I must go back to something that Comrade MP mentioned on Page 1 of the build log-




He was quite right about this- the guide horns on the tracks are too thick- they won't go in between the road wheels very much, they kind of bounce out if you try and force them in. So, like he said, sand the guide horns down a bit on each side and they fit just fine.



Each run of track (one side at a time) was airbrushed in Vallejo Black- it seems that when clean the T-64's tracks appeared black until they got used and the steel started to show through and mud/dirt coated them. So I always start with what they look like when clean, hence using black first.





Once that was done I gave them a fairly heavy drybrushing with Andrea Gun Metal and then a final, more abbreviated, dryrbrushing with Vallejo Natural Steel.

This, the wheels and the hull tub were then given a coat of Matt Varnish to protect the paint. Prior to this the very outside of each roadwheel and the return rollers were painted Dark Rubber.








So then it was on to fitting the tracks. The idler run, top track run and the sprocket run all went on fine. I ran into a slight problem with the bottom run of track. Because I had deviated from the instructions by adding one more link to the idler and sprocket runs I was left with a bottom run roughly half a link too big. This is, unfortunately, the risk you run when you don’t follow the instructions! Its also the reason I prefer metal tracks! Here is where the problem arose:



I’ve had to deal with this problem before and in this case I needed to remove one whole link from the bottom run and since the track is big and sturdy this is very easy. Once that was done I needed to add roughly 1-2mm onto the very end of the idler track run so I cut the very tips off one track pad and glued them to the end of each side- as can be seen in the photos highlighted with red lines.





This gave me the extra length to make the track run fit nicely and it’s a very small alteraration its not all that noticeable. Here's how it ended up (still has to be touched up with paint):



There are pros and cons to both sides of doing plastic indi or link and length tracks- you can follow the instructions and then paint everything once its all in place or deviate and hope it doesn't present any problems. Those are probably some of the reasons metal tracks are so popular !

I just have to snug the upper run down onto the return rollers now and then add the left hand fenders- more on this soon!

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-

Instead of spending all that time sanding those small track guide horns, it might be quicker and better to add a small shim of card between the road wheels,instead.

Malc.

Karl,

That looks like an impressive kit so far. Very tempting!

Thanks for the SBS,

Olaf

Malcolm- thats not a bad idea!
I must say though- it didn't actually take too long to sand the guide horns- you have four long runs that are easy and then I simply sanded the runs I built up for the sprocket and idlers while the glue was still drying and they hadn't yet been bent around those parts.

Olaf- Thanks for checking out the blog, I'm glad your enjoying it.

Hello,

with reference to your question becaue exercise photos. Here are some vids with interesting parts which show the T-64 during some exercises: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-O6ENAwcto&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYFcIK7m0o4&feature=related

Cheers

Hi Karl, Nice build log. I will be following this and you have really made me want to get this kit. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work.
Have a Great Day
Mukund

Moritz- Thanks for the videos, they are real interesting- plenty of inspiration!

Mukund- I'm glad your enjoying the build- thanks for stopping by and commenting, much appreciated.

So, on the progress front I have been quite slow- some health trouble has kept me away from the bench. I had stopped after putting on a run of tracks.

Getting back to the bench it was time to add the other run of tracks. I expected the same problems I'd encountered with the first run to crop up again but it was a little easier this time. The bottom run was, again, too big. But the removal of one whole link and a little work on what remained sorted the problem.

The top track run was actually a link short so I added a spare individual link and glued it down, making sure to also snug the upper run down onto the return rollers.





As you can see I also added the front glacis plate and the rear deck.







The fit of these parts was pretty much flawless apart from a little gap along each side of the engine deck above the track links- but this would be well covered by the addition of the fenders.

The left side fender is made up mostly of fuel cells and the lines that go along with it. The fit is great and the fit of the actual fender to the lower hull is very positive.









The right side fender is mostly stowage compartments and this was painted underneath like the one above before being glued in place (pictures of them in place will follow soon).





(The above picture shows one of the flexible parts at the left hand side- the mud flap on the rear of the fender- just to confirm that it holds paint nicely- thats Vallejo Russian Green on it.)

The only hiccup in these parts was a fuel line just behind and to the side of the driver's hatch- the line goes from the fender to the upper hull and the instructions show it bedding into a hole on the fender and connecting to a hole in the upper hull- but there isn't one and as far as I can see the instructions didn't call for one to be opened. So I had to do this myself, its no big deal- just a wee thing to be aware of!



So, with the fenders on there's a bit more to do on the front glacis before moving on to the hull. More to come soon.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for all the support.

Cheers.

-KARL187-

Great job so far!

