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Found 24 results

  1. Hey all, This is Takom's T-55AM2b. This project had resided for a good long while as a shelf queen before dusting it off whilst looking for something else. In that time I had managed to lose some of the running gear and the tracks for it! One set of Miniart running gear and track from T-Rex later, I painted the vehicle using Mr. Colour and Tamiya Acrylics with some Humbrol Enamels as well. The model was then drybrushed and had filters/washes applied using oil paints. The decals were a combination of the kits offerings as well as some nicked off a Tamiya T-55 to make up the numbers. The kit only supplied the DDR Roundels otherwise. The T-Rex Tracks were built straight out of the box with no need for any cleanup, just plug and play. I did dip the tips of the track pins in CA Glue however just to ensure they didn't come out again. The tracks were amazingly well detailed, my only slight criticism is that the material was slightly brittle and a number of links were broken straight out of the box. Thanks for looking! Sam
  2. Last of the 55s- Russian T-55 So my Sakhalin Island T-55 , its a T-55 of the 39th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade, the last T-55s were withdrawn from the Russian army in 2014, with the Sakhalin Islands based ones being the last, there's a decent article here. https://topwar.ru/7752-poslednie-t-55-rossii.html I found the colours of this particular T-55 really striking and more visually interesting than the bog standard 4BO, I decided to slightly stretch the dio to make it more interesting, I want decided to the vehicle as if it was sitting in a a firing position on a range somewhere on the island, its been a heavy day of firing practice for the crew, hence the spent cases dumped over the side. the 3D printed barrels slowly rusting and leaking oil is a nod to the fact that this far from moscow, things are left to decay and rot, the only reason that the crew have fired so many tank rounds is so they can sell off the spent cases in town for a few extra rubles. The kit is a 1/72 Revell T-55AM/2 , with some 3D printed interior parts , some 3D printed barrels and tank shells I downloaded online for free, the tree was made with florist wire, latex and clump foliage. I have to say a thank you to Dmitriy1967 on here who was able to give me some good links to further information on these particular T-55s. Lessons, paint the tree wire brown before you start lol it will save you grief later! Any feedback is most welcome on how I can make the next diorama better. Regards Mark
  3. Hi All, I wondered if I could pick your brains, I am considering building a T-55 and I wanted to base it on the T-55 I saw in the Russian Far East, I believe they were the last T-55s in Russian service. Im a bit stuck on the colour scheme and would appreciate any thoughts on the colour scheme, what paint should I use? I have 4 images that I found, some of them look more "saturated" than others, some look more muted , but that could be the lighting for the particular photo. the first image below is what I would like to base my model on as its the most vibrant. I know its a poor choice to pic a scheme based on the vibrance, lol Thanks in advance Mark
  4. I have been an airplane modeller for more than a decade, but the last few years I became an armour enthusiast too. That's my first post of a tank at Britmodeller.com, a model I finished a year ago. It is the 1/35 Miniart T-55A, in the colors of the Yugoslav Army as it operated in the late 1990s in Kosovo. It was the first Miniart kit I attempted to build. I was initially overwhelmed by the 800+ pieces and wondered if I manage to complete such a complex model. In the end though, it wasn't too difficult for me, I just had to spend a lot more time on cutting and gluing than on a regular kit. Moreover, to the company's credit, they quickly replaced a piece that I lost. For the painting scheme, I chose the complex four tone Serbian camouflage as shown on the kit box. Paints are from Gunze and Tamiya and the tank was weathered with various products. I also only added the antenna and ammo boxes in the place of the rear fuel tanks, as was the original in some photos I found. Hope you like it. Dimitrios
  5. Heyyyyyy cool people🙂, so the clueless new member's first project is going to be a Russian T-55 1/48 from Tamiya. Ok, I had to start from somewhere so I did a little bit of research about tank number 826, so I can have some reference photos for building and painting later. Turns out a tank like this didn't exist??? There's a person on this forum who has done very detailed research about this specific tank but it seems what he could find is mostly written. Do you know what this means? Total artistic license which also means that I want to make it as if it has seen some action in a muddy environment like on the box art. Even though I won't be making a historically inaccurate tank I still want to be like the real deal. The thing is there are pictures showing different details on the base model T-55. Like the 2 elongated noles on each side of the main gun. One looks like a viewport and the other is sometimes empty. Sometimes looks like it has a machine gun inside and on other photos I have seen whole anti-air sort of attachments, so it's confusing. I mean I know that as just a modeller who replicates what he sees it's never going to be 100% historically accurate but you know if I make it like 90-95% there I will be able to sleep better at night😆.
  6. Finally took photos of my completed GDR T-55 AM2B from Takom. Not many good close ups unfortunately, due to the annoying dust and white fibres that seem to cling like no tomorrow after it sits on a shelf for more than a day >< I actually got this kit when I grew frustrated with a Miniart T-55 and its overly complex construction, and just wanted to complete a T-55 kit The figures are from the Miniart Tank crew, 1960s-70s set, with a rough representation of the GDR uniform camo. Thanks for looking ^-^ Gaz
  7. A bit late to the party - but my first attempt at a group build where I have actually had a bit of time to stick some plastic together. I am building the excellent Tamiya 1/48 scale kit of the T-55, OOTB with the Star Decals 48B1003 set. I want to represent the Angolan tanks used during the "Bush War" in the 70's and 80's. Depending on time, I hope to put this on a suitable base to represent the type of terrain found in Angola. I have been reading up on the conflict using the Africa@War series of books, specifically the No 34: War of Intervention in Angola, Vol2. There is a nice colour view of the T-55, and a few photos. I am also using a lot of Google image searches to see if there are any pictures of T-55's. Found a few pictures of abandoned or captured tanks and not many others. I'm interested in the configurations of these tanks and what kind of things where carried on the tanks in terms of additional kit. That is where more photos would be really useful. One reference I found suggested that a long tube on the right of the turret was only put on Soviet versions of the tank, and it appears most of the T-55's where from Cuba, or even other Eastern Bloc countries. I have not seen any photos with this tube on - so assuming it is correct to leave it off. What has struck home is the ubiquity of mobile phone cameras and really cheap digital cameras today. That will change the way we can research more recent conflicts vs these times (70's and 80's). Will add photos once I get them uploaded and linked back to a future post. anthony
