For use with Centurion Mk.7 sets from SMM and AFV Club Centurion base kit
Suggested Scorpion Miniature Models sets for Centurion Mk.7 hull
SMM3541C Centurion Late Skirts or SMM3541D Centurion Mid Skirts/SMM3552F Extended Rear Hull package with idlers, etc./SMM3552K 127 mm Glacis Applique/SMM3552L Engine Deck Pagoda/ SMM3552V Exhaust Fishtails/SMM3552Z Single brushguards and headlights

By the early 1960s, Centurion had been in service around the world for over ten years. It had already proved to be a reliable vehicle, highly adaptable, and well-liked by its crews.
Chieftain started development in the late 1950s, with British Army service beginning in 1967. Chieftain featured a ‘mantletless’ turret in which the gun extended through a slot in the turret face. With the Centurion proving to be a great export success, it was hoped that Chieftain would follow suit. However, it proved too expensive. Hearsay suggests that the Centurion Mantletless Turret was developed alongside Chieftain as a means of creating a method for poorer countries to upgrade their Centurion fleets – a more affordable route than buying the newer tank.
It is believed that only three turrets were produced. One was fitted with a Type B 20-pounder, a second with the 105 mm L7 (both of which were mounted on Mk.7 Centurion chassis) and a third turret was used for ‘defensive firing trials’ at Kirkcudbright in December 1957. The FVRDE (Fighting Vehicle Research and Development Establishment) report stated (truncated version here): “The prototype turret, to drawing FV267252 submitted for test, was cast in armour steel by Messrs P.H. Lloyd, with the fitting of a mock-up mounting and dummy gun by Leyland Motors Ltd. The mock-up cradle was carried on correct pattern trunnions housed in recesses machined inside the turret walls. Bullet splash guards were fitted as for a service mounting. A .30 Browning MG was installed in the co-axial mounting, linked to the main armament.”
This set has parts for the two different guns (and other modifications) and creates a very different appearance to the standard Centurion. The Centurion ‘Action X’ was an FVRDE project featuring the CMT design. Though this adapted Centurion may appear similar to the FV4202 ‘40-ton Centurion’, they have nothing in common.
 
The instructions here use a Mk.7 hull built for earlier SMM Centurion sets. Suggested SMM sets are noted on page 1. The SMM Mk.7 build has differences to the two prototype hulls. The only known photos of the original vehicles are on page 4. I leave it up to the modeller to either match the actual prototypes – or envisage the vehicle as it may have looked had it seen service.