The ultimate evolution? Trumpeter 1/35 T-62

[modelling minion]

After having been given permission by our esteemed and generous hosts I am going to build what has been described as the ultimate evolution of the basic T-54/55 design, the T-62. Now I know that this is not a view held by all and I left it up to the hosts to decide and they have allowed it to go ahead.

The kit I will be using is the recent Trumpeter T-62 Mod.1975 and it looks like a very nice and well detailed kit too and is considered to be the best 1/35 T-62 available, not that there is a lot of competition! So lets have a look at the box and whats inside it, starting with the box art;

 

And what is inside when you remove the lid;

 

Ooh lots of goodies, lets have a look at some. We will start with the tracks as you get two options, either the old style vinyl single length tracks or individual links:

 

Now I'm no expert (far from it) but those vinyl tracks don't look that bad close up;

 

I am most likely going to go down the individual link route but it's nice to know that I have a usable fall back option if time gets away from me.

You also get the option of a metal main gun barrel and some etched grills and twisted copper wire for the tow rope;

 

Not bad as standard with a kit.

You get a nice representation of a DShk 12.7mm AA gun, no respecting Soviet tank should be seen without one;

 

You get a set of crew figures that @Stix would do a far better job of then me;

 

And a nice set of individual weapons for them, though I'm not sure if they are too modern for the era;

 

And the colour paint guide which gives you the Soviet version of early Ford cars, any colour you want as long as its green;

 

I will have a look in my stash as I'm sure I might have some more interesting markings (not hard) somewhere.

 

I hope to be able to make a cursory start on her soon.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

[vppelt68]

Lots of goodies in that box! Trumpy says:

"The T-62 was originally conceived as a companion weapon to the T-55, being essentially a T-55 up-gunned with the 2A20 115mm cannon. Both the T-55 and the T-62 used the same wheels, track, engine, transmission, hatches and other fittings. The primary differences between the two vehicles were the T-62’s lengthened hull and new turret design."

Well, should we someday have the WW2 British Cromwell tank STGB, everybody would count the A30 Challenger as eligible in that one. What was it? A lengthened Cromwell with a new turret and a bigger gun - see the similarities in here

V-P

[PlaStix]

Great to have you taking part Craig with what looks to be a rather fine kit. Seems to have a lot of nice goodies in the box. Looking forward to seeing it in progress.  

Kind regards,

Stix

[modelling minion]

13 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Great to have you taking part Craig with what looks to be a rather fine kit. Seems to have a lot of nice goodies in the box. Looking forward to seeing it in progress.  

Kind regards,

Stix

Great to be joining in mate, which wouldn't be possible without yours and VP's support, so a big thank you.

There certainly are more goodies than I'm used to in a standard kit, which saves paying out for aftermarket, which means more models!

[Bullbasket]

Question about the kit. Has Trumpeter included the fuel lines, as I'm hoping to pick up a Tiran 6 at Telford this year, and no doubt the kits are very similar?

 

John.

[PlaStix]

13 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Question about the kit. Has Trumpeter included the fuel lines, as I'm hoping to pick up a Tiran 6 at Telford this year, and no doubt the kits are very similar?

John.

Hi John. Shar2 did a review of this kit back in 2016 on Britmodeller:

 

There are some photos of the sprues. I'm not sure what I was looking for but you may know whether they are included or not.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Bullbasket]

Thanks Stix. \I'll take a look at that.

 

John. 

[modelling minion]

4 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Thanks Stix. \I'll take a look at that.

 

John. 

Hi John,

 

Did the link answer your question or do you need me to have a look at the kit?

[Bullbasket]

I had a look and I couldn't see anything on the sprues, and there's no mention in the write up. If you could have a quick squint Craig, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

John.

[modelling minion]

22 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

I had a look and I couldn't see anything on the sprues, and there's no mention in the write up. If you could have a quick squint Craig, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

John.

I've had a good look through the instructions John and can't see any mention of or anything that looks like fuel lines, I presume you mean between the tanks that sit on the fenders (?) over the tracks.

[Bullbasket]

Yes, that's the ones. I had a feeling that Trumpeter didn't include them, so I'll just have to do them from brass wire as I did with my Tamiya Tiran 5.

 

Thanks for checking anyway.

 

John.

[modelling minion]

11 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Thanks for checking anyway.

No problem John, looks like I've got some extra detailing to do!

[Hewy]

Hi craig ,nice choice,hope it all goes well,  do takom include fuel lines in there range of T‐  kits, i know miniart do

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Hi craig ,nice choice,hope it all goes well,  do takom include fuel lines in there range of T‐  kits, i know miniart do

Short answer Glynn.....yes.

 

John.

[modelling minion]

11 hours ago, Hewy said:

Hi craig ,nice choice,hope it all goes well,  do takom include fuel lines in there range of T‐  kits, i know miniart do

Cheers Glynn, I hope it goes well too.