  8. Croatian T-55A (37088) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd. The T-54's gestation and transformation into the T-55 was long-winded and complicated by constant changes to an as yet unsatisfactory performing vehicle, and began at early as the end of WWII. Production of the T-54-1 was halted due to production and quality issues, and recommenced as the re-designed T-54-2, with the turret design changed to closer resemble the eventual domed shape of the T-55. The -2 didn't last all that long before the -3 replaced it, and the requirement for survival of tactical nuclear blasts led to the eventual introduction of the similar looking, but significantly different T-55 that we know so well. As the heavy tank fell out of favour, the T-55 became part of the burgeoning Main Battle Tank movement, with thousands of them being produced over the years in various guises. In the early 60s the T-55A was developed, providing more adequate NBC protection that required a lengthening of the hull and coincidentally added anti-spall protection for the crew. It also sounded the death-knell of the bow-mounted machine gun, which was removed to improve ammo storage, and hasn't been seen on MBTs for decades now. The Czechs built their own versions of the T-54 and T-55, with quite an export market developing due to their being of better build quality than the Russian built alternative. Of the many sub variants produced by the then Czechoslovakia, many were exported to Soviet Bloc aligned purchasers. Poland also produced over 7000 tanks between 1964 and 1983. Polish tanks had different stowage and slightly different rear decks. Many found their way to other countries and the were used by all sides in the Yugoslavian civil wars. The Kit Part of the ever-expanding range of early Cold War armour from MiniArt, who seem to be kitting every conceivable variant from the earliest T-54 to the later T-55, which will hopefully include some of the more unusual marks as well. The initial toolings were all brand new, and were designed in a modular format to ease the way toward new variants, which makes for a high sprue count. Some of the kits have been released in augmented Interior Kit boxings, with all the extra details to open up your model as much as you please. The kit arrives in their current orange themed box, with a painting of the tank in question on the front. Lifting the lid gives the feeling of how much is inside, as it is packed full and I'm dreading putting it all back in. There are 77 sprues in mid grey styrene, many of them quite small, and some of the larger ones linked together in pairs, two clear sprues, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a decal sheet, and the instruction booklet. Detail is everywhere, and is crisp, with judicious use of slide-moulding to improve details further, and make hollows where needed. The inclusion of PE helps further, allowing parts to be given a more scale-effect. Construction begins with the lower hull, which has cut-outs for the suspension mounts, hatches and access panels, all of which are supplied as separate parts. The suspension is torsion-link, so the bars are inserted with the axles at their ends, or shorter stubby versions if you want to freeze the suspension in the level position. The hull insides are separate and are well detailed parts, which are added to the lower along with engine bay firewall and rear bulkhead. Externally, the T-55 could be fitted with a mine-roller, and although one isn't included with this boxing, the fitments and bracketry is included for the upper and lower glacis alongside the standard light clusters, lifting hooks and pioneer tools. With the glacis and the turret ring "bat wings" added to the hull sides, the upper hull is assembled from the top with turret ring aperture, a multi-part engine deck with individual slats added before installation, and some PE mesh panels added later with optional raised covers supplied as additional parts. The main lights have clear lenses, and fit inside a multi-part cage to protect them from damage, which will take some care to glue together neatly. The fenders have additional fuel tankage fitted with hosing between them, and lots of PE fixtures, handles and such, with even more PE bracing inside the sprung mudguard parts, tools, toolboxes and the exhaust on the port side. The kit includes plastic towing eyes, but you are going to have to provide your own cables as none are include in the kit, but given the sheer volume of parts it's excusable. At the rear an unditching log is lashed to the bulkhead with PE straps, and the extra fuel drums so often seen are also lashed to curved brackets that overhang the rear of the hull. Between them the deep wading funnel is attached by a couple of pins to the bottom of the brackets, and it has its own group of PE brackets for the bracing wires that are seen when it is in use. the wheels are handled next, with five pairs per side with separate hubs, plus the idler wheel at the front, and drive sprocket at the rear. Tracks are left until a little later and are of the individual link type, requiring 90 links per side, each of which have four sprue gates, but no ejection pin or sink marks to worry about. What is there however is stunning detail, which includes the casting numbers inlaid into the hollows of each track link, and close-fitting lugs that should make the building an easier task. The turret itself is a busy assembly, having the basics of the breech mechanism and coax machine gun made up and mated with the lower turret on two mounts at the front. The upper turret has some holes drilled out from inside and is attached to the lower, after which the two-part turret roof is fitted with hatches, vents and vision blocks. Externally the grab rails, forward mounted searchlight, commander's cupola and a choice of cast mantlet or moulded blast-bag over the mantlet are added, and the single piece barrel with hollow muzzle slips through the centre and keys into the breech. The blast-bag is finished off around the edges with PE strips, and a large folded tarp is attached to the back of the turret by more PE straps near the included stowage boxes. An armature links the gun barrel and the searchlight together so they move in unison, and an ancillary searchlight is fitted to the commander's cupola, with a choice of the driver's poor weather hood built up in either the collapsed or deployed format, with the former stowed on the turret bustle, while the latter fits over the open driver's hatch. Additional ammunition for the DshK is added to the turret. The 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun is the last assembly, and is made up along with its mount, ammo box with a short length of shells leading into the breech, which is fitted into the mount in front of the loader’s hatch. This is only used on 4 of the decal options, on the other options a browning 50 Cal is provided. The turret is dropped into the hull and your choice of location made for the driver’s poor weather hood made earlier. Markings There are six decal options, and plenty of colour (and operator) variation, which is nice to see. From the box you can build one of the following: 1st Guard Brigade "Tigrovi" Republic of Croatia Armed Forces, 1990s, tank marked "Marnia" 1st Guard Brigade "Tigrovi" Republic of Croatia Armed Forces, 1990s, tank marked "Croatia" 2nd Guard Brigade "Gromovi" Republic of Croatia Armed Forces, 1990s, tank marked "19775" 1st Guard Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council "Ante Bruno Busi" Republic of Croatia Armed Forces, 1990s, tank marked "Dnimid Torcid / Martn" 1st Guard Brigade "Tigrovi" Republic of Croatia Armed Forces, 1990s, tank marked "939" 4th Guards Brigade "Pauci" Republic of Croatia Armed Forces 1990s, Marked "4025" The decals are printed by DecoGraph on bright blue paper, and have good register, sharpness and colour density, with a closely cropped thin, matt carrier film. Conclusion These are amongst the most comprehensive kits I have seen in a long while, with even the tiniest details catered for, down to the tiny nuts holding the snorkel to the rear of the tank. It is a fabulous kit and will keep you modelling for hours and hours. