The swan-song for the Centurion in combat service with the British Army was the deployment to the Gulf in 1991, though the BARV soldiered on until 2003! The AVREs themselves were retired not long after their return in 1992.
Planning for the retaking of Kuwait put the AVREs at the sharp point of the advance for the 1st (UK) Armd Div, with the plan being that their troops of 2 AVREs, 2 Chieftain Bridge-layers and 2 Combat Engineer Tractors would assault the deep defensive escarpments and installations the Iraqi army had built along the Kuwait-Saudi border, breaching them and allowing the forces to then flow through and engage.
In the end what had looked like formidable defences were easily surmounted, their defenders severely depleted by coallition air strikes and long-range fire along with rock-bottom morale. Instead the engineers cleared and protected the supply routes for the advance, in particular the dangerous task of moving destroyed and disabled AFVs that might still have been loaded with volatile ammunition or unexploded ordnance.
3 AVRE’s were destroyed on deployment, all due to the accidental explosions of their own ordnance after vehicle fires, thankfully without incurring any serious injuries in the massive explosions, images of which have been on .live recently (https://live.warthunder.com/post/929439/en/).
The eagle eyed among you might be comparing the actual image with the presented skin and noticing some fairly basic differences. Suffice to say, that I found it impossible to have writing work on the side skirts, so I’ve moved all markings up to the turret sides aside from a rework of the zap code. Anyone who would be interested in a further explanation, do ask in the comments below and I can bore you senseless!
With that aside I found much fun to be had with the AVRE, after giving it a substantial clean up before adding in some more model specific rush and muck, along with the discolouration on the exhausts that seems a universal feature of running Centurions. I also enjoyed reworking the turret stowage, so we have some 2nd series Desert DPM on the tarp, recoloured jerrycans and reworked water cans. I was also able to find a good source for the text on the oil can (I know, exciting times).
There was all manner of other bits in the texture map that I eagerly worked on before realising they weren’t actually on the model, so there would have been a variety of camo and plain tarps and a wooden box. Strikes me that the space used in the texture map for these items that aren’t actually present could be used for a fully editable side armour and baz-plates in a future re-work of the model….? That would be cool.
One other minor detail is that the extinguishers on the turret side are of the older pattern fitted to Cents, not those I’ve seen in reference images which are all of the later look. I’ve taken the liberty of putting the later look on the ones we have anyway.
Speaking of outdated stuff that is on the tank when I first saw the devblog I was highly confused to see a Browning 30 cal on the pintle mount, and not the familiar L7 GPMG. However, a quick check shut me up on that score, as is clearly seen in the refs they were rocking the L3 Browning in British service. I have however replaced the ammo box on this version with British army 7.62mm NATO marks, as it would not be running .30-06 which it shows as default.
I’m unsure of the vehicles reg no., as despite a generous number of source images none show the rear clearly. I have a skewed view of another vehicle from the Gulf (21A, name unclear), and the number is clearly dark against light, in a change to standard British Army practice, so I’ve followed that.
The New Vanguard painted version also showed the bull’s head 32 Armd Eng mark on the fume extractor, but it clearly isn’t there on the side you can see in the images, so I’ve left it on the other side only, and not on the dozer blade either, along with not following the other mistakes in marking placement in that image.
Thanks to @B0ris_the_blade for the awesome custom hangar used in the post image (https://live.warthunder.com/post/725418/en/)!
Primary sources: Centurion in Detail Part 2, de Boer, Koran & Prigent, WWP, 2014; Osprey New Vanguard, Centurion Universal Tank 1943-2003, Dunstan, Badrocke and Sarson 2003; https://www.flickr.com/photos/42342255@N03/4395357669
百夫铲的沙漠军刀行动第一英国装甲师，32工兵团，77装甲工兵连“简易小队”涂装，希望你喜欢
（最大战果是自己人hhhh）
涂装作者：
Planning for the retaking of Kuwait put the AVREs at the sharp point of the advance for the 1st (UK) Armd Div, with the plan being that their troops of 2 AVREs, 2 Chieftain Bridge-layers and 2 Combat Engineer Tractors would assault the deep defensive escarpments and installations the Iraqi army had built along the Kuwait-Saudi border, breaching them and allowing the forces to then flow through and engage.
In the end what had looked like formidable defences were easily surmounted, their defenders severely depleted by coallition air strikes and long-range fire along with rock-bottom morale. Instead the engineers cleared and protected the supply routes for the advance, in particular the dangerous task of moving destroyed and disabled AFVs that might still have been loaded with volatile ammunition or unexploded ordnance.
3 AVRE’s were destroyed on deployment, all due to the accidental explosions of their own ordnance after vehicle fires, thankfully without incurring any serious injuries in the massive explosions, images of which have been on .live recently (https://live.warthunder.com/post/929439/en/).
The eagle eyed among you might be comparing the actual image with the presented skin and noticing some fairly basic differences. Suffice to say, that I found it impossible to have writing work on the side skirts, so I’ve moved all markings up to the turret sides aside from a rework of the zap code. Anyone who would be interested in a further explanation, do ask in the comments below and I can bore you senseless!
With that aside I found much fun to be had with the AVRE, after giving it a substantial clean up before adding in some more model specific rush and muck, along with the discolouration on the exhausts that seems a universal feature of running Centurions. I also enjoyed reworking the turret stowage, so we have some 2nd series Desert DPM on the tarp, recoloured jerrycans and reworked water cans. I was also able to find a good source for the text on the oil can (I know, exciting times).
There was all manner of other bits in the texture map that I eagerly worked on before realising they weren’t actually on the model, so there would have been a variety of camo and plain tarps and a wooden box. Strikes me that the space used in the texture map for these items that aren’t actually present could be used for a fully editable side armour and baz-plates in a future re-work of the model….? That would be cool.
One other minor detail is that the extinguishers on the turret side are of the older pattern fitted to Cents, not those I’ve seen in reference images which are all of the later look. I’ve taken the liberty of putting the later look on the ones we have anyway.
Speaking of outdated stuff that is on the tank when I first saw the devblog I was highly confused to see a Browning 30 cal on the pintle mount, and not the familiar L7 GPMG. However, a quick check shut me up on that score, as is clearly seen in the refs they were rocking the L3 Browning in British service. I have however replaced the ammo box on this version with British army 7.62mm NATO marks, as it would not be running .30-06 which it shows as default.
I’m unsure of the vehicles reg no., as despite a generous number of source images none show the rear clearly. I have a skewed view of another vehicle from the Gulf (21A, name unclear), and the number is clearly dark against light, in a change to standard British Army practice, so I’ve followed that.
The New Vanguard painted version also showed the bull’s head 32 Armd Eng mark on the fume extractor, but it clearly isn’t there on the side you can see in the images, so I’ve left it on the other side only, and not on the dozer blade either, along with not following the other mistakes in marking placement in that image.
Thanks to @B0ris_the_blade for the awesome custom hangar used in the post image (https://live.warthunder.com/post/725418/en/)!
Primary sources: Centurion in Detail Part 2, de Boer, Koran & Prigent, WWP, 2014; Osprey New Vanguard, Centurion Universal Tank 1943-2003, Dunstan, Badrocke and Sarson 2003; https://www.flickr.com/photos/42342255@N03/4395357669
百夫铲的沙漠军刀行动第一英国装甲师，32工兵团，77装甲工兵连“简易小队”涂装，希望你喜欢
（最大战果是自己人hhhh）
涂装作者：
