The AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) based on the Churchill main battle tanks already proved their worth in the Second World War. These were used as a mobile platform for a variety of engineer-specific purposes.
In the early 1950s, a replacement for the now obsolete Churchill chassis was urgently needed. As the Centurion Mk.5 was introduced into the British Army as a main battle tank at this time, it made sense to develop a new engineer tank on this chassis.
In contrast to the main battle tanks, a large calibre gun was fitted to destroy obstacles, a clearing shovel to clear obstacles and a fascine carrier (fascines are large bundles of plastic tubes used to fill in trenches - these bundles are strong enough to carry even heavy tanks). In addition, the vehicles received a large stowage basket on the turret to provide more stowage space for the engineer ordnance.
The first Centurion AVREs were delivered to the Royal Engineers in 1963.
They were put into service with the three Armoured Engineer Squadrons of the 32nd Assault Engineer Regiment.
No export customer was found, so that only the British Army used the Centurion AVRE.
They were used in exercises in Great Britain, Germany and also at BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) in Canada.
It was the only tracked armoured vehicle used in "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s and later in the First Gulf War in 1991.
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Plastic model kit to build a British Centutrion AVRE
unbuilt / unpainted
In the early 1950s, a replacement for the now obsolete Churchill chassis was urgently needed. As the Centurion Mk.5 was introduced into the British Army as a main battle tank at this time, it made sense to develop a new engineer tank on this chassis.
In contrast to the main battle tanks, a large calibre gun was fitted to destroy obstacles, a clearing shovel to clear obstacles and a fascine carrier (fascines are large bundles of plastic tubes used to fill in trenches - these bundles are strong enough to carry even heavy tanks). In addition, the vehicles received a large stowage basket on the turret to provide more stowage space for the engineer ordnance.
The first Centurion AVREs were delivered to the Royal Engineers in 1963.
They were put into service with the three Armoured Engineer Squadrons of the 32nd Assault Engineer Regiment.
No export customer was found, so that only the British Army used the Centurion AVRE.
They were used in exercises in Great Britain, Germany and also at BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) in Canada.
It was the only tracked armoured vehicle used in "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s and later in the First Gulf War in 1991.
.
Plastic model kit to build a British Centutrion AVRE
- All relevant Centurion AVRE parts.
- Vinyl hush puppy tracks
- Injection moulded gun port cover.
- Modified L9A1 with positionable gun breech block.
- New High Explosive Squash Head (HESH) projectiles.
- Photo-etched parts.
- Rotatable 165 mm gun barrel made of metal.
- Decals for 4 different vehicles included
unbuilt / unpainted
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