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  9. T-55A Polish Production (37090) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd. The T-54's gestation and transformation into the T-55 was long-winded and complicated by constant changes to an as yet unsatisfactory performing vehicle, and began at early as the end of WWII. Production of the T-54-1 was halted due to production and quality issues, and recommenced as the re-designed T-54-2, with the turret design changed to closer resemble the eventual domed shape of the T-55. The -2 didn't last all that long before the -3 replaced it, and the requirement for survival of tactical nuclear blasts led to the eventual introduction of the similar looking, but significantly different T-55 that we know so well. As the heavy tank fell out of favour, the T-55 became part of the burgeoning Main Battle Tank movement, with thousands of them being produced over the years in various guises. In the early 60s the T-55A was developed, providing more adequate NBC protection that required a lengthening of the hull and coincidentally added anti-spall protection for the crew. It also sounded the death-knell of the bow-mounted machine gun, which was removed to improve ammo storage, and hasn't been seen on MBTs for decades now. The Czechs built their own versions of the T-54 and T-55, with quite an export market developing due to their being of better build quality than the Russian built alternative. Of the many sub variants produced by the then Czechoslovakia, many were exported to Soviet Bloc aligned purchasers. Poland also produced over 7000 tanks between 1964 and 1983. Polish tanks had different stowage and slightly different rear decks. Many found their way to other countries and the were used by all sides in the Yugoslavian civil wars. The Kit Part of the ever-expanding range of early Cold War armour from MiniArt, who seem to be kitting every conceivable variant from the earliest T-54 to the later T-55, which will hopefully include some of the more unusual marks as well. The initial toolings were all brand new, and were designed in a modular format to ease the way toward new variants, which makes for a high sprue count. Some of the kits have been released in augmented Interior Kit boxings, with all the extra details to open up your model as much as you please. The kit arrives in their current orange themed box, with a painting of the tank in question on the front. Lifting the lid gives the feeling of how much is inside, as it is packed full and I'm dreading putting it all back in. There are 75 sprues in mid grey styrene, many of them quite small, and some of the larger ones linked together in pairs, two clear sprues, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a decal sheet, and the instruction booklet. Detail is everywhere, and is crisp, with judicious use of slide-moulding to improve details further, and make hollows where needed. The inclusion of PE helps further, allowing parts to be given a more scale-effect. Construction begins with the lower hull, which has cut-outs for the suspension mounts, hatches and access panels, all of which are supplied as separate parts. The suspension is torsion-link, so the bars are inserted with the axles at their ends, or shorter stubby versions if you want to freeze the suspension in the level position. The hull insides are separate and are well detailed parts, which are added to the lower along with engine bay firewall and rear bulkhead. Externally, the T-55 could be fitted with a mine-roller, and although one isn't included with this boxing, the fitments and bracketry is included for the upper and lower glacis alongside the standard light clusters, lifting hooks and pioneer tools. With the glacis and the turret ring "bat wings" added to the hull sides, the upper hull is assembled from the top with turret ring aperture, a multi-part engine deck with individual slats added before installation, and some PE mesh panels added later with optional raised covers supplied as additional parts. The main lights have clear lenses, and fit inside a multi-part cage to protect them from damage, which will take some care to glue together neatly. The fenders have additional fuel tankage fitted with hosing between them, and lots of PE fixtures, handles and such, with even more PE bracing inside the sprung mudguard parts, tools, toolboxes and the exhaust on the port side. The kit includes plastic towing eyes, but you are going to have to provide your own cables as none are include in the kit, but given the sheer volume of parts it's excusable. At the rear an unditching log is lashed to the bulkhead with PE straps, and the extra fuel drums so often seen are also lashed to curved brackets that overhang the rear of the hull. Between them the deep wading funnel is attached by a couple of pins to the bottom of the brackets, and it has its own group of PE brackets for the bracing wires that are seen when it is in use. the wheels are handled next, with five pairs per side with separate hubs, plus the idler wheel at the front, and drive sprocket at the rear. Tracks are left until a little later and are of the individual link type, requiring 90 links per side, each of which have four sprue gates, but no ejection pin or sink marks to worry about. What is there however is stunning detail, which includes the casting numbers inlaid into the hollows of each track link, and close-fitting lugs that should make the building an easier task. The turret itself is a busy assembly, having the basics of the breech mechanism and coax machine gun made up and mated with the lower turret on two mounts at the front. The upper turret has some holes drilled out from inside and is attached to the lower, after which the two-part turret roof is fitted with hatches, vents and vision blocks. Externally the grab rails, forward mounted searchlight, commander's cupola and a choice of cast mantlet or moulded blast-bag over the mantlet are added, and the single piece barrel with hollow muzzle slips through the centre and keys into the breech. The blast-bag is finished off around the edges with PE strips, and a large folded tarp is attached to the back of the turret by more PE straps near the included stowage boxes. An armature links the gun barrel and the searchlight together so they move in unison, and an ancillary searchlight is fitted to the commander's cupola, with a choice of the driver's poor weather hood built up in either the collapsed or deployed format, with the former stowed on the turret bustle, while the latter fits over the open driver's hatch. Additional ammunition for the DshK is added to the turret. The 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun is the last assembly, and is made up along with its mount, ammo box with a short length of shells leading into the breech, which is fitted into the mount in front of the loader’s hatch. The turret is dropped into the hull and your choice of location made for the driver’s poor weather hood made earlier. Markings There are six decal options, and plenty of colour (and operator) variation, which is nice to see. From the box you can build one of the following: Polish Army, 70s Yugoslav Army 80s. Slovenian Army 90s. Republic of Bosnia & Herzegovina Army 90s (Winter camo) Polish Army, Lublin 1995. Yugoslav Army, Kosovo War late 90s The decals are printed by DecoGraph on bright blue paper, and have good register, sharpness and colour density, with a closely cropped thin, matt carrier film. Conclusion These are amongst the most comprehensive kits I have seen in a long while, with even the tiniest details catered for, down to the tiny nuts holding the snorkel to the rear of the tank. It is a fabulous kit and will keep you modelling for hours and hours. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  10. Hey fellas, A new project on the horizon for me as I'm about to order the 1/48th scale T-55 Russian Medium Tank from Tamiya. I'll be working on this in parallel to my current Renault R35 project (link to that WIP). This should be a pretty short but sweet build, as I've gotten used to from Tamiya. More details to come once the research phase is complete. Cheers, Jack
