MiniArt Tiran 5, South Lebanon Army

[MikeR]

Yep, you've read that right, my latest completion is a MiniArt Tiran 5!

 

Originally I bought MiniArt's Tiran 4 Late Type non-interior kit to build as the vehicle featured on the box top - full late mods, 100mm gun and spider web wheels. Normally I like to build according to at least one photograph but unfortunately I couldn't find any images of a tank in SLA service in that specific configuration so I was a bit stuck. Just before lockdown came into force here in the UK I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and buy a MiniArt T-55 and cross kit the two to produce a SLA Tiran 5, which I do have plenty of images of thanks to Samir Kassis' "Tiran in Lebanese Wars" book. I settled on 37027, which is the non-interior version of the T-55 Model 1963 kit. Thanks to Kassis' book as well as "Tiran Wrecks" by Michael Maas and Adam O'Brian I had enough references to produce a reasonably accurate rendition of such a vehicle.

 

All in all the cross-kitting exercise was fairly simple - it's basically the T-55 kit's hull, turret and running gear married to the Tiran 4 kit's running boards and Tiran specific parts with a little modification and scratchbuilding. The running boards do need some alteration as they don't quite fit straight away - the exhaust is very slightly further back on the T-55 kit and material needs to be removed at the front where they meet and wrap around the upper glacis. I nearly made a boo-boo on the turret: I remembered to reverse the commander's cupola but I forgot to do the same for the loader's hatch! Luckily I caught it before the glue had hardened!

 

I did spend some time during the construction phase pondering what shade of blue to paint it and settled on Humbrol 248 RLM 78 as it looked near-enough to what I was looking for. As is normal for me the whole model was painted using a brush although as usual for Humbrol's latest paint standards the RLM 78 was a bit thick.

 

Rather ironically I completed the model just after the explosion in Beirut last week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, comments and criticism welcome!

 

Mike.🇱🇧

 

[Ernst]

Great model, love the colour, it really sets it apart. Those Lebanese have an interesting array of afv's but it's the blueish colour that make them instantly recognizable.

Cheers,

Ernst

[Alpha Juliet]

Nice one!

[Bullbasket]

Great work Mike. Nice one.

 

John.

[MikeR]

Thanks guys!

 

Mike.

[Kingsman]

Very nicely done indeed.

 

I had - indeed still have - the same idea to create a Tiran 5 by cross- kitting a Miniart T-55 and Tiran 4.  The Legend Tiran 5 conversion costs more than a MiniArt kit......  I'll leave that idea on the shelf for a while now until we've all forgotten how good this one is!

I contacted Minart some time ago about any plans to release a Tiran 5, to which they replied that they intended to but it was not a priority. It is a surprising omission from their range, especially considering that they have all the parts tooled.

 

I must re-read the S-K book as I was - am - likewise intending to do an SLA Tiran 4 OOB. Miniart and Takom have both kitted the SLA-unique version with late features but 100mm gun, so they must think there is evidence. Or they both goofed their Tiran 4/5 recognition........

[MikeR]

2 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

I must re-read the S-K book as I was - am - likewise intending to do an SLA Tiran 4 OOB. Miniart and Takom have both kitted the SLA-unique version with late features but 100mm gun, so they must think there is evidence. Or they both goofed their Tiran 4/5 recognition........

 

I did find the lack of photographic confirmation a bit frustrating myself - the boxart vehicle would have been quite eye catching! I think the only confirmed Tiran 4 in late configuration with all the stowage bins and 100mm gun is the example at Yad La-Shiryon, BUT, that seems to be based on a T-54 Model 1951 rather a T-54A like the kit is. Combining the MiniArt T-54-3 kit with the Tiran 4 one would produce that vehicle. An alternative would be to do that cross-kit and produce one of the Lebanese Forces Tirans featured in the Kassis book? Like the museum example they had the early style engine grill but the LF removed the turret bins although the mounting pegs were still visible.

 

Mike.

