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Cuban Cigar


Mig Eater

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My contribution to the GB will an T-55 variant made by the Cuban army, which removed the normal turret and replaces it with a S-75 Dvina (aka SA-2 Guideline) anti-aircraft missile launcher. It was first seen during a military parade in 2006 & nearly all of the photos I can find are from this one event. There is very little information known about this modification, even the official name is a mystery, it has been refereed to as several different things online such as the T-55/S-75, T-55/SM-90 or the T-55/SA-2.

s-75-t55-image03.jpg

s-75-t55-image02.jpg


For this build I'll be combining Trumpeter's T-54B & SA-2 kits along with a set of Miniart's RMSh tracks & various small scratch built/3D printed parts.

t55_sa2_00.jpg  


This will be my fourth GB here & so far out of the other three I've only managed to complete one of them! (Note to self: must finish the T92 HMC) This shouldn't be a very complex build so hopefully I can get this one finished in time 😛

Edited by Mig Eater
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1 hour ago, Mig Eater said:

Note to self: must finish the T92 HMC)

I was going to ask you how thats been going ? You can have the thread transferred from the Patton group build to Armor by asking a moderator via P/M or flagging it and asking them to movie it.  

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I haven't really made any more progress with the T92 since my last update, I kinda run out of energy for the project once the GB was over. Once this build is finished I'm going to try & get back into it though.


 

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Nice exotic one... enjoy this one... The work you did on the T92 (which I'd love to see finished) raises a bit of the expectations for this one (no pressure) concerning the changed parts. The T-54/T-55 range of Trumpeter is basic, but still builds as a descent model, with exception if you want to build it very detailed.

 

Still waiting on the Hobby Boss one in 1/72 for my own go at this. Recently bought the Planet models version of the SA-2 (for a Vietnam club-build), but that one has so many errors at the launcher part.... 

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Zebrano have produced a 1/72 kit of this tank, there is also a 1/87 kit by SDV Models too, both are very rare & out of production though. If you do a google search for this tank there are just as many pictures of these model kits as there are of the real thing though 😛

139613-10244-pristine.jpg
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/zebrano-72020-75-55--139613#

The main changes I'll be making to the kit for my build will be the squared off fenders, the frame supports on the front plate & the cable laying drums on the rear. I'm not to bothered about fixing or improving the details on the Trumpeter kits much, I want this to be a fun & simple but still interesting build.

BTW I haven't completely decided on what colour scheme to use yet, one of the few pictures not from the 2006 parade show it in a lot more vibrant red, yellow & green scheme. I believe this is from an earlier military inspection/demonstration of new equipment on a base. I'm also thinking of being somewhat lazy & just painting it in standard soviet green for the tank & light grey for the missile though. Which is what it would probably look like operationally, the other two colour schemes being "parade" colours etc.

s-75-t55-image01.jpg 

Edited by Mig Eater
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I've made a preliminary start on the build, I tested the MiniArt tracks on the Trumpeter drive sprockets & found that they dont fit! The sprockets seem to be oversized & have the wrong shaped teeth so I doubt that any after-market tracks would fit. MiniArt make a set of sprockets & wheels but this was meant to be a cheap project so I dont want to buy any more after-market parts for it. So I'll have to design & 3D print some new sprocket instead, my printer is broken though (I accidentally damaged the UV screen) & I'm currently waiting for new parts to arrive, so the sprocket will have to wait a week or two.

As I've been looking over the rest of the kit things seemed a bit off, so after some research I found the the size of the hull is all wrong & it would require some major surgery to fix! I knew the kit had some accuracy issues but I wasn't aware it was this bad (should have just got the MiniArt T-55!). So I'm now mulling over if I'm going to just ignore the size problems or get my hacksaw out...

Edited by Mig Eater
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I would suppose the sprocket wheels are different compared to RMSH- (external pins over the sprocket wheel) or OMSH-tracks (sprocket wheel grips in openings in the tracks.) 

 

The Trumpeter kit was made with a electric motor inside initially.. hence the hull discrepancies. To give an idea about these:

http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/t55model1958reviewcs_1.htm

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/modern/trumpt55.htm

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Hmm yes some further research showed that OMSH use 13 teeth sprocket & RMSH 14 but are pretty similar otherwise, well either way I need new sprockets :P  

The main problem with the tank's hull is the width, while the overall size is correct the fenders are 2mm to wide on each side & the hull 4mm to thin. It would require cutting the hull down the centre line & then widening it, along with also trimming down the fenders. The hull is also about 4-5mm to tall too, which would also require some large cuts & modifications.

Takom Vs Trumpeter
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You know I normally build what-if projects with all sorts of disproportioned & inaccurate stuff which I never really care much about, but for some reason this T-54 kit is really bugging me >.> While I ponder if it's worth all the extra time & effort to fix I'll start work on the missile launcher, maybe once I get it test fitted on the hull I wont care much about the size issues like vppelt said.

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I've finished putting the launcher & missile together. It's a pretty simple build with one sprue for the missile, one for the launcher & another for the pad, which I wont be using. The rail & the base of the launcher is just dry fitted together at the moment, have to decide on if I want to have the missile in the launching or transport position, as it wont be moveable once glued together. I decided not to cut up and fix the T-54 hull, I feel like it's a lot of work & could start me on a slippery slope with me turning this quick OOB build into a long project where I end up replacing half the kit with new parts...

In other news I took my 3D printer apart today & replaced the broken LED screen, so I can start work on designing & printing the new sprockets now.

t55_sa2_01.jpg

 

t55_sa2_02.jpg

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Impressive dryfit and excellent choice with regards to the necessary alterations to the kit hull... better to start from a total other kit then trying to convert this one. It looks like a T-55, that's the most important thing...

 

lately this beauty arrived (now only in 1/35...):

 

1191804-17918-54-720.jpg

 

Would make a great pair...

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I found a 3D model of a T-72 online that has nicely detailed sprockets, this saves me several days of work making my own one. I'm going to try printing it in one piece first, but I can see a few areas that could be a problem so it might not work, if so I'll need to cut it up & print it in several parts.

t55_sa2_03.jpg

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On 10/29/2019 at 12:38 PM, Mig Eater said:

have to decide on if I want to have the missile in the launching or transport position, as it wont be moveable once glued together.

I suggest the raised position, it will reduce the space this occupies for sitting on a desk or shelf. If in the transport position it may take up much more space. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was knocked out with flu for three weeks so I haven't made much more progress 🤧 yesterday was actually my first day back at the bench.

I made a start with putting the T-54 hull together & it made me wish I was still ill! The fit of the upper & lower hull is terrible with gaps that need to be filled on every edge, the largest being a 1-2mm gap between the rear & top parts that I'll need to fill with plastic card. There are both raised & recessed injection pin marks, as well as lot of unused locating holes for the various parts used in the different variants of this kit all across the fenders that I spent most of yesterday dealing with. The 3D printed sprockets are done though, I'm looking forward to putting the workable tracks together which unlike the hull should be a relatively simple job 😛

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