  11. T-55 Mod. 1970 With OMsh tracks (37064) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd. The T-54's gestation and transformation into the T-55 was long-winded and complicated by constant changes to an as yet unsatisfactory performing vehicle, and began at early as the end of WWII. Production of the T-54-1 was halted due to production and quality issues, and recommenced as the re-designed T-54-2, with the turret design changed to closer resemble the eventual domed shape of the T-55. The -2 didn't last all that long before the -3 replaced it, and the requirement for survival of tactical nuclear blasts led to the eventual introduction of the similar looking, but significantly different T-55 that we know so well. As the heavy tank fell out of favour, the T-55 became part of the burgeoning Main Battle Tank movement, with thousands of them being produced over the years in various guises. In the early 60s the T-55A was developed, providing more adequate NBC protection that required a lengthening of the hull and coincidentally added anti-spall protection for the crew. It also sounded the death-knell of the bow-mounted machine gun, which was removed to improve ammo storage, and hasn't been seen on MBTs for decades now. The Czechs built their own versions of the T-54 and T-55, with quite an export market developing due to their being of better build quality than the Russian built alternative. Of the many sub variants produced by the then Czechslovakia, many were exported to Soviet Bloc aligned purchasers. Starting in 1970 these tanks were fitted with the 12.7mm DShK 1938/46 or KPVT loader's anti-aircraft heavy machine guns. These tanks were known as Model 1970. OMsh track is the standard type fitted to all T-54/55/62. These were later upgraded to the RMsh type which was fitted to the fitted to the T-72. The Kit Part of the ever-expanding range of early Cold War armour from MiniArt, who seem to be kitting every conceivable variant from the earliest T-54 to the later T-55, which will hopefully include some of the more unusual marks as well. The initial toolings were all brand new, and were designed in a modular format to ease the way toward new variants, which makes for a high sprue count. Some of the kits have been released in augmented Interior Kit boxings, with all the extra details to open up your model as much as you please. The kit arrives in their current orange themed box, with a painting of the tank in question on the front. Lifting the lid gives the feeling of how much is inside, as it is packed full and I'm dreading putting it all back in. There are 80 sprues in mid grey styrene, many of them quite small, and some of the larger ones linked together in pairs, two clear sprues, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a decal sheet, and the instruction booklet. Detail is everywhere, and is crisp, with judicious use of slide-moulding to improve details further, and make hollows where needed. The inclusion of PE helps further, allowing parts to be given a more scale-effect. Construction begins with the lower hull, which has cut-outs for the suspension mounts, hatches and access panels, all of which are supplied as separate parts. The suspension is torsion-link, so the bars are inserted with the axles at their ends, or shorter stubby versions if you want to freeze the suspension in the level position. The hull insides are separate and are well detailed parts, which are added to the lower along with engine bay firewall and rear bulkhead. Externally, the T-55 could be fitted with a mine-roller, and although one isn't included with this boxing, the fitments and bracketry is included for the upper and lower glacis alongside the standard light clusters, lifting hooks and pioneer tools. With the glacis and the turret ring "bat wings" added to the hull sides, the upper hull is assembled from the top with turret ring aperture, a multi-part engine deck with individual slats added before installation, and some PE mesh panels added later with optional raised covers supplied as additional parts. The main lights have clear lenses, and fit inside a multi-part cage to protect them from damage, which will take some care to glue together neatly. The fenders have additional fuel tankage fitted with hosing between them, and lots of PE fixtures, handles and such, with even more PE bracing inside the sprung mudguard parts, tools, toolboxes and the exhaust on the port side. The kit includes plastic towing eyes, but you are going to have to provide your own cables as none are include in the kit, but given the sheer volume of parts it's excusable. At the rear an unditching log is lashed to the bulkhead with PE straps, and the extra fuel drums so often seen are also lashed to curved brackets that overhang the rear of the hull. Between them the deep wading funnel is attached by a couple of pins to the bottom of the brackets, and it has its own group of PE brackets for the bracing wires that are seen when it is in use. the wheels are handled next, with five pairs per side with separate hubs, plus the idler wheel at the front, and drive sprocket at the rear. Tracks are left until a little later and are of the individual link type, requiring 90 links per side, each of which have four sprue gates, but no ejection pin or sink marks to worry about. What is there however is stunning detail, which includes the casting numbers inlaid into the hollows of each track link, and close-fitting lugs that should make the building an easier task. The turret itself is a busy assembly, having the basics of the breech mechanism and coax machine gun made up and mated with the lower turret on two mounts at the front. The upper turret has some holes drilled out from inside and is attached to the lower, after which the two-part turret roof is fitted with hatches, vents and vision blocks. Externally the grab rails, forward mounted searchlight, commander's cupola and a choice of cast mantlet or moulded blast-bag over the mantlet are added, and the single piece barrel with hollow muzzle slips through the centre and keys into the breech. The blast-bag is finished off around the edges with PE strips, and a large folded tarp is attached to the back of the turret by more PE straps near the included stowage boxes. A series of extra cans for the 12.7m gun are added to the turret sides. An armature links the gun barrel and the searchlight together so they move in unison, and an ancillary searchlight is fitted to the commander's cupola, with a choice of the driver's poor weather hood built up in either the collapsed or deployed format, with the former stowed on the turret bustle, while the latter fits over the open driver's hatch. The 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun is the last assembly, and is made up along with its mount, ammo box with a short length of shells leading into the breech, which is fitted into the mount in front of the loader’s hatch. The turret is dropped into the hull and your choice of location made for the driver’s poor weather hood made earlier. Markings There are six decal options, and plenty of colour (and operator) variation, which is nice to see. From the box you can build one of the following: 101 st Mechanised Rifle Regiment, 5th Guards Motorised Rifle Division of the Soviet 40th Army, Afghanistan early 1980's. Presumed Syrian 85th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade, Beirut Lebanon June 1982. Unknown Iranian unit, Iran-Iraq war 1980's. Iraqi Army, Al Mutla District, North Of Kuwait Operation Desert Storm 1991. Peruvian Army, 2010. Kurdish Peshmerga unit, Battle of Mossol 2016. The decals are printed by DecoGraph on bright blue paper, and have good register, sharpness and colour density, with a closely cropped thin, matt carrier film. Conclusion These are amongst the most comprehensive kits I have seen in a long while, with even the tiniest details catered for, down to the tiny nuts holding the snorkel to the rear of the tank. It is a fabulous kit and will keep you modelling for hours and hours. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  12. Hi mates, I have finished the model, along with its base, I hope you all like this build 🙂 The WIP for the build can be found here; [Click Here]
