanks have a higher volume than my HAYA Centurion, so I am beginning to wonder if the Clark board in my tank is not working as well as it should?

My reason for thinking this is that the tank has no power and no decent sound volume. Comparing this with my Heng Long tanks (that use the same gearboxes and motors) they all run better and have enough power to run on my lawns or on undulating surfaces.

My HAYA Centurion is my favourite tank, but its performance is very disappointing.

[zooma]

The smoking barrel combined with the muzzle flash is a feature that I really like on my HAYA Chieftain and Centurion tanks, however this has stopped working on my Centurion - even though I have not really had a chance to enjoy using it yet.

It did work the first time I switched it on - but it is not working now.

On the HAYA Centurion, there is a small red on/off switch (hidden under a hatch on the turret) that has to be switched on to activate the barrel smoke, and it is important to turn this off after each run as the heater will overheat if it is not switched off. (I also always disconnect the battery and remove it from the tank when I have finished running it) so I am fully aware of this and made sure that after my first run I made sure that it was switched off.

During my short test run today I switched on the barrel smoker but it did not work, but I noticed smoke was coming from inside the tank!

When I checked inside, the filler cover had been blown-off. When I picked it up it was very hot and limp and is now a loose fit and the reason for this failure is that the blower has stopped working so the heater is making the smoke and hot smoke was forcing the (limp) filler cap off of the filler pipe allowing the smoke to fill the inside of the hull, but the blower was not pushing the smoke out of the tube that runs inside the barrel.

The barrel tube was checked to make sure that it had no blockages but I noticed that the fan/blower did not work when the gun was fired.

I need a new filler cap as the original one became too hot and has stretched so it is no longer a tight fit and just falls off, and it looks like I may need a new fan/blower as well as the one in the tank has stopped working.

The barrel flash and gun sound is still working perfectly.

I will contact Andrew to see if he will send me a replacement filler cap and to ask if there s anything else that I can check before requesting a replacement fan/blower motor.

UPDATE:- The right hand dial on the TX controls the main gun barrel smoke - turning this dial switched the smoke back on again!