Hi all,
i would like to know if the Tamiya barrel is correct in size (length and caliber) and shape or if an AM barrel is useful.

TIA
Olivier

Hi Oliver,
From what I read it was very acurate in the kit. Indeed, I bought an aftermarket metal barrel but saw no improvement at all in the kit's item when placed side by side so I stuck with the plastic one.

The kit barrel was a perfect fit with the lightest clean up required to eliminate the seam. I finished my T-55 as a Northern Alliance vehicle in Afghanistan with a "Warriors" crew and it looks right to me. Adding some fuel cell lines will be the biggest improvement to the kit's overall appearance as it needs so little......oh and some Friul's if you can.

Best regards
Gary

I think the Tamiya barrel is correct, erasing the join seam will not be a problem, but if you don't want to deal with this, better if you can get a CMD barrel, it comes with a resin fume extractor and it looks quite good for me. The Model Point barrel is also a good choice, because you can see the rifling, but it is a full turned aluminium barrel, you may have to make the weld seams across the fume extractor if you want to add a little bit of detail. Hope this helps. Best regards.

José

I got the Big Ed Set from eduard, there was a Aluminium GBarrel so I'll stick with the metal one.
With this kit I got a little over the top with the extras.. won't do it again for sure...
- CMK interior Set
-CMK Engine Set
- Big Ed Set
- Aber Fenders Set
- Aber Tool boxes Set
- Trumpeter Finnish T-55 (wanted the Mine Roller...
Was almost going to get some Model Kasten tracks but the Tamyia ones are good to go!

Thanks to all of you.
In fact, I have the CMK aluminum barrel in their T-55AM2 conversion set and would like to know with which barrel I could compare it.

Olivier

Hi Oliver,
Slightly off topic,but just to fore warn you that the CMK doesn't fit at all well with the resin mantel cover, widening the hole destroys the collar for the IR arm and to make matters worse the Tamiya collar is too small for the barrel, which I found out until it was too late. In addition the PE strips for the guns thermal jacket are a real nightmare.
I recommend a look at the Osprey book Modelling the T-55 Main Battle Tank, infact I should have waited for my copy to arrive before embarking on the conversion. The author ended up taking out the CMK barrel and using a model point example.
The book will also give you some other clues on how to address other fit flaws, the side skirts especially.
Hope this is helpful, cheers for now October

Thanks for the points October. I was aware of the skirts trouble, in fact I mention it in my comparison review of the CMK and Real Models kits.

I will pay the adequate attention to the barrel fitting when i build my model in 2009 ?!

Olivier