  13. T-55A Early Mod 1965 Interior Kit (37016) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd. The T-54's gestation and transformation into the T-55 was long-winded and complicated by constant changes to an as yet unsatisfactory performing vehicle, which began at early as the end of WWII. Production of the T-54-1 was halted due to production and quality issues, and recommenced as the re-designed T-54-2, with the turret design changed to closer resemble the eventual domed shape of the T-55. The -2 didn't last all that long before the -3 replaced it, and the requirement for survival of tactical nuclear blasts led to the eventual introduction of the similar looking, but significantly different T-55 that we know so well. As the heavy tank fell out of favour, the T-55 became part of the burgeoning Main Battle Tank movement, with thousands of them being produced over the years in various guises. In the early 60s the T-55A was developed, providing more adequate NBC protection that required a lengthening of the hull and coincidentally added anti-spall protection for the crew. It also sounded the death-knell of the bow-mounted machine gun, which was removed to improve ammo storage, and hasn't been seen on MBTs for decades now. The Kit Part of the ever-expanding range of early Cold War armour from MiniArt, who seem to be kitting every conceivable variant from the earliest T-54 to the latest T-55, which will hopefully include some of the more unusual marks as well. The toolings are all essentially brand new, and have been designed in a modular format to ease the way toward new variants, which makes for a high sprue count. Some of the kits have been released in augmented Interior Kit boxings, with all the extra details to open up your model as much as you please. This is one of those boxings, and it arrives in their current orange themed box, with a painting of the tank in question on the front, and the stylised "Interior Kit" branding on each face of the box. Lifting the kit gives the feeling of how much is inside, and I may have emitted a minor expletive when I saw how packed with sprues the box was, and when I say packed, I mean it. There is almost no room for anything else in the box, and I'm dreading putting it all back in. There are 94 sprues in mid grey styrene, many of them quite small, and some of the larger ones linked together in pairs, a clear sprue, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, three decal sheets (one larger, two small), and the instruction booklet. It seems that I was wrong about putting it back in too, as I have managed it although I wouldn't like to put anything else in there! Detail is everywhere, and is crisp, with judicious use of slide-moulding to improve details further, and make hollows where needed. The inclusion of PE helps further, allowing parts to be given a more scale-effect. Construction begins with the water-cooled diesel engine, which is built up from a substantial number of highly detailed parts for later insertion into the hull, which is next to be made up. The hull floor has cut-outs for the suspension mounts, hatches and access panels, all of which are supplied as separate parts. The suspension is torsion-link, so the bars are inserted with the axles at their ends, then the lowest parts of the interior are added on top, including the base for the turret basket and the driver's position. Ammo is festooned wherever the designers could fit a round, with a large store next to the driver's station in the position formerly occupied by the bow machine gunner. The hull sides are separate, and are well detailed parts, which have further detail layered on both sides before they are added to the lower along with engine bay firewall, the engine and its mount, plus sundry other details that make the T-55 quite cramped for its occupants. Externally, the T-55A could be fitted with a mine-roller, and although one isn't included with this boxing, the fitments and bracketry is included for the upper and lower glacis alongside the standard light clusters, lifting hooks and pioneer tools. The main lights have a choice of clean lenses, and fit inside a multi-part cage to protect them from damage, which will take some care to glue together neatly. With the glacis and the turret ring "bat wings" added to the hull sides, the wheels are handled next, with five pairs per side with separate hubs, plus the idler wheel at the front, and drive sprocket at the rear. Tracks are left until a little later and are of the individual link type, requiring 90 links per side, each of which have four sprue gates, but no ejection pin or sink marks to worry about. What is there however is stunning detail, which includes the casting numbers inlaid into the hollows of each track link, and close-fitting lugs that should make the building an easier task. The turret ring is fitted behind the glacis, and the fenders are build up alongside the engine access hatches, which are all then added to the hull, completing the engine deck first with some rather neat PE grilles and mesh backed louvers that have PE slats for realism. The fenders have additional fuel tankage fitted with hosing between them, and lots of PE fixtures, handles and such, with even more PE bracing inside the sprung mudguard parts, tools, toolboxes and the exhaust on the port side. The kit includes plastic towing eyes, but you are going to have to provide your own cables as none are include in the kit, but given the sheer volume of parts it's excusable. At the rear an unditching log is lashed to the bulkhead with PE straps, and the extra fuel drums so often seen are also lashed to curved brackets that overhang the rear of the hull. Between them the deep wading funnel is attached by a couple of pins to the bottom of the brackets, and it has its own group of PE brackets for the bracing wires that are seen when it is in use. The turret itself is a busy assembly, having a semi-automatic breech loading mechanism that is built up first, then the lower turret is fitted out with radio gear, shells, before the breech is installed on two mounts at the front, which have the breech guard and a rack of box mags for the coaxial machine gun attached on the right and underneath respectively, and the sighting gear on the left side. The upper turret has its anti-spall lining added in sections, and is then decked out with a number of small assemblies, after which the turret roof is fitted with hatch, vents and vision blocks. More anti-spall lining is attached to the inside of the roof, and yet more ammunition is stowed as ready rounds for immediate use on the wall. Externally the grab rails, forward mounted searchlight, commander's cupola and a blast-bag around the mantlet are all added, and the single piece barrel with hollow muzzle slips through the centre and keys into the breech. The blast-bag is finished off around the edges with PE strips, and a large camo net is attached to the back of the turret by more PE straps. An armature links the gun barrel and the searchlight together so they move in unison, and an ancillary searchlight is fitted to the commander's cupola, with a choice of the driver's poor weather hood built up in either the collapsed or deployed format, with the former stowed on the turret bustle, while the latter fits over the open driver's hatch. Markings Although on first glance it looks like there are three markings options, there are in fact nine, which is nice to see. Every single one is Russian Green, but there are some nice variations in operator and differences in the application of serials etc. From the box you can build one of the following: Romanian Army 90s – Romanian roundel and white 5049 on the turret sides. Soviet military parade colouring 60-70s – white accents on rims, fenders & Soviet medallion on the turret sides. Somali Army Ogaden War, 1977 – no markings other than small flags front and rear. Marine Infantry of the Soviet Navy 1970 – White 512 and Soviet naval flag on turret sides. Soviet Army 60-70s – White 423 on turret sides. Hungarian People's Army, Operation Danube, Prague, Czechoslovakia, Aug-Sept 1968 – White cross over turret and sides. 55th Marine Infantry Division, Pacific Fleet of the Soviet Navy, Ethiopia 1980 – White 116 and Soviet naval flag on turret sides. Yugoslav People's Army, 80s – White 18131 on turret sides. Hungarian Army 90s – Hungarian pennant and white 122 on turret sides. The decals are printed on bright blue paper, and have good register, sharpness and colour density, with a closely cropped thin, matt carrier film. Conclusion These Interior Kits are amongst the most comprehensive kits I have seen in a long while, with even the tiniest details catered for, down to the tiny nuts holding the snorkel to the rear of the tank. They're certainly not for everyone, as some folks don't want interiors for whatever reason, but as a T-55A with interior, it is a fabulous kit and will keep you modelling for hours and hours. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  14. Ex Royal Saudi Air Force T.55 55-713 at The Midland Air Museum, pics thanks to Alan.
