Part 5: Final thoughts,
I have left "gaps" in this review so that as others acquire the Centurion they can discover the little nuances for themselves. I don't want to take all the fun of discovery out of a new tank build. What I will conclude with are a few positives and negatives I only kinda covered but was asked add more to.
--The positive, you are getting a lot of tank for the money and Tamiya has obviously taken into account there will be those that want to modify the Centurion into later models with different engines and armaments. As such they designed the rear hull, engine deck and hull side fenders of the Centurion to be completely unscrewed and removed easily to facilitate new modifications with less effort. The turret too, being four parts all screwed together facilitate easy disassembly necessary for access to the all internals.
The Centurion has a cavernous internal hull space do to all the suspension components being on the outside of the hull. This space provides for a number of uses and modification. I used it to relocate the battery to the forward hull to provide for an improved front to back weight balance. I am sure other will be just as inventive.
-- The Negatives. I do not like the pinion to motor mounting method of using a set screw on a round motor shaft. This is just asking for the pinion to slip and cause the gearbox to stop working. Tamiya with their vast RC experience knows this and should have provided motors with the proper mounting surfaces for set screw use.
The track is too lightly built and I have already broken a link. The track for such a large tank should be made with heaver construction.
Snapped off a section of track cleat and shortly after the link broke.
One of the rear sprockets was manufactured slightly out of spec and its fitment to the drive shaft was rather loose "wobbly" compared to the other sprockets fitment. This looseness caused the sprocket to "throw" its track in turns on anything other than hard smooth surfaces. I remedied the issue with the installation of a small nylon washer slipped over the drive shaft between the outdrive and rear of the sprocket. This effectively created a large "wheel hub" for the sprocket to ride against and completely removed the wobble and issues with "throwing" the track in turns.
The idler arm locking "fin " which is a small metal fin that extends off the idler arm and slips into the idler mount. The mount has multiple adjustment slots for the "fin" to slide into and adjust the idler wheel as needed. The problem I see is the single "fin". This might be adequate for the stock lightweight nylon track, but under heavier loads this single "fin" does not appear that it will be strong enough and I am sure it will fail. Tamiya should have used more than one "fin" on this part to ensure greater overall strength and longevity.
The sound card program installed on my DMD11 is absolute garbage! It is not a speaker issue as I have tried a number of speakers. The sound crackles and becomes distorted on volume levels past 60%. It is also programed to a very low sound level so the need to raise the volume becomes even more necessary. The crackles and distortions are only related to the engine sounds not the main gun or mg. Now I do not place a lot of importance on sound quality, but when my HengLong tanks have better sound quality then a $1200+ Tamiya tank there is a problem.
In closing, if there is anything else related to the Tamiya Centurion you would like to know please feel free to ask. Also feel free to add your thoughts. I hope you have found this review helpful or at least entertaining. There will be continued posts of the Centurion on my Instagram @ fsttanks you are welcome to check out.