[Kingsman]

The Minart Tiran 4 Early is based on a "T-54-3", although I thought that was an M1953 rather than an M1951. But what do I know...... 

 

And of course that kit comes without all the Late configuration bins and bits. But that would be ideal for depicting them as removed. So potentially no cross-kitting.  Bovington has an early Tiran 4 like this, complete with spider wheels and D-10 gun without fume extractor.

 

I am assuming that at least some of these early conversions were later upgraded. Some certainly got the L7 gun.  The lack of deep wading capability pre T-54A was not an issue and IDF considered all the T-54s and 55s to be essentially interchangeable. Their combat capability was essentially identical and mechanical commonality high.  So a Late Tiran 4 configuration on a very early T-54 is not beyond the bounds of possibility. Don't forget that in 1967 the Syrians and Egyptians only had relatively early models - indeed both were still using T-34s too - and IDF didn't capture any of their later-model replacements until 1973.

[Kingsman]

I found a photo that closely matches the Takom SLA Tiran 4 box art, and that tank is definitely a Tiran 5.  Which suggests that Takom might have been fooled by the D-10 gun into believing it is a 4 without thinking "ventilator".  Not helped by the possibly misleading example at Latrun.  Sadly a lot of their exhibits need to be taken with a pinch of cautionary salt.  All of the monument Tirans in Lebanon seem to be 5s.

 

Now, is this one a 4??  Is that the top of the ventilator I can see between the fella on the left and the helmet on the roof?  Or perhaps a plated-over area where the ventilator used to be?  It isn't the loader's periscope.

 

[edjbartos]

Beautiful work, really like it, well done

 

Ed

[MikeR]

19 minutes ago, Das Abteilung said:

I found a photo that closely matches the Takom SLA Tiran 4 box art, and that tank is definitely a Tiran 5.  Which suggests that Takom might have been fooled by the D-10 gun into believing it is a 4 without thinking "ventilator".  Not helped by the possibly misleading example at Latrun.  Sadly a lot of their exhibits need to be taken with a pinch of cautionary salt.  All of the monument Tirans in Lebanon seem to be 5s.

 

Now, is this one a 4??  Is that the top of the ventilator I can see between the fella on the left and the helmet on the roof?  Or perhaps a plated-over area where the ventilator used to be?  It isn't the loader's periscope.

 

I'd say it's a 5 - the oval gunner's sight aperture says it's a Czechoslovak or Polish built tank and as far as I can tell the upper/lower glacis join is straight although the light angle makes that far from certain (I fiddled with the image in Paint Shop Pro). Judging from the Kassis and particularly the Maas/O'Brian books the Tiran 5 seems to have been based on both early production Soviet tanks (those without the loader's MG cupola) and Czechoslovak built ones (those with the MG cupola) although other combinations could also be valid. The SLA seems to have been supplied with both.

 

Based on the photographic evidence available to me, if modelling a SLA tank then a Tiran 5 would be a much safer choice than a 4.

 

A good thing about the MiniArt non-interior Tiran 4 Late kit is that it shares the same plastic sprues as their T-54A boxing although not all the appropriate photo-etch is included. The only really big omission is the correct turret shell but the Tiran 4 one should be easy to alter. I'm planning on modelling an Egyptian T-54A using the left over parts from the two kits I used.

 

Mike.

[Kingsman]

Well it looks like my Miniart SLA Tiran 4 might be going on eBay then.

 

As far as I can tell, by 1973 the Syrians still had exclusively Russian-built tanks including T-54-2, -3, A & B, T-55 & T-55A with orders starting in 1956.   But Egypt had a mixed bag of Russian, Polish and Czech production T-54/A and T-55/A ordered from 1960. Their original new T-54As were probably Czech and they received 850 assorted used T-54s just in time for most to be lost in 1973.

 

So Tiran 4s on any or all of Russian, Czech or Polish T-54-3, A or B are feasible in theory.  Noting that the Poles and Czechs carried on building the T-54A for 8 or 9 years after Russia stopped and that while the Poles built the T-55A the Czechs only built the T-55.

