Mr Bowcat Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) Hi Guys, This is my first GB on Britmodeller, so please let me know if my post is in the wrong format. I had this kit in the stash, it came as part of a job lot that I bought on Ebay for a GB on another forum. I wasn't sure if I would ever get around to it, so this GB was quite handy for me. There was only ever one T-50 in Finnish service (R-110 "Niki"), captured in 1941 at Äänislinna/Petrozavodskand and used until 25th June 1944 at which point it broke down and was returned to the Centre Armour Repair Facility in Varkaus. Although never used operationally again, it remained on the Finnish Army inventory listing until 1955, and now resides at the Parola Armour Museum. The Finns up-armoured the T-50 with 14mm added to the hull front and turret sides. The kit itself doesn't seem bad. It's my first Hobbyboss, and other than some annoying EPN's seems to be relatively flash free with crisp details. It comes with some PE, and the only let down is the tracks (more on this later) I started with the wheels and lower hull. No polycaps with this kit so the wheels were temporarily attached with PVA so the tracks could be shaped. The tracks are individual links with separate guide horns. Although a 1/35 scale, being a relatively small tank in real life the parts are more like working with 1/72. 93 links per side, 4 attachment points per link and separate horns = many boring hours. Having now completed one side (which I did in sections) I have also found that they don't fit around the sprocket particularly well leaving one link in particular with a bit of a gap. Nothing some carefully placed mud won't hide. For the 2nd side, I am just going to do one complete run and fit it around the wheels and sprocket. I think this will be easier. While waiting for various other bits to dry I also made a start on the upper hull, this was mainly adding some interior parts for the engine grilles and the sponsons. That's it for now, I think I have a few more evenings of tracks to keep me busy before I can get on with gluing the top and bottom of the hull together. Edited January 22, 2020 by Mr Bowcat Punctuation 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 welcome along to your first GB. The post is perfect, and what an interesting build you've bought as well, an AFV and a very rare one too! Nice to see you're off of a good start as well. Those kit tracks can be a real pain at time and seem to take forever! Good luck with the build, I do hope you enjoy your first GB, they are lots of fun. I look forward to seeing her done in the gallery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Thanks Rich. I decided to just crack on with the tracks for the other side last night. 93 links and a few hours later......... I'm hoping to get these all together tonight and formed around the wheels, then I can get on with some more enjoyable building. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reini Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Whoa! Are they all separate? I think I stick to planes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Yep, all individual, with separate guide horns that need to be glued on. 😒 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 3 hours ago, reini said: Whoa! Are they all separate? I think I stick to planes Good idea. If they play around with metal tracks, they have link pins between every pair of treads! Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Nice start on an interesting subject. Those tracks are going to be a labour of love and will look great once done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted January 27, 2020 Author Share Posted January 27, 2020 Cheers Col. I pushed on this weekend and have got most of the build done, just a few small bits (grab handles, towing eyes) to add. I have run into a couple issues with the kit though. First and foremost, the instructions are frequently incorrect and have the wrong part numbers, and in some cases the wrong sprue letters. Easily overcome by visually finding the part, but this always annoys me as a simple cross check before printing could alleviate the issue. The more serious problem was with the PE, in particular the engine grills. Hobbyboss give you these both in plastic and PE and you choose which one to use. It's a relatively complex shape so I used the plastic parts (after sanding off the moulded in details) as a form to get the correct bends. The issue was that the PE parts were too short when formed! After scratching by head for a bit I decided to fit them and fill in the gap as I thought visually it would look better. Although not strictly correct it should look OK under paint. I experienced similar problems with some of the bracing for the sponsons, in particular with the two parts at the very front. One was too short and one too long! So I'm almost ready to get it into primer, I can then check where I need to correct (or hide) any issues ready for top coat. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 A good save on the short grill sections, smart work. All looks good so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) Hi, Never built one of their tanks, but I have found a few problems with Hobby Boss planes - incorrect numbering for example, and on their P40C they forgot the undercarriage doors. Given that they seem to be aimed at the cheap and quick to build market (I thought) then I am surprised at the individual track links. It is an interesting choice and looks good so far. I gather it was designed to replace the T26, and, like the T26 now in the Tank Museum at Bovington some were captured by the Finns. Pete Edited January 27, 2020 by PeterB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 Cheers gents. Pete, my first HobbyBoss kit, probably my last. I believe you are correct, it was designed to replace the T-26 (which in itself was a copy of the Vickers) but due to technical problems only 69 were produced. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 43 minutes ago, Mr Bowcat said: my first HobbyBoss kit, probably my last. Given the sheer volume that HB (and Trumpeter, they are basically the same) produce, it pays to read up on the kit of interest. Some are very good, some are not, either in construction, or accuracy. I like that early war Russian tri colour scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 I like the Finnish tri colour too, it makes a change to do a hard edge camo, and more challenging too. I recently built a Finnish StuG iii in the same scheme, which is how I came about getting this kit (it was part of a job lot auction on Ebay). I don't think I would have bought it otherwise. IMG_20200114_175113 by Bob Bowcat, on Flickr 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Mmmm HB/Trumpeter PE on AFV's can be very hit and miss fit wise. It's safer with both of these manufactures to shape and test fit the PE before removing plastic. That aside it's starting to look nice, keep up the great work. Plastic buildup tracks, they're never fun, I usually throw them away and go with the Friulmodel metal ones, just as labour intensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) I considered metal tracks, Masterclub make a set, but I couldn't justify the expense (£25 +shipping) on a kit that effectively cost me £12. Edited January 30, 2020 by Mr Bowcat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 mmm they're not cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 Morning chaps. The last few days I have been working on painting the camo. Because this is hard edge it's quite a laborious task. I started by scanning the painting instructions and then printing them out scaled 1:1 with the kit, which was then painted in the base colour. The shapes that remained the base colour were then cut out one at a time from my reprinted instructions, transferred to masking tape, cut out again and applied to the kit. The 2nd colour was then applied, and the masking process repeated. The third colour was then applied, and the masking removed. There's a couple of small touch up's required, and I still need to unmask the barrel (the paint was still soft so didn't want to grab the turret and leave finger prints) but once done I will apply a filter to tie everything together, then paint the tools and machine guns. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srkirad Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Impressive result and nice camo, Good job! Cheers, S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Looking great...nice scheme. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 Cheers Stuart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Looking good sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 Cheers dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bowcat Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 Morning guys. I pushed on with this over the weekend. Decals applied (only 4 of them) although annoyingly HobbyBoss supply Swastika's rather than the correct Finnish Hakaristi (hook cross). I had 2 of the correct emblems left over from my StuG build so put these on the turret and the Swastikas on the hull. In retrospect I wish I'd left these off. Then it was on to the weathering. I decided to give this one quite a battered look (something I've not done before) so went quite heavy with the chipping. This was followed up with a pin wash and some streaking on the turret. There is more streaking to go on the hull, and I have ordered some AK earth deposits to try. I also got the wheels painted up and glossed ready for weathering. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 It´s a mini T-34 on a mini KV-1 chassis! I´d like to see more pics of your Sturmi too... V-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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