Wow! Great WIP, thanks a lot and good luck!

"The bottom run was, again, too big. But the removal of one whole link and a little work on what remained sorted the problem.

The top track run was actually a link short."

Could it be that they have the part numbers transposed in the instructions or is there a big difference in the number of links to each part?

Great works Karl!!! Lookin' nice man.....

Gary

Mauro- Cheers mate!

Batsaikhan- Thanks for checking out the build log.

Steve- If you follow the instructions in the kit you will be able to achieve a decent track run- my concern was that the drape of the tracks as they came down from the idler and the sprocket to the road wheels was too sharp and to my eye didn't look right so thats why I went with my own way.

Gary- Thanks for stopping by my friend.


Putting each fender on presented no real problems except for where each fender meets the front glacis- I had to tape it down here while the glue dried to get the proper join but its no big deal.







I then realised I had left out a couple of parts that I should have done before attaching the fenders. These were small light-like fittings at the rear and what I assume is a mud/debris clearance rod just behind the rear sprocket.



Then it was back to the front of the upper hull to fit more lights and some etch guards. Make sure to note the direction of the bends for the etched guards.





The lights don't fit into the frames terribly well until you actually put the frames in place and as I saw from references the lower bars of the light guards are almost touching the glacis so I snugged them down to fit in that manner.





It was at this next stage, Stage 9, that I noticed an error in the instructions. This is what Stage 9 shows:



The first problem is the lack of part numbers for the un-ditching log retaining straps- they are PE-A2. Secondly the housing for the retaining straps are shown already placed on yet they were not called out in previous stages. This means the rear of the tank looks like this at this stage:





The housing for the retaining straps is not there- only you can see where it is supposed to go. I decided to re-do the instructions at this stage.



This is part PE-A2:



This is part PE-A4



This is part PE-A5:



These parts are quite small but the folds, while not shown in any detail in the instructions, are actually easy to make. Here's pictures of PE-A4 and A5 folded up and ready to install:





Once folded you can bend the bottom bits of A5 apart to insert the bottom of PE-A2 and then close them together again so that A2 can move freely so it is easier to wrap it around the un-ditching log.





I'm not at all sure whether I'm going to use the log in the kit as the wood grain is really poor and the material is like the self-healing stuff cutting mats are made from so trying to scribe wood grain just doesn't work.

After Stage 9 its time for the turret so there'll be updates for it soon.

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-

Well, I think that a stroll in a park could solve the problem

I'm really impressed by the cleanliness of your build...and the kit seems to be better than the latest Trumpeter releases

I'll be keeping an eye out now for some twigs as you said Mauro- its been windy where I live lately so hopefully I can find something suitable easily enough!

Moving on to the turret we are presented with two options- 'Estate One' and 'Estate Two'- the major difference is the 12.7mm AA gun on the Commander's position and there are a few other things. I decided to go with 'Estate One' that includes the AA gun.

First thing to do was open up some holes in the turret to accept various bits of kit and to remove some parts.

These holes are for the three ammunition boxes:



There's a part to remove here and the round shape needed filling in:



Four more holes are needed on this side for the turret stowage box:



The outer ring of the commander's cupola has an etch part to be bent around it:



The easiest way to do this is to tack on a piece and glue it down bit by bit.



There's a good few sub-assemblies you have to prepare (including the cupola part above) before moving on.

Snorkel/Fjording Apparatus:



Stowage Box:



IR Projector:



Commander's IR Spotlight and front of hatch:



Rear Turret light assembly (the finely moulded wire is a very nice touch):



12.7mm Ammo Boxes:



After this there's a fair amount of PE to be used on various parts of the turret and then all these sub-assemblies to add so there'll be more soon.

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-

Thanks for sharing your build. I'm reaaly glad to see your progress

Thare are many Pe parts in the kit. It seems a great model indeed

....My girlfriend hasn't done my birthday gift yet....I think I know what I could ask her

I made a pretty decent log from dowel with cocktail sticks stuck into it at an angle and then cut off almost flush to represent branch 'stubs'. The whole thing then covered in tissue soaked in white glue which makes a nice wrinkled bark once dry. Hacking at the dowel with a hobby knife before applying the tissue makes it more uneven.

Mauro- You'd better start dropping some hints about the kit!

Steve- I was in a hardware store the other day and saw some wooden dowel rods of various sizes, now I wish I'd got some! I'll maybe go back and see what they have- its an excellent idea you posted- many thanks.

I'm working on an update, should have it done soon!

It'll be quite hard to convince a woman that a T-64 model would be a beautiful gift. At least that it would be far better than a tie....but I'll try

I'm eager to see your progress

Cheers

The last update I posted was when I had just finished doing all the sub-assemblies for various bits of the turret. After that it was time to add some detailing to the fire control system and sighting devices on the turret. The mantlet, tie downs and left side grab rail were also added.