 

If your interest is Egyptian T-54As, I believe they received 350 new build, probably Czech, in 1961-64 (Russia stopped production in 1957) followed by the 800 used mixed bag mentioned above and a further 50 used Russian delivered in 1967-73.

[Kingsman]

I have had another look at the S-K book and you are right that the only Tiran 4s in there are LF, not SLA.

 

However, there is a picture of the Tiran 4 100mm tanks at a Negev training centre in IDF markings: i.e. the Miniart interior kit. I read somewhere but now can't find it that the initial SLA crews were trained on these tanks disguised as IDF for security and that they took their tanks off to Lebanon with them. They were no use to IDF with that gun.  But if this is true, where is the photo evidence?

[MikeR]

Ah, of course, I forgot about those! Although I think the crews were actually LF ones as one of the captions on page 25 of the Kassis book identifies them as such. That would explain the apparent absence of images of Tiran 4s in SLA service? The only irritating thing about the photos of those IDF marked tanks is the absence of anything which shows the engine deck grill configuration with any clarity. I still think that the both the interior and non-interior Tiran 4 Late-with-100mm-gun boxings are incorrect in having the T-54A/B style split grill rather than the early single piece one. The initial CAD images MiniArt released of the late-with-interior kit did indeed show the early grill but it was obviously changed before release.

 

Mike.

 

Edit: Not so much incorrect as a bit limiting - it would have been nice if MiniArt had included all the parts and etch for both grill styles!

[APA]

Hmmm I'm not sure 🤔 I think it needs more machine guns 😁

 

Nice work 👌

 

A

[Kingsman]

I agree that Miniart could have made fewer kits with more optional parts in each, especially as some redundant parts for other boxings are often included on sprues.

 

LF tanks were plain boring darkish green, so I don't fancy one of those.  Although perhaps worn through to sand grey in places if they were indeed the ex-Negev ones repainted.  Could be a good look.

 

I have asked Miniart if they have any proof of SLA Tiran 4 use from their research, and they claim to have forwarded my query to their research department for a reply "in a few days".  To their credit, my web form query was answered within a couple of working hours - which is better than most companies.  They refused to be drawn on whether they were planning a Tiran 5 (although they have previously said it was on their 'to do' list), APC-55, Syrian T-34 or Egyptian SU-100.  No harm in asking, I thought...........

 

If I had to lay a bet, it would be that both Takom and Miniart have goofed their Tiran recognition and come up with the right scheme for the wrong tank.  But would they both have got it that wrong?  As I said above, the photo the Takom boxart is coped from is definitely a 5.

 

I still have a T-55A and Tiran 4 in the stash for a Tiran 5 kitbash like this. I was going to use the Tiran 4 as a basis for an APC-55 but I'm not convinced that would be right from the hull perspective, so I've bought a Tamiya Tiran 5 for that project nothwithstanding the need to improve bits.  The S-K APC-55 conversion has a whole new turret but without the Tiran boxes and bins, and one of the Legend Tiran sets is a very expensive way around that.  But with the Tiran 4Sh and Tiran 5 being so similar, I'm wondering whether to skip the Tiran 5 - except perhaps for the SLA angle - and just content myself with a very early Tiran 4 and a 4Sh, as the Alpha and Omega if you like.

[Kingsman]

Another prompt response from Miniart's research department.  But disappointing.  They sent me a copy of the painting guide from the kit instructions and a note that they developoed the kit and markings in association with Samer Kassis (which is noted in the kit). They claimed to be unable to provide any photos as these would appear in SK's "forthcoming" book.  Which either means his "Tirans in Lebanese Wars" already published, or he is working on another book.  As the kit was released some months before the book I assume they mean the already-published book.

 

They did however give me the link to SK's Facebook page and I have messaged him with the same question.  Did SLA actually use the Tiran 4?  Because there is no photo evidence in his book or elsewhere that they did.