John has answered your question, looks like I will have to look for a Takom kit at Telford.

[Hewy]

The only takom kit in 35th I've  got is a chieftain for the berlin brigade camo, it looks a very nice kit,and the T- series looks just as good , no harm in stocking up at telford though craig, I've  been squirreling a few bob  away in advance  for such things 👍

[PlaStix]

Hi Craig. hope you are well. Just checking if we are likely to see some progress with this project anytime soon?

In other news - have you seen that next year's Victory Show is probably going to be the last? That's how they have announced it on their social media pages. I'm not happy about that at all! Wonderfully close for us. Even if we're not there we've had the aircraft flying over our house.. There doesn't seem to have been a reason given yet. I'm hoping that it's something where someone can offer something to keep it going. What with that and next year's Hinkley model show being cancelled! I don't get to go every year but I have enjoyed it when we have gone.

Kind regards,

Stix

[modelling minion]

40 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Craig. hope you are well. Just checking if we are likely to see some progress with this project anytime soon?

In other news - have you seen that next year's Victory Show is probably going to be the last? That's how they have announced it on their social media pages. I'm not happy about that at all! Wonderfully close for us. Even if we're not there we've had the aircraft flying over our house.. There doesn't seem to have been a reason given yet. I'm hoping that it's something where someone can offer something to keep it going. What with that and next year's Hinkley model show being cancelled! I don't get to go every year but I have enjoyed it when we have gone.

Kind regards,

Stix

Yes Stix, a very small amount of progress has been made but none of it really worthy of pics. I have been cleaning up the wheels and the tyres (which are separate in this kit) and got the rear part of the hull fixed, but it really isn't a very good fit at all, and there is a surprising amount of flash for a modern kit.

Terrible news about the Victory Show if they do stop it, seem to remember them threatening something similar before. I really look forward to them as there is nowhere else you can get as close to the action or aircraft. 

Not good news regarding Hinckley either, not too surprising though as its been on the cards for a couple of years, always an enjoyable show though.

[PlaStix]

I'm glad you are underway with your project Craig. Hopefully you'll have some photos for us soon.

And hopefully both the Victory Show and the Hinckley show will keep going in some way. 🤞

Kind regards,

Stix

[PlaStix]

[modelling minion]

Oi! That smarts!

Well deserved though as I have been very lax with my updates, sorry.

I have had a very limited amount of modelling time recently with one thing and another but I have been very slowly plugging away at her, and I do have photographic proof of progress!

Starting with the nearly complete lower hull;

 

No great issues getting that together, although every part has required cleaning of flash and mould seams which in some cases are really bad.

Next up is the nearly complete front upper hull which is only missing the headlight assembly and the glass adding to the drivers vision blocks;

 

The two parts of the rear decking have also been built up, there are some quite nice etched parts supplied which then get covered up by covers! So I left them off so I can use the etch on future builds;

 

The wheels have also been cleaned up (quite some task) and are ready for some form of paint, here are some of them;

 

The two fenders (if that is the correct term) are also underway and having their various tanks and storage boxes built up and added to them and this is how they currently look;

 

Well thats it for now, all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

I promise not to leave it so long before the next update!

 

Craig.

[PlaStix]

Hi Craig. Great to see some progress and it does look to be a very nicely detailed kit. It's good Trumpeter provide clear parts too for things like the vision blocks. Tamiya don't bother with any clear parts in my kit and some of the gaps are quite large.

Looking forward to seeing more progress when you get chance.

Kind regards,

Stix

 

[Jabba]

A good start Craig. At least you have not had to battle too hard with the fuel tanks and all that on the wheel covers.

[Hewy]

 👍,I bet you're secretly chipping away at those link tracks 😋

 

[modelling minion]

On 11/25/2019 at 9:13 PM, PlaStix said:

Hi Craig. Great to see some progress and it does look to be a very nicely detailed kit. It's good Trumpeter provide clear parts too for things like the vision blocks. Tamiya don't bother with any clear parts in my kit and some of the gaps are quite large.

Looking forward to seeing more progress when you get chance.

Kind regards,

Stix

 

The details in the kit are quite good but  I am really surprised by the amount of flash. I've got fairly large gaps too, they wouldn't get away with this poor fit on aircraft kits.

22 hours ago, Jabba said:

A good start Craig. At least you have not had to battle too hard with the fuel tanks and all that on the wheel covers.

Cheers Jabba, the fuel tanks and other "stuff" on the fenders have gone well and they are pretty well complete now.

12 hours ago, Hewy said:

 👍,I bet you're secretly chipping away at those link tracks 😋

 

Definitely not! I have given the idea thought and will have to have a close look at them but if they have anything like the flash on the other bits then it's rubber bands all the way!