  15. T-55 MOD 1963 Soviet Medium Tank MiniArt 1:35 Having reviewed the massed ranks of MiniArt’s T-54, we are now onto the T-55’s. Since the T-55 was a progression of the T-54, there are still quite a few similarities, but with enough differences to make the builds interesting. As with MiniArt kits with interiors there are a lot of sprues, ninety two in this case, of grey styrene, plus one of clear, two sheets of etched brass and a smallish decal sheet. The very colourful box, quite a bit deeper than a standard tank kit box, has a nice painting of the tank on the front. On opening you are greeted by a mass of sprues, many of them quite small because modular nature of the tooling , with quite a few parts going unused for this boxing. The mass of sprues fill up just about all the space in the box, leaving only room for air between the sprues, anyone familiar with the old Krypton Factor will realise getting all this back in the box is one of life’s little challenges! Construction is almost identical to the earlier releases, complete with the full engine, which is a lovely model in its own right, and consisting of forty two parts if you include the engine mounting cradle. The lower hull is then fitted out with a multitude of parts that include the torsion beam suspension, multi part axles, gearbox covers, and interior escape hatch plus PE beam covers. The interior is then built up from the fighting compartment floor and includes all the pipe work, seats fire bottles, steering mechanism and internal bulkheads. The interior and exterior of the sidewalls are also covered with detail, including the large racks of shells for the main gun, with additional shells stored around the fighting compartment. The extra parts that go into this interior goes to graphically demonstrate how cramped these tanks were. There seems to be so much equipment and extra ammunition for both the main gun, the co-axial machine gun. The detailed sidewalls are then glued into place, as is the engine assembly, engine compartment firewall and other ancillary equipment. The upper glacis plate is then fitted as are the three piece road wheels, drive sprocket and idlers. The turret ring assembly is the attached, followed by the rear bulkhead, each fitted with more detail parts. The engine deck is then built up and the separate hatches are able to be posed open or closed as per the modellers’ wishes. The deck is topped off with PE grilles in their frames, which are much more complex affairs than in previous versions, being made of five parts. The rear mounted intakes, consisting of six parts are fitted with individual PE slats and the PE mesh is fitted from underneath, these are then glued into position, followed by the large hinge for the main hatch. There are quite a few parts that are intended to be used if the tank is fitted for use with the mine rollers, (which are not in the kit), The tracks are of individual link type, with ninety links per side, and it will be a case of assembling it like a link and length style, gluing each link together before draping them over the road wheels. The fenders are fitted with stowage boxes, fuel tanks and spare track links plus front and rear mudguards before being glued into position. The two fuel drums mounted to the rear of the tank are assembled and glued into their mounting frames, as is the unditching beam and the pipework for the fender fuel tanks. The separate exhaust assembly is also glued into position on the left hand rear fender, whilst the pair of nine piece deep wading kit tubes are attached to the rear bulkhead, one above and the other below the auxiliary fuel drums. The turret is another new moulding, which has even more equipment in it than the earlier versions, due to the improved technology. As with the other kits the turret interior includes the full main gun breech, radios, training motors, seats, hand cranks, and other equipment, but with additional sighting equipment for the main gun, and more spare ammunition boxes for the co-axial machine gun, which is just as detailed as before, consisting of sixteen parts, plus another eight for the new sighting system. Ready use shells are added to the inside of the upper turret along with a multitude of brackets and clamps. The turret roof comes complete with all the periscopes and hatch details for the commander and gunner positions, and rolled up tarpaulin. There are a pair of grab rails each side of the turret, as well as larger brackets and an aerial, including the six piece platform for the three piece fighting light.The single piece main barrel is glued into the breech, and fitted with a choice of two mantlet covers and a two piece bracket that attaches the fighting light to the gun barrel. The Commanders cupola is fitted with a smaller searchlight, and there is a large periscope for the commander, situated just in front of their hatch. Finally the driver's wet weather cover, that fits over his hatch can be posed stowed or in place. If you are stowing it, there are some PE straps to tie things down on the bustle. The turret assembly is then fitted to the hull, completing the build. Decals The decal sheet gives the modeller no less than twelve options. The decals are beautifully printed, are clear and in good register with a slightly matt finish. The options are:- T-55, Presumably the 51st Infantry of the Republic of Iraq, “Operation Iraqi Freedom” (“Shock and Awe”), Basra, March 2003 T-55, Vietnamese People’s Army, 2000’s T-55, Captured during the “Six Day War” as part of the IDF, 1968 T-55 of the Egyptian Army, 1973-1974 T-55 of the Syrian Army, during the “Yom Kippur War”, Golan Heights, October 1973 T-55 of the Cuban Army during the 1970’s T-55 of the Finnish Defence Forces, 1973 T-55 of the Ethiopian Army, during the “Ogaden War”, 1977 T-55 of the Iragi Army during the War in the Persian Gulf, Battle of Khafji, Feruary 1991 T-55 used for the Parade in Honour of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution, Khakiv, November 7, 1967 T-55 of the 24th Motorised Rifle Division of the Soviet Army, Kiev, 1967 T-55 of the Soviet Army, Operation Danube, Prague, Czechoslovakia, August-September 1968 Conclusion These beasts of tanks, and models are really coming thick and fast for the moulding machines of MiniArt and you really just can’t fault them. There is so much detail that it could overwhelm a modeller unless their mojo was really cranked up. But if you break the build into bite sized pieces as sub-assemblies, painting as you go, there shouldn’t be a problem. Not one for beginners or maybe even intermediate modellers, but there are versions being released, without interior, that would perhaps be more suited to their level to gain experience before tackling a full interior build. As bang for your buck goes, these have to be some of the best value kits around these days. Review sample courtesy of Miniart - Distibuted in the UK By Creative Models
  16. Hello ! I present to your attention the result of the test-build of the new model from MiniArt - the early T-55 Enjoy watching ! This model and other new items MiniArt will be available next week at Telford
  17. T-54-2 Mod 1949 (37012) 1:35 MiniArt The T-54's gestation and transformation into the T-55 was long-winded and complicated by constant changes to an as yet unsatisfactory performing vehicle. Production of the T-54-1 was halted due to production and quality issues, and an amalgamation of all the alterations were incorporated into the re-designed T-54-2, which saw the fender machine guns removed and replaced by a more modern bow-mounted single gun, the tracks widened, and the turret design changed to closer resemble the eventual domed shape of the T-55. The -2 didn't last all that long before the -3 replaced it, eliminating the shot-traps on the turret sides, but retaining the more modern gun and sighting improvements that had been made to the dash-2 toward the end of production. The requirement for survival of tactical nuclear blasts led to the eventual introduction of the similar looking, but significantly different T-55 that we know so well. The Kit We reviewed the T-54-1 here recently, and although this kit bears a striking resemblance, there are a large number of parts that are different in minor ways, and although the interior is included in this boxing too, the engine parts are no-longer there, and the kit isn't billed as an "Interior Kit", perhaps indicating that interest in that area wasn't sufficient to justify providing the complete internals. Who knows? The quality of moulding is identical (i.e excellent) to the earlier kit, and inside the box are forty eight (yes, 48) sprues in mid grey styrene, a clear sprue, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a small decal sheet and a glossy bound red and white booklet that mimics the striking design of the box. Construction is almost identical to the earlier boxing, excepting right at the beginning with the engine omission. The lower hull has some minor