01. HobbyBoss IDF Nagmachon (Doghouse I).

Part of an ongoing series of repurposing the former Centurion Shot Tank which is no longer in frontline service with the IDF.
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This build is part of an ongoing series to show all the variants on the Centurion chassis and will appear on this site over the coming months.

02. My main source of reference

03. Not too much needed to cover here with the main Hull construction.

I shall not go into detail over the Hull as this has been covered previously during the IDF Nagmachon Heavy APC build on a previous page.

​This comprises just 4 parts and assembles very quickly.

04. First impressions of the Doghouse are that is a nice clean fit to the substructure. The front plate has been added

05. The view from the rear and I have fitted the extra front and rear sections. The Doghouse has not as yet been glue into place

06. These are the 4 MG housings which fit the 4 corners of the Doghouse and needed extra holes for the stand-off panels

07. Based on my previous experiences I have glued the substructure into position to ensure a rigid framework

08. Just test-fitting the Doghouse to see exactly how huge this beast really is. The Doghouse will be the hardest and most fragile element

09. The Drivers pod is attached and most of the reactive panels added to the substructure

10. The Hull panels are now added and again the Doghouse is test-fitted (this will occur regularly)

11. All the reactive armour panels are attached along with the drivers hatch

12. The rear exhausts, stowage cage, steps and rear boxes are now attached

13. Doghouse construction with the MG panels attached - I've left the guns off until painted

14. The rear section of the Doghouse with some extra fittings

15. I decided to try a different approach and have added the track guards BEFORE the track

16. An imposing view of the whole build so-far and ........ I like it!

17. Air Filters and rear stowage bins assembled and installed

18. Trying to get as much built in one-piece as possible

19. Heavy side armour mounting frame fitted and Smoke Discharger brackets fitted

20. Same this side, note the PE on the track guard/frame supports

21. So, what are the red 'x's for? Time for some advance prep on texture finish

22. These vehicles are a trip hazard nightmare and there are very few areas to safely step when climbing aboard. Thanks Peter Bowyer at M.A.N Models for my supplies of Hull Tex

My second and more involved use of the *New* VMS Supplies Hull Tex anti-slip texture. ​Very easy to use (getting the left-over grit back into the bottle is fun ..... not, a bit awkward) as getting to top off is not easy! Question: Is the anti-slip texture applied to the Doghouse Roof?

23. Using the reference pics I have applied the Hull Tex to likely areas. The rubber mudguard flaps have also been defined

24. Same applies to the rear deck and structure - SO, if you can stand on it ????? apply anti-slip .... simple as!

25. Did 4 things last night 1: attached the rear compartment hatches and applied anti-slip

26. Thing 2: painted all the glazing slots with a base coat of flay white - don't want just Dark Green blobs

27. Thing 3: attached the Aerial mounts to the rear plate - leaving PE part until very last as it is so fragile

28. And thing 4: The Road Wheels, the really boring bit, I know. The centre hubs are glued but the hard plastic tyres are just push-fit until after painting ....... Tracks next! Instructions state 106 links each side.

29. At the gates...... and, they're off! Yes, it's track-time at the factory. Different pattern to the Early Nagmachon but just as well detailed, indy-link and with almost zero flash these required only the smallest amount of clean-up.

30. 75% completed with just the few links left to go around the drive sprocket. this is working out well. Building the track assembly jig was essential to ensure that the run of track was straight and, it's all held in place by a laggy-band!

Tracks & How I did them:
What you can see here is all one length but, they were originally assembled as:

• lower run - 30 links
• top run - 30 links Left, 40 links Right
• Idler run - 16 links
• sprocket run - leaves 30 links on the Left side & 20 links on the Right

​I shall remove the track for painting with a Vallejo Metal Color mix of Steel & Gun Metal applied straight to the tracks (no undercoat) and scrubbed in with an old brush.