[Kingsman]

After some correspondence with Samer on Facebook he assures me that "many" Tiran 4s were used by SLA but that there are just very few photos of them.  He mangaged to find just 1 for his book, which is on page 11 at the bottom. The one with the very muddy wheels.  I had looked at this and thought it to be another Tiran 5.  But I looked again and if you look very closely you can just - and only just - make out the mushroom ventilator in the shadow between the .50 and .30 MG mounts.  So, proof that SLA did have at least 1 Tiran 4 late 100mm as kitted by Miniart.  Although, as I said above, he is certain there were more.  He has drawn 2 on the cover of his book, which seem to be the same 2 as the Miniart kit markings.

 

Earlier in his book he says that SLA received an unspecified number of Tiran 4s in the early 80's and that these were replaced by an also-unspecified number of Tiran 5s in the early 90s with some 4s then being converted to other roles such as the APC-54.  Perhaps it was just the case that there were not many cameras around in that conflict in the 80s.  Certainly most of the photos in the book seem to date from the 90s as they are almost entirely of Tiran 5s.

[MikeR]

On 8/20/2020 at 11:43 AM, Das Abteilung said:

I agree that Miniart could have made fewer kits with more optional parts in each, especially as some redundant parts for other boxings are often included on sprues.

Very true!

 

Excellent info on the SLA Tirans - now that I've had a look at the same photo I can just see the bulge of the ventilator as well. I've just received another Tiran book, this time from Bookworld Wholesale: T-54/5 to IDF Tiran 4/5. It deals with the period 1967-73 and has an excellent set of photos which show the initial configuration for the Tiran 5 which all seem to be based on the early type of T-55 without the loaders MG cupola. Apparently the majority of the T-54/55's captured by Israel in 1967 were Egyptian with only about 22 coming from Syria. There's also a photo (unfortunately uncaptioned) at the bottom of page 28 which shows a Czechoslovak built T-55 in Sinai with the characteristic Egyptian Army number plate on the right front fender!

 

Mike.

[Kingsman]

Glad to be of service.  I had to do some digging after reading this thread in order to know whether to hang on to my Miniart Tiran 4 Late kit or not.  Now I know I can keep it and make it as SLA.

 

I've now decided not to go down the Tiran 5 kitbash route as per this thread but I'm going to re-purpose the kits for an APC-55.  I had bought a Tamiya Tiran 5 for that project but it needs so much work to bring up to spec that I've decided to sack it and use the Miniart T-55 as the basis with bits from another Tiran 4.  The "de-frocked" Tiran 4 kit will probably end up as a Lebanese Forces Militia tank after all, many of which had their Tiran fittings removed anyway as noted.  But they also added their own copies of Tiran boxes etc to captured T-54s.  SK's book has pictures of some of these.

 

I've also got that other book you mention - with the "illegitimate child" sub-title - but it doesn't say anything about the Lebanese angle.  It is however a good telling of the story about how the Tiran came to be.  I believe the Egypt-Syria imbalance is that the Syrians tended to fight their tanks until they were knocked out and even entire units destroyed whereas the Egyptians had a habit of abandoning their tanks and running away when things got hairy, losing 370 T-54/55 in 67. Syria lost less than 150 but had and deployed fewer of them than Egypt.  I recall being instructed that it was important to understand in combat the essential difference between situations that are genuinely dangerous or just frightening.  Russian training of Arab forces has often been described as basic and unimaginitive.

 

The early production T-55s M1958 and M1961 did not have the loader's cupola MG.  It was not reintroduced until the T-55A M1970, using the cupola mount from the T-62 rather than resurrecting the one from the T-54.  It was however widely retrofitted after 1970.  So for 67 none of the T-55s would have had it.  For 73 many, even most, of the replacement tanks supplied by Russia after 67 were 2nd hand older models of mixed production lineage.  Some of the pre-67 tanks were Czech.

[Mangled Plastic]

Superb work, well done! 

[PlaStix]

That really is a great looking Tiran 5 Mike. Very well done!

Kind regards,

Stix