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T-55A(Cz)


Ian

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Tamiya's superb T-55A (Czech built), finished with Star Decals for an Afghan Northern Alliance vehicle in 2001.

 

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Only extras are the grills which are from the Eduard kit-specific set. Camo is Tamiya Olive Green and RAF Cockpit Green. Weathering is as you would expect - pin washes and dot filters with W & N oils, rust is red/orange/yellow and raw umber oils stippled with Vietnam Earth and Yellow Ochre pigments. Dust finish is Migs' Beach Sand mixed with AK European Dust, applied very sparingly on the hull & turret and thicker around the running gear and tracks. Still need paint and fix the tow cables and yes I know the tracks on the left side are a little 'off' in the photos I've already repaired that !

 

Thanks for taking the time to look and / or comment. Best from NZ.

 

 

 

Ian.

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Thanks Darryl (how are things up on the Fylde ? - used to fly Microlights off the sands), and everybody else, really appreciate the feedback, never taken for granted.

 

 

Have a great weekend, best from NZ.

 

 

Ian.

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One glitch with the Tamiya kit is that they forgot the enlarged hub on wheel station 1.  This was certainly fitted on the T-55A and possibly introduced during production of the earlier T-55 Model 1958.  It wore out too quickly.

 

Also, Czechoslovakia never built the T-55A: they carried on with the T-55 until 1983 and were the last producer of the T-54/5 line.  T-55A was built in Russia and Poland.  Which is the other key glitch with the Tamiya kit: wrong engine deck for a 55A.  Blast Models had an engine deck correction set with the rectangular grilles, which I believe is still available along with a more comprehensive update set.

 

Tahk used to do a resin wheel correction set with a pair of wheels, now long OOP.  But the MiniArt starfish wheel sets for T-54/5 and T-62 have the correct configurations.  A T-62 set will correct 2 Tamiya T-55s as T-62 had them on wheel stations 1 and 5, which Tamiya also goofed on their old T-62.  Whether the 2 companies' parts are visually compatible I cannot say.

 

T-54s are often seen with the enlarged hub retro-fitted as they wore out and it is likely that later Czech and Polish T-54s (built for several years after Russia changed to the T-55 from 1958) had them fitted during production.  Older T-54s can be seen with spider wheels on 4 axles and a single enlarged hub starfish on the front axle.  Bovington's T-54 Model 1953-based Tiran 4 is thus fitted.

 

It seems that Type 59 and Type 69 did not adopt the enlarged hub, but then they are based on the T-54.  I believe the introduction of the anti-radiation lining and other changes between the T-54 and T-55 changed the weight distribution and put more strain on the front wheel station.

Edited by Das Abteilung
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14 hours ago, Andy350 said:

  How long did it take to complete, and did you start a progress thread on this?

 

Started in August, Andy but didn't bother with a progress thread here on BM (whenever I've posted them here in the past, nobody seems interested). I do have progress photos on a couple of FB modelling pages if you're interested.

 

 

 

Ian.

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7 hours ago, Ian said:

 

Started in August, Andy but didn't bother with a progress thread here on BM (whenever I've posted them here in the past, nobody seems interested). I do have progress photos on a couple of FB modelling pages if you're interested.

 

 

 

Ian.

I'm interested.  As I am building something similar with the interior kit it would be interesting to see how yours went.  It looks a very complex setup.  Thanks

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