differences, and the sidewalls require a little modification at the top to introduce a chamfer at the very top, and the ammo storage area is omitted, but sufficient detail will be seen through the opened hatches if you decide to go that way. The engine compartment is of course empty, but with the access panels fitted it wouldn't be seen anyway, which is a similar story to the other omitted internals. The running gear is identical, as are the individual links provided on 10 small sprues, while the upper deck is different in shape, but constructed in the same manner, from individual sections at the front, turret ring area, and the engine deck. The fenders are different due to the removal of the gun "emplacements", with stowage and spare track links taking their place. The turret is a new moulding, and has reduced levels of detail, omitting such things as the ready-ammo, reduced detail on the main gun breech etc., but as this isn't the bells & whistles boxing, you are still getting plenty, such as the coax machine gun, a highly detailed cupola and of course the Dushka (DsHK) on the upper surface. Finally the driver's "hood" that fits over his hatch for inclement weather operations can be posed stowed or in situ for that comedy look. If you are stowing it, there are some PE straps to tie things down on the bustle. Markings The decal sheet consists of predominantly white digits, with a couple of diamonds that have black backgrounds, so registration although minimal is in good, colour density and sharpness being similarly so. From the box you can build one of the following, all of which are in Russian Green: Soviet Army 50 Years – white 649 with black diamond and Roman III in the centre Soviet Army 50 Years – white 003 Soviet Army 50 Years – white 332 Soviet Army 50 Years – white 84 Soviet Army 50 Years – white 534 Soviet Army 50 Years – white 415 Not the most inventive decal choice, but as they're all Russian Green anyway, it's not the end of the world. Some of the options show the Dushka, while others do not, so take care if you are going for accuracy. Conclusion It's another great early T-54 from MiniArt, without the mass of additional parts on the interior, so it should be a quicker build than its stablemate. Detail is first class, and symptomatic of MiniArt's continued growth as a company constantly striving for excellence. Highly recommended. http://www.britmodeller.com/reviews/graphics/bin.jpg Review sample courtesy of
  18. T-54-1 Medium Tank 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models The WWII T-34 was an excellent all-round tank, combining armour, speed, hitting power and manoeuvrability into a war-winning package that served the Soviet Union well until the end of the war. After the war a new design was needed, and this was based upon the T-44 that had been in development during the final years of the conflict. It was decided that a larger 100mm gun was needed to counter the new tanks that were being developed in the West, but the T-44 chassis couldn't handle the turret that would be required. A new enlarged chassis was designed and was named the T-54, which went through such rapid development and many changes that it soon became a new prototype, the T-54-1. That too suffered teething troubles and after fewer than 1,500 units, production transferred quickly to the T-54-2, and then the T-55, which we've all probably heard of. The T-54-1 kept many of the successful traits of the T-34/85, but with a larger turret the shot-trap was significant, which ultimately led to the familiar domed turret of the T-55. Although outdated, the T-54 stuck around in smallish numbers for quite some period in a number of guises, although by the time the last operational vehicles were drawn down, it was seriously outclassed in every way. The Kit This is a complete new tooling from the good folks at MiniArt in the Ukraine, and it is a major new tooling because it has a complete interior within the box, which is weighty beyond usual expectations. On lifting the lid you are greeted by a glut of sprues, many of them quite small because of the tooling's modular nature, with quite a few parts going unused for this boxing. There are sixty two sprues in grey styrene plus another twelve for the tracks (in the same colour), a sprue in clear, plus two frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, the decal sheet and finally a rather thick and glossy colour instruction booklet with painting guide included to the rear. That little lot fills up just about all the space in the box, leaving only room for air between the sprues – quite daunting to repack too! When MiniArt say "interior" they're not just referring to a couple of seats for the crew and a few black boxes. They really do mean full interior. This starts with the V-54 engine that is built up from crank-case through rocker-covers and is sat upon a trestle engine mount, with a high overall part count. The lower hull is then constructed so that it can take all the interior parts, with the torsion bars and suspension arms slid in and located at the opposite ends in pairs, after which the floor under the turret is slipped over the top of the centre bars, and ancillary equipment is piled in along with more suspension details. The driver's control levers are built up and added to the left front of the hull floor, with a surprisingly comfortable-looking seat added next to the bulkhead that forms a wall of the shell magazine later on. The hull sidewalls are added with interior skins providing the detail and thickness, with yet more equipment studded along their lengths, and some holes need opening up for the shell racks, as shown in a scrap diagram. The two perforated frames attach at the front of the starboard sidewall, and individual shells slot inside the holes, with drop-down gates holding them in place during transport. You could probably get away with painting only the percussion caps and the ends of the shell casings for those that will be stuck in there, so don't go mad unless you will be going for a cut-away in that area. The engine is then added to the rear of the hull on its mount that latches into slots in the floor, and a pair of box-like air intakes are added at the starboard end. A firewall is then constructed with fan, extinguisher and other boxes to fit between the two areas, after which the port side is added, and the glacis plate is fitted into place, the latter having a scale thickness armour panel, foot-pedals and periscopes for the driver installed. The roadwheels are made up in pairs with a central hub-cap, and ten pairs are made up, with five per side held in place by a pin and top-cap in the same way as the two-part drive sprockets are fitted at the rear. The idler wheel is installed right at the front of the hull on an tensioner axle, and is made from two parts, held in place by a pin and top-cap like the rest of the roadwheels, although it is noticeably smaller. The rear bulkhead has two sets of brackets for additional fuel drums, which are included in the box, and this assembly is installed at the rear along with two other small facets, one of which has the rear light cluster mounted. The hull roof is fabricated from shorter sections to preserve detail, starting with the turret ring, which has the driver's hatch within, and once in place, armoured periscope protectors, rotating hatch and pioneer tools are added around. The engine deck is split into three main sections, within which are access hatches, grilles and louvers to allow the engine to breathe and be maintained. The louvers are covered by an additional layer of PE mesh, and the extra fuel drums are strapped in place by a pair of PE straps each if you decide to fit them. The fenders are festooned with stowage of various types, which are loaded up before being added to the sides of the hull along with the obligatory unditching beam and spring-loaded mudguards at the rear. Some PE parts are used as tie-downs and handles here to improve the scale effect of details. Additionally, a pair of ender mounted machine-guns are added in small casemates, one on each fender at the front, with a removable lid for repair and maintenance plus reloading. You get the full breech and interior, which leaves you with some options. Spare ammo cans are stowed next to simplify crew reloading, although doing that task under fire would be no fun! Tracks. Always a divisive subject, as some like band-type, others like individual links, link-and-length, or metal. The list goes on. You might have noticed already that this kit provides individual link tracks of the glue-together variety, which don't do anything fancy such as click in-place. The tracks are built up in segments of 9 links, with 8 links having guide-horns, and one without. All you need to do is remove each link from the sprues via their four gates, trim them flush, glue the parts together in batches of 9 in a run of 90 links each side, and whilst still soft, wrap them around the roadwheels and set the