Hobbyboss Finnish T-50 Infantry Tank. 1:35

[Shar2]

Finnish T-50 Infantry Tank
HobbyBoss 1:35

History
Advancing Finnish troops spotted T-50 tank first time in July of 1941 and later that same year succeeded capturing one of these rare tanks near Äänislinna/Petrozavodsk. It was one of the fifty tanks manufactured by Voroshilov Factory number 174 in Leningrad. The tank was repaired and taken to use of Finnish Army with tank-registry number R-110 in February of 1942. It was first issued to Heavy Tank Company (Raskas Panssarikomppania) of Tank Battalion, but as part of process expanding Tank Battalion to Tank Brigade it was transferred to 3rd Tank Company of Tank Brigade already in March of 1942. Later it was often used as command tank of the tank company. While the tank crew named their T-50 as "Niki", also nickname for it soon appeared and ended up spreading far and wide. This popular nickname was "Pikku-Sotka" (Small Pochard), which referred to its physical resemblance with larger T-34 medium tank, which Finnish soldiers had already earlier nick-named as "Sotka" (Pochard) after a tugboat of that name. This Finnish-captured tank was equipped with 14-mm thick additional armour plates attached with bolts to front hull and turret sides. It had a 45mm Psv.K/38 tank gun and two coaxial DT-machineguns. As to be expected maintenance of this one of a kind tank proved difficult, but still it remained in active use until 25th of June 1944. That day it was used as command tank during famous counter-attack of Finnish heavy (medium) tanks from Juustila to Portinhoikka during Tali-Ihantala battles. During this counter-attack the tank suffered serious technical failure (engine-failure), which the mobile repair shops of Tank Brigade were unable to repair. The next day it was sent to Centre Armour Repair Facility in Varkaus and apparently was never repaired. While the line T-50 wasn't in operational condition since June 1944, it still remained in armoured vehicle inventory listings of Finnish Army until year 1955. Nowadays this tank is in Parola Armour Museum.

The Model
The kit comes in the now standard style of Hobbyboss box, with an artists impression of the vehicle in battle with Russian forces, although it also depicts it fighting with another Finnish T-50 which as mentioned above is incorrect. Inside, there are ten sprues and three separate parts in sand coloured styrene, four sprues of brown styrene, two of clear, a sheet of etched brass and a small decal sheet. The parts are al beautifully moulded with some very nice details and naturally for a modern kit, no sign of flash or other imperfections, although there are quite a few moulding pips that need to be removed and cleaned up.

The build begins with the assembly of the road wheels, each of which is fitted with a brass rim. The wheels are then paired up and fitted with a central hub cap. The idler wheels are assembled in the same way, whereas the sprockets are made up of just two parts. The separate upper hull has to have several holes opened up before using, then put to one side. The lower hull is then fitted out with the multitude of parts that included the bump stops, return roller axles and idler wheel fittings. The two part return rollers are joined together and attached to their respective positions, followed by the torsion bar suspension parts and sprocket gearbox cover. The road wheels, idlers and sprockets are now attached followed by the tracks. The tracks are each made up of individual links which also have separate guide horns are each glued together, so it would probably best to make them up as link and lengths allowing for some sag on the top section. Each side requires ninety three links to make up a complete length.

On the underside of the lower hull there is a large hatch that requires gluing into place, whilst the rear mounted shackle pads and shackles are fitted. In the upper hull the two intake plates are fitted on each side of the inner engine deck, along with their associated baffles. On the outside of the upper hull, the drivers hatch and rear engine hatch are fitted. The track guards are then attached to each side of the upper hull and the additional armour plate fitted to the glacis plate. The upper and lower hull sections can then be joined together. The intake grilles and track guard braces, jack, front mounted shackles, pioneer tools and a selection of brass clamps and brackets.

The turret assembly begins with the trunnion, it’s turret attachments, and fitted with one machine gun muzzle and one complete machine gun. The trunnion is then fitted to the upper turret part which is in turn fitted with the lower turret section. The turret is then fitted with the mantel, rear mounted hatch and additional side mounted armoured plates. The commanders hatch, periscope, and vent cover are then fitted, as is the main gun barrel.

The hull is now fitted out with even more detail, including the fender braces, folding headlights, viewing ports, exhaust and two large brass intake grilles, which will need some very carefully rolling and bending to fit correctly. Two lengths of track, each six links in length are fitted to each side of the upper hull and a brass footstep fitted to the glacis plate. The turret assembly is then attached, completing the build.

Decals
The small decal sheet only provides a selection of Finnish swastikas, each in two halves to comply with some national laws. There is quite a lot of information on these tanks on the internet, so it shouldn’t take long to find a different scheme for your model, should you so wish. The single colour scheme is a mixture of Wood Brown, Sand Yellow, Red Brown and Russian Green splodges.overall.

Conclusion
Yes, it’s yet another small Russian tank from Hobbyboss. They are really scraping the barrel with this one though as there was only ever one captured T-50. I guess it makes sense to utilise the moulds as much as possible, and this tank is still extant in a museum. The tracks look awfully fiddly, so some modellers may wish to change them for Friulmodel metal tracks. Highly Recommended

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