Building a Strv102 Dozer from the AFV Club Centurion Mk 5/1

This project started out as a strv 81 but I have learned that it’s actually a strv 102 but with 20pdr barrel type B.
The 20 pdr was used for target practice since the ammo was cheaper than the 105 mm and it had to be used up any way.
The swedish army did tests with the brittish dozer blade for the Centurion but it was not purchased.
I bought the Dozer from Accurate Armour and as always delivery was swift and the product nice.

The dozer kit consists of about 20 parts and are very nice with only a few air bubbles to fill.

On this kit I’m not using any PE, I think.
I might buy the Eduard set but I haven’t decided yet.

The front of the hull is the most interesting part on this project and it needs some modification.

The front fenders needs to be sawed of to give space for the dozer blade when lifted.
The tow shackles are moved to the upper glacis and on the lower glacis the two attachments for the blade is mounted.
Of course I was told that there should be mounting brackets welded to the hull AFTER I glued the resin parts to the hull, now the question is if I should pretend like it’s raining or if I should try to remove the attachments and glue the small strips in place.

The kit includes a turned barrel with a plastic fume extractor.
The barrel is very nice but AFV did one big mistake. They didn’t think about the muzzle of the barrel beeing wider than the rest of the tube so the fume extractor don’t fit.
There’s two ways to fix this, first you can drill out the hole of the fume extractor but then you won’t get i tight fit around the barrel.
The second method, the one I picked, is to cut the barrel inside where the fume extractor will be and slip the extractor in place and then glue the barrel together again. Remember to put in a distance to cover for the part beeing sawed off.

The end result looks quite nice.
Most swedish fume extractors I’ve seen only has one counter weight so I cut of the to outer ones.
There is however photos of swedish vehicles showing three counter weights but the vehicle I’m making only has one.

This project is put on hold for a while because I’m waiting for a mantle suitable for the strv 102.
Unlike the early Centurions it don’t have canvas covering the entire gun shield but only around the edges.
There is one beeing produced but I’m not sure when it hits the market.

Update May 1:
I have done the same mods to the engine deck on this one as on my strv 81

The support rail at the rear has been cut to five parts and the plate running across the front of the transmission hatches has been removed.

I said earlier that I’m waiting for a new mantle for this one but I couldn’t wait any longer.
I got a resin mantle from a friend that he made for a strv 104 conversion for the old Tamyia kit and I decided to try and use that one.

The turret needed some surgery for the mantle to fit.

Here the mantle is in place and I started to fill the gaps with putty.
It will require a good amount of putty around the edges but I hope it will turn out nice in the end.

To be continued……