31. Just a short interlude and a picture of the whole workbench area. Here I'm just assembling the side-armour.

32. I improved the detail around the central hinges and defined the block panels of the side-armour using a razor saw

33. All the track is now assembled and I have test fitted the side-armour. The elastic bands holding everything together

34. The side-armour is just push-fitted to the mounting frame at present. I will be removed for painting.

35. The more I build this, the more I am impressed with it as a vehicle A Big, Brutish, Workman-like Bludgeon in the combat zone

36. Nice and easy this is. All Vallejo: Metal Color 77.712 Steel, 77.720 Gunmetal Grey (12 parts each) and Model Air 71.057 a good squirt (about 20 parts). And some kitchen roll too!

37. Just mix together and apply using an old brush and scrub the mixture (No Undercoat needed) into the plastic then, leave to dry. And don't forget to do both Parts C31

38. A close-up of the finished articles. Not yet varnished (that will happen when they are finally installed) but after a buffing with a soft brush there is a slight sheen to the metal effect

Following a meeting the other day with Tony Lee, (he's doing the Doghouse II tandem build), I decided to open-up the window areas of the Doghouse.

Having seen what Tony had achieved it was a no-brainer! The effect was transforming and clearly the best way to go with this build. I shall of course be spraying the Doghouse interior with White and fully painting the Machine Guns.

​The upgrade took about an hour to complete all 11 window openings and certainly is an improvement.

39. Having decided on a course, I drilled a 1mm hole in each corner of the opening then, scribed the 'in-betweens' with my Trumpeter Panel Line Maker

40. Using Liquid Mask (not Maskol) I've masked the outer glazing - the ready is to sprayed with Alclad II (my first use of it) Armoured Glass (ALC 408) - a Transparency Green

41. My next decision was to add the Mesh Armour over the openings. I can add the glazings once they have the Alclad applied

42. All completed and they look rather good. It was a bit fiddly getting all the pegs to fit correctly so I superglued both ends

43. Another test-fit and another step forward. I have also filled the vision ports with Maskol and added the Smoke Dischargers and covers

44. It's painting time! And first off the bat is to repaint the Doghouse Interior using Stynylrez White. I shall do some weathering to the interior but most will not be seen

45. Road Wheels: Another new undercoat is Stynylrez Red/Brown which will do double-duty as the Red Lead the vehicles were built with. Straight out of the bottle and no thinning!

46. Road Wheels pt2: I misted them with Stynylrez Black for an 'effect' we shall see how that turns out later. The front mudguards and Doghouse Hatches are in the top of the picture.

47. The paint is still wet here (see sloped armour) and you can also see that I sprayed the lower hull interior (I had paint left after the Doghouse, seemed a shame to waste it!)

48. Drying off nicely and not all a uniform cover though the hull is pretty comprehensive. The side armour has come out very well too. You can even distinguish the anti-slip areas

49. Had a little black left over so I have applied a darkened are to both sides of the lower hull area again, for effect. We shall see how this works out! Notice that the stand-off bars are not added

50. Alclad II sprayed on the transparency rears. Took 2 attempts and a complete strip & clean of my Airbrush

51. Blanked off the Command Cupola holes and began installing the tinted transparencies. They fit very well.

52. A bit more awkward were the fittings behind the armour plates. Just needed a little gentle persuasion and a few spots of Extra Thin.

53. Next up was to install the periscopes front & rear and add the periscope shields. I just had to ensure I didn't scratch the Alclad.

54. I know, I'm checking everything again but, this is a good way to see the contrast between the Doghouse and Hull.

55. And again, I thought I'd try out Lifecolor Paints and saw these up at Mikes/Clifton Curios at Breedon Priory

56. Colour this trip is Lifecolor UA902 IDF Sand Grey 2 - looks quite bland and is a subtly different shade compared to other manufacturers

57. This took a bit longer than anticipated to paint due almost exclusively to the weird angles involved.

58. Wheels and tracks added, as well as the iconic Red handles and brackets. Some fettling of additions to come.

59. All varnished and drying off. Weathering comes next

60. Better in pairs - the Nagmachon early is also being done at the same time

61. Dabbled with some initial weathering last night (10/03/17) and applied some pin wash

62. It dried a bit lighter than I had planned but all is not lost. I have also done a dusting with pigments.

63. I loaded the large brush with pigment, removed the bulk then tapped it above the model so the grain rained down to good effect.