Alex she's coming along nicely and even plain Soviet green can look cool which I am sure you will prove to us all


John thanks for adding that link So there are even
T62 out there with top rollers on them . I shall research for sure, that would be something different to have on the shelf

Well lads, in about 3 hours it's officially X-Mas in Germany and we open our presents and get the celebrations going.
So I'd like to wish everyone a Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year.
I hope you and your families stay safe and healthy, specially with this crazy weather situation on the northern hemisphere at the moment. I hope that none of you have been hit to bad by the floods, high winds or ice storms. Well
lets hope you all get lots of new kits and I'll see you back here in a couple of days.

Have a good one



Paul

Hi all

Merry Christmas to all.



I did some more work on the exhust cover and added supports to the cover.



Fuel lines added by using small gauge electrical cable and use the isolation as the connectors.

Enjoy the holidays

Ole

I was thinking of joining this campaign, but then I got AFVs T-34/76 with interiour and I guess I will be busy for next two months... So... Enjoy your builds, I will be watching you

I managed to get a bit accomplished over the last week. I've decided to use some Fruil tracks as I'll be leaving some of the skirt panels off. Also I'll be replacing a couple of road wheels with "spider web" wheels as per reference pics I've found. The wheels are modified Dragon T-34/85 parts. I'm also going to rob the turret from a T-62 1962 kit as the lack of the AA mount adds some variety in my opinion. I plan on having a couple more T-62s on my shelf and they will have the gun.

Some quiet time over the holidays meant I was able to crack on with this build. So far I have assembled the casement rather roughly.I will polish it when the basic components are complete.






I plan to do one of the vehicles that took part in the Prague Spring Invasion in 1968.The white stripes appeal and I must practice paint splashes on armour plate.
Does anybody have any ideas/experience of replicating these