sag with sponges, cotton buds or whatever is to hand to hold them in position. When dry they can be removed with care, especially if you have left an idler or sprocket loose to facilitate. Take care when prepping the track parts, as the plastic is quite soft, and easily marred with careless handling. With the tracks done, the fenders go on, with the duck-bill shaped exhaust crossing the port fender in the rear, with a deflector attached over it. The turret will be a focus of attention for most viewers, and it is filled with detail. The two layer turret ring is added to the lower turret part, and the inside of the turret is then strewn with equipment on both sides, with a stack of ready-ammo at the rear of the bustle in a compact rack that hold seven shells. Crew seats are added, dipping down through the aperture, and the breech of the 100mm gun is constructed from a host of parts, with two being left off if you wanted to move the barrel later. This is mounted between two brackets that sit on the front lip of the turret, with the sighting gear and a stack of four ammo cans to feed the coaxial machine gun slung underneath. The upper turret is similarly bedecked with equipment inside, and at this point a large portion of the roof is missing, being made up in a later step with the crew hatches, periscopes and mushroom fume vent, plus an antenna base. The gunner's cupola has a ring fitted to it that mounts a huge DShk "Dushka" 12.7mm machine gun, which can be used with great effect against soft targets or as an anti-aircraft mount. It is made up from a considerable number of parts, with scrap diagrams showing how to mount the ammo box to the breech with a number of PE parts as well as a length of link for good measure. The upper turret, mantlet armoured cover, coaxial machine gun and the mantlet itself are all brought together at the end to finish the turret main construction, after which a large rolled tarpaulin is draped over the rear of the bustle, with a choice of one of the two driver's "hoods" strapped to the top of it for safe-keeping. There is a low profile and higher profile variant included in the box, with the choice of either or none left to the modeller. Markings There are three options available from the box, with a variety of schemes that should suit most tastes. From the box you can build one of the following: Soviet Army 50s – Soviet green with white 224 on the turret sides. Soviet Army 50s – Winter distemper paint over green and white 222 on turret sides. Soviet Army early 50s – Summer camouflage. Green sand and black soft-edge wavy camouflage and no unit markings other than a small red star. The decal sheet is small and mostly white, with only the red stars to break up the colour (excluding the red border to the sheet). The registration between the two colours seems good, sharpness is too, but I suspect the codes may be slightly translucent when applied to dark colours. They can easily be used as a guide to touch in with a little diluted white on a sharp brush though, as these markings were usually hand-painted. If you wanted to see what can be done with this kit, check out Dmytro Kolesnyk's superb build here on Britmodeller, which you can see more of here. Conclusion Quite a box load! The sheer quantity of parts and the detail therein makes this easy to recommend, and there are endless possibilities for exposing the innards of the beast, which might need just the odd wire or hose added along with some grime to make it look real. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  19. Announced on Facebook a few days ago: T-55A, Czech and Polish production. T-55AM2B, Czech and Polish version of the T-55AM. Mike. Edit: added scale to topic title!
  20. This is Takom's new T-55 AMV which, along with the AM version, was the first release from their expanding T-54/55 line. I wasn't expecting to like this version before I started the kit, as I thought all the ERA would hide the lines of the T-55, which I think is one of the best looking tanks ever made but, in the end, it won me over with the general ad hoc busyness of all the ERA bricks and other fittings. The kit itself is one of Takom's best to date, with the only weak area being the horrendously poor fitting two-part headlight cage, which would have been considered a bad moulding if it had come in a Frog kit from the '60's. I made a copper wire replacement for that, but everything else fitted fine. I was especially impressed with the way the turret ERA went together, despite the spindly nature of the brackets that hold the bricks. Apart from the headlight cage it was pretty much OOB, although I did remove some of the ERA bricks, which necessitated building the underlying mounting points from brass tube. The retention clips for the mudguards were also replaced with wire, as the moulded ones looked a little basic. The marking options are from AMMO as usual for Takom, and here you get no less than 12 choices, although 6 of these are for Syrian civil war machines. I didn't really feel comfortable building a tank from an ongoing conflict so I went with the African Union option, as I thought painting and weathering a white tank would be a nice challenge. Thanks for looking Andy
  21. I'm getting into russian tanks in a big way, I'm going to work through a few, starting with this one. I like all the boxy armour stuff. Some sprue shots. Some PE Yep, those tracks again. At least the bag is more robust than the Chieftain's was. Took a while to work out that this is actually Sprue M, not a second sprue E. I like the subtle waves they molded into these plates Glorious turret and rubbery bit. correction to instructions, a bit weird. I made a start, the underside is nocely detailed, the wheel legs are complcated little things, with many small parts. I spent so long down here looking for A7 that it qualified as a valid part of the process worthy of a photo. No luck. The part just vanishes, no sound to idea how far it bounces... Wow! I lost this small handle for another model about 6 weeks ago! More wow, Takom somehow knew I would lose this part and included two spares! In fact, there are two spare drive sprockets on the sprue too? Takom included a pair of polycaps with the kit, but don't refer to them anywhere on the instructions? They look like they fit inside the front idler wheel but the peg the wheel fits onto is very short. Takom are crazy. With the wheel legs done (it is wheel legs right?) onto the hull top, which is split into three, presumably for versions. Just checking ahead to see what the instructions say about the tracks. These are the same 'instructions' as the chieftain, in other words, 'Here's a bag of links that don't clip together, good luck, brave modeler'. Cheers!
  22. Simple enough Guy's The Soviet/Warsaw-Pact T-55 chassis The model may represent any vehicle in service with any Nation/Army from it's inception to the present day Criteria: The model, as a basis for a Tank and associated vehicles (Recovery, enhanced Trucks, Emergency Vehicles) The model built must be based on a 'REAL' vehicle and not a paper project (unless that project reached a working prototype trials vehicle stage) If any offering is in-doubt, the builder should provide evidence of its existence The Host/co-Host decision is final Exclusions: Sci-fi variants (as used in Film or TV) What-if's including Fantasy, Post Apocolyptic, Steam-Punk etc Paper projects which did not reach working prototype stage Voting: Will initially be in a single block however, If sufficient entries present themselves to the Gallery, seperation may occur by either: Scale, Era, Soviet vs Other, Geography or similar arrangement - all to be determined after the closing date but prior to voting Sign Up Takers: 1) Shermaniac (Host) 2) Smuts (co-Host) 3) AaCee26 4) vppelt68 5) corsairfoxfouruncle 6) Antoine 7) Ozzy 8 ) Modeling Minion 9) Arniec 10) Bull Basket 11) Plasto 12) sgt squarehead 13) snapper city 14) plastix 15) Robert Stuart 16) Etienne 17) Patman 18) Agent G 19) Das Abteilung 20) Sleeper Service 21) Sabre_days 22) SimonT 23) Jabba 24) Hewy 25) Yetifan So... @Enzo Matrix, is this enough to make this happen? V-P
  23. IDF TIRAN 5 MBT An Upgraded ex-Egyptian Army T-55 Standard OTB Kit from Tamiya supplimented with MasterClub Metal Track Paints by AMMO by Mig IDF set, AV Metalcote and MIG Powders Apologies for the figure but I'm still learning with those.
  24. Hi. It's my first post here (well, i put one in "Welcome" section"). I'd like to present the build of T-55A. It's Tamiya model in 1/35 scale. I got it as a gift. I prefer WWII models, but i decided to have a go with this one. There we go: Lower hull. And upper hull. A turret. Fuel drum racks assemled. Road wheels. A put-together. Some storage boxes. More work on a turret. Headlights. The grills. They come from Eduard PE set. A/A gun. Grills in place. Barrell. This is ABER. Everthing i build so far in place. Be back for more. Cheers.
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