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Details looking really sharp.

I have actually listed some Centurion bits for sale that may help a build.

The idf cans are available from my friend Colin. Lee and I both used them on our builds.

Estnische wrote: ↑Sat Sep 23, 2023 5:05 am

I hope you will model the loader’s periscope. The TongDe one is crude.

Yeah, i was looking at it and wondering where TONGDE was going with this. After a quick study, we can see it is vaguely inspired by the real thing. We can identify some hinge attempts and the extended top cover shapes with the the two lines on top, but facing backward... I was keeping it for later but this is a good time to take care of it.

First task is to remove it, it's not easy because the plastic is thick and needs to be carved out. I recommend doing this way earlier in the build in order to prevent damage to the surrounding details.


We can see that under the cover is a regular type periscope.


Looking at my 1/35 AFV Club Centurion, i can see that the periscope part is molded in clear and very small, and looks too short. This is probably where TONGDE got confused if they used the AFV Club model for requirements. And its easy to position this part facing backward unless you know what you are doing.


Gathering of some plastic parts for the creation of the periscope after a good study of the example in the WWP book. The main body will be a 10mm tube and some matching roundels.


I find these roundel sets to be extremely useful, and very cheap. Highly recommended for scratch builders.


Starting with the 10mm tube section over two roundels of the same size for thickness.


Cutting the front at an approximative location and giving the base a little slope forward with a nail file.


Cutting the back, a little bit less. Everything is eyeballed from pictures.


And giving the rear a back plate.


Continuing on following post

Periscope in the middle


An overlayed 11mm tube for the side top part, later cut and thinned.


Top cover


back hinge and some cover detailing.


And here we have a 1/16 Centurion loader's periscope, the glue is not dry yet and the part still requires some clean up and dusting...

After some dry fitting, the base is made a bit deeper, and a bracket seen on pictures, purpose unknown, is added at the rear on top of the rim, with two bolt heads.


Loader's periscope is installed. Seems to me i have to trim the cover to make it look less thick from up front. Such discovery, not obvious during the heat of creation, is part of the post deployment activities...


Yeah, the cover definitely looks too thick from the front. I see it on pictures for the first time as I write this. I should have picked it up earlier.

Continuing on following post.

The close up pictures makes it look bigger, but its really small.


The turret as it stands today. For a scratch built attempt of a couple of hours, i am happy with the result.

Regards, Louis

Hell of a job that periscope cover!
Its that level of research and detail completion that makes the Maestro

Thank you everyone,


The 1/35 AA kit is having a M2 Browning spare barrel installed on the left upper side of the turret. The mount seems suspicious as i do not understand how it would fit and the barrel stay in place.


Looking at a few Sho't Meteor, there is definitely something there on some of them, but not all. These are the only 2 pictures i could find that does not show only some shadows from far away, so i guess this is good enough.


The original Tamiya M2 barrel was kept and cleaned up for use as a spare barrel.


I recreated what i saw on pictures although the placement is approximative. There are two mounts with a stop on both ends.


While looking at pictures, i also noticed that some Sho't Meteor, not all of them, have a hook on the front centre of the turret.


Why not... it’s a Heng Long Sherman hook that was reshaped for the Centurion, with a large drop of glue at the bottom to simulate the heavy welding.

Ok, now i am definitely putting the turret aside while it is having a romantic encounter with my wife's hobby, the daily bouquet of flowers from her garden, while i move to the chassis. Take a guess as to which one is the most beautiful.


Looking at a dry fit of the AA rear hull extension for the late sho't Meteor on the AFV Club chassis.


The TONGDE model has similar and familiar features, which will make this easy.


Continuing on the following post.

From what i can determine, the IDF late sho’t Meteor hull extension for the internal 100 gal fuel tank is the same as on the Sho't Kal. However, be aware that this hull extension is not the same as for the British Centurion Mk 7 and later. The two types of hull extensions should not be confused.


I like to think that my Sho't Kal has a nice butt. It will get new Centurion metal tracks and sprocket soon, and a complete electronic overhaul too. The late Sho't Meteor back plate will be similar but with a different and simpler arrangement.


Starting the conversion of the TONGDE model, the rim at the bottom has to go.


And made flat with the Dremel.


Side extensions have been calculated and prepared in 3mm thick plasticard. I have determined that simply following the AA extension that is mated to the AFV Club chassis without alterations will lead to problems. To make this right, the hull sides need to be extended by 3mm.


The extension parts are glued and they follow the angles of the hull, then sanded smooth.


The spacing with the end of the mud guard and the side armor plate is where i want it to be.


The bottom plate is made of 1.5mm plasticard. It is important to respect the thickness of the armor as best as possible because the shape of the extension shows it on the edges.


Rear plate made of 2mm plasticard is added, you can visualize the extension compared to the previous size of the chassis. Everything inside is left as is, no need to remove anything that would weaken the chassis.


Continuing on following post

The basic shapes is done, edges are trimmed, the hull extension is ready for detailing.


The regular back plate attached to the upper hull is cut. The upper hull slides in and fits perfectly with the new extension.


Next step is to detail the back plate and the engine deck.


Regards, Louis

As far as the spare barrel mount is concerned, it looks like there may be a strap loop positioned in the middle of mount area. I know the M41 Bulldog uses a similar mount and they use a loop welded to the turret and a strap to secure the spare barrel.

Thank you Tankme,


Continuing with the chassis and upper hull.



The AA kit is having the 5 additional louvers on the engine deck while retaining the grill at the back. This presence of that grill and the attachment point for tow cables is questionable on a late Sho't Meteor, photographic evidences show a different arrangement. But it could be another variant i have not seen.


On the picture below of a late Sho't Meteor with extended hull, we can see the following items of interest.

1- there is clearly a plate on top of the extension, we see the edge of that plate running along the rear with attachment points on the back plate below, very similar to a Sho't Kal.
2- The Tank infantry phone on the left is positioned higher and there is no central tow cable attachment point.
3- Tail lights
4- Some unknown device is attached, hard to tell what it is.
5- Notice the horizontall exhaust pipe.


Another late Sho't Meteor with extended hull, showing the top plate with its bolted attachment point. Also of interest is the Vertical enhaust pipe and the mounted search light, a rare occurence. The is a rectangular plate in the middle of the rear plate, not seen elsewhere so far.


And the graph i found on the web is showing the 5 additional louvers on the engine deck and the plate at the back, with a fuel cap placed in the middle. It makes sense considering that there is a fuel tank below.

With these evidences, my late Sho't Meteor will feature the top plate at the back instead of the grill.


The rear plate of the vehicle received its larger details, including the tank infantry phone. More fragile items will be added later.


Now, the upper hull. The more complex bars on the top around the engine deck have been simplified by TONGDE. Actually, they totally botched it and the result is terribly ugly. They have molded a thick bar without any details. The side bars are too short, and wrongly positioned, they should be a bit further outside and not sitting on the edges of the engine plates... and the bar at the back is at least 10mm placed too much forward. The whole thing needs to be removed and replaced for an accurate model.


The side bars should look like this, as seen on Prime Portal. There is a similar situation with the metal bar on the back.


Continuing on following post