T-62A Prague Spring 1968 - Tamiya 1/35

[Ron NL-S]

 After all these completed builds I felt it was time for something new ad "fresh" out of the box.... Another oldie from Tamiya; their T-62A. As usual I like my builds to have a historical context, so I searched for any operational data and it appears that these, or more accurately the T-62, was used during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in august 1968.

 

 

However there will appear crossovers from other kits and builds as well. I have had Trumpeters T-54A Model 1951 for ages, started many years ago and I plan on pillaging that kit from parts I gathered over time to improve on that kit. I wanted it to be a T-54B as used by the NVA in Vietnam during the Easter Offensive of 1972 and so I acquired tracks, wheels, idlers, sprockets and a DShK from another Tamiya kit; their T-55. These, being better than the T-62 parts, will now be used on that one and the T-62 parts, still being better than Trumpeters, will end up on the T-54.

A comparison of the running gear; T-54 vs. T-55 vs. T-62

 

 

Here too T-54 vs. T-62 vs. T-55 DShK's and ammoboxes.

 

One thing that was omitted was the rough cast metal surface Soviet tanks are known for. The T-62 turret was a smooth as a baby's butt. So that had to be replicated. At first I tried the "cement"-method; covering the surface, waiting for it to become soft and than apply a texture with a stiff brush. I used Tamiya's cement, but that only created a glazing on the surface.... So I went for little more drastic measures; nailpolish remover. That worked quite well, but I had to sand down the excess later on, hence the frosted appearance.

I also had to sand quite a lot to get the barrel acceptably round, but with some effort that worked quite well.

 

 

The fit of the barrel assembly however is not good. First image with barrel in almost level, downward position, the second with barrel in raised position. That will need "some" work...

[Kingsman]

A note on wheels.  Get the Miniart T-62 wheel set and ditch the rest!!

 

Why? In 2 words, wheel hubs.  The T-62 had noticeably enlarged wheel hubs on the first and last wheel stations.  The T-55A had them on the first wheel station.  But Tamiya goofed this and provided 10 wheels all the same, which would be appropriate for all T-54s and the original T-55 - but not the T-55A.  Or the T-62.

[Ron NL-S]

Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately these are not viable in this particular build. For one the wheels are already attached, permanently, I'll show you how and why later on, since it would appear that I already mitigated the issue by accident.

For another this kit deserves its reputation for being notoriously bad. It is not up to Tamiya standards as we have come to know them, so investing in a set of wheels, that cost more than the kit, seems counterproductive. Especially if I do not know if the tracks would fit, which would mean another upgrade to buy,

[Ron NL-S]

 This build surely isn't the hardest one, but it isn't the easiest either.

The kit has its number of pitfalls, but all in all goes together rather quickly. However for my endgoal I needed to address some things and make some changes. First of all the wheels. I replaced those with a set from Tamiya's T-55 as I wrote earlier, but the main issue is that the wheels do not fit the shock absorbers! Or more precisely the polycap wheel hubs do not. So I had to shorten the axles, meaning the wheels had to be glued in place permanently. Which meant leaving off the hull for easy of painting. I would have to anyway if I were to have any chance of fixing the vinyl tracks later on, since these have to be made to fit and glued in place too.

Several of the reference pictures show T-62's in a rather dark shade of green, so I tried Tamiya's XF-61 Dark Green.... which turned out quite dark indeed! But I sort of like it for representing a relatively new vehicle, so I'll run with that.

Another detail is the deep wading equipment. Tamiya provides a short one to be attached to the rear of the turret, but pictures show a long one attached to the rear of the vehicle, often on top of the extra fueldrums. I had a tube in just the right diameter, so made a new one. Added additional drum fastenings as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ron NL-S]

I did not like the outcome of the turret, so I redid that one. Off into a bag of oven cleaner it went. The decals took some scrubbing though. References show all sorts of white markings. There appears to have been no real uniformity in either applying them, their location or their form.
I have seen all from T-shaped to crucifix-formed with straight and angled arms. Even running all the way down the backside of the tank over unditching beam and fuel drums.
All sorts of unit numbers too; simple, with or without a small divisional symbol, with additional numbers in either squares or near-circels.

The decals I used, once again from Trumpeter's T-54A kit, were so stiff and unpliable  that I cut them up in order to make them take the shape of the turret better and diminish the creasing. I doused them in Microsol first, dabbed, tapped and pushed them down and finally used Microset. But you still see the creases, especially along the top edge.

 

 

 

 

 Another problem occurred when I sealed the decals with the matt clear paint; the entire surface became considerably darker! So I had to redo the whole tank, making it much darker then I had initially planned for.

 

 

The rather sparse stowage comes from the sparesbox. It lacked more suitable stowage.

 

 

Just out of nostalgia I used only this Tamiya set for the weathering.

Tracks were drybrushed using Vallejo's "natural steel", gave it a wash with dark grey, followed by a darkbrown wash and topped of with the brown from the weathering set along the outer edges.

Unfortunately the vinyl tracks were twisted and bent, making it impossible to get them to fit properly. The tracks actually are made up of one set of Tamiya T-55 tracks, combined and cut to length. The supplied kit tracks are too short and as a result will sit too tight, losing the typical sag of the real thing.

Weathering in general is kept minimal. Looking at pictures of the event itself all tanks look remarkably clean. None of them had come a long way during the invasion, so I suspect they had been standing at the ready just across the borders.

 

[Julien]

Moved to WIP as thats what this is

[Longbow]

Looking good, so far !! I like the large white marking on the turret. 

[Ron NL-S]

I consider this one to be done!

 

On the following pictures a number a small issues was shown, so I had to fix those. Replace the broken antenna, paint the "glass" of the optics etc. I had also forgotten all about the fuel hoses between the external tanks, even though they are quite prominent, until it was too late to add them. Finding good references photo's for details of contemporary vehicles proved difficult, but in case of those hoses, one could easily copy those from a T-55 for instance.

The white markings had to look as it they were handpainted by the crew and I always find it challenging to do that convincingly. With this one I am rather pleased by the result and I used Tamiya's XF-2 straight out of the jar. Painted some small runners on the front too. I toned the white down with a neutral grey wash, making it look a little grimy. I suppose Soviet tanks always were...

I must admit that I did not give this kit the attention it should have gotten. There are a number of places where I should have sanded a bit better, remove some flash, work a little more precise and such. But I guess I got biased by reading reports and statements online, when I researched the kit. It was stated that it was such a horrible kit, nothing was right so I ended up cutting corners. I really shouldn't have...

It was really not all that bad! The main flaw I discovered was the wrong rear end. The mudguards are too long and straight. They should follow the curving of the track. The engine deck is very long too, but neither of these issues hampers the fun of building the tank. All in all I enjoyed my first "Russian heavy metal"! And I also learned a lot more about events behind the "Iron Curtain". More to follow....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[Vaastav]

Looks great. I did the same model, but modified it to look like it served in Chechnya. You are many miles ahead of me. Great work, and not Idi Nahui