There were no real issues with any part except the tie downs. For me these are too 'flat' and they sit very flush with the turret. On references (I must recommend the old Concord 'T-64 and T-80' book) these appear to stand up a lot more and the placement is also more varied than that shown in the kit. I think these part would have definetly been better as PE as you could then shape them however you like.

After this it was time to add the various sub-assemblies that I already mentioned.















As you can see there is plenty of nice detail on these parts but I feel the inner side of the hatches could have been a little better done- perhaps with some detail just below the lip of the hatches like in Zvezda's T-90. Of course if you have the turret buttoned up that won't be an issue. I still haven't decided how to display this tank so I've left the hatches open to give me the option of adding some crew figures.

The only other thing I think worth mentioning is the extra ammunition box on the right hand side of the turret. It should be placed here:



Thats just blu-tacked on to show where the placement is. In the Concord book there is a good few references (on several T-64 variants) where the box and holder for it are not there so I've decided to leave mine off.

The last stage has you build up the 12.7mm AA gun and I'll have an update on that soon- its very nicely detailed I must say!

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-

I always think its a bit of a pity when you have built a great kit and enjoyed all the detail only to find out that, probably at the last stage, that the additional machine gun on your AFV is a really poor example. Its when you kind of feel that this rather small part just isn't in keeping with the rest of the kit.

I've done a few in the past where this is the case. However, as soon as I opened Trumpeter's box and came across the sprue that held the 12.7mm NSVT on this kit I knew it would be a cracker, it wasn't just an after-thought- in fact it is kind of a mini-kit all by itself comprising 28 plastic, styrene and PE parts!

















If you include the rear portion of the hatch (I have mine in the open position) this brings the total up to 30 parts. There's lots of very fine detail on these parts and I advise going slow and allowing the glue to dry at intervals so everything doesn't fall apart if you grab the part in the wrong place!

Once that gun is done thats the build completed. The turret on this doesn't mate into the hull the way you'd normally expect- you just kind of push it into place, although obviously you can take it out again for painting. So here's the completed build:
























I must say, after finishing the build, that this has been one of the most enjoyable kits I've done all year and I'm really looking forward to getting some paint on it.

So far the support for this build has been fantastic and I'd like to thank you all for reading and taking the time to comment and I hope you'll stick with me for the painting and weathering!

Obviously the painting and weathering stage is up next and at the moment I'm in the process of getting the primer on so updates will be coming soon!

Thanks for reading.

-KARL187-

Karl,

Looks awesome! Seeing this finished has made me officially ditch my Skif ones - no match!

One question, which I don't recall coming up in the blog (might be wrong though...): does the kit only come with the barrel without thermal sleeve?

Cheers,

Olaf

Karl,

what a nice build! I am looking forward getting mine!

Two suggestions:

1. Check the area left and right of the main gun, where the coax sits. It seems, Trumpeter redisigned the area with a mould insert. The departing lines are still visible on your build, maybe you should remove them.

2. Check where the lower turret part meets the upper turret in the five o´clock position. Looks as if there is a small gap.

Otherwise an excellent build!

Thomas

Olaf- thanks for the comments, much appreciated. The kit does actually come with the barrel that has the thermal sleeve (there's three barrels in the kit- the metal one, a plastic non-sleeved barrel and the thermal sleeve one)- there's a picture of one half of it in my review of the kit- there's a link back on the first post of the build.

Thomas- Fantastic spots mate! I didn't notice the departing lines around the front of the turret, I must have thought they were supposed to be there! The little line actually continues a bit on the other side too, around to the IR projector. I didn't notice those gaps on the bottom edge of the turret either so thanks for that aswell!.
After I put primer on the turret I also noticed I hadn't dealt with the join line on the snorkel apparatus so I have to fix that too!

Hello Karl,

You know i dont know much about modern armor...what i do know i learned from my T-62 mod.72 build. But i do know a skilled, clean, fantastic build when i see one....AND I SEE ONE!!! Great job Karl! I cant wait for the following paint and weathering stages.

Gary

@Karl187 – Karl,

I’have read through your kit review and you did an excellent job, I’m so tempted to get this kit but my table is full and the budget is low, so for now I’ll have to wait a bit. I’ll concur with Gary about the work you're doing with the kit. Karl, see if you can get your kit review linked up with this build log, as I don’t think it currently is? Anyhow, I’ll be lurking from out in cyberspace and closely follow your build as you post new updates. Looking real good so far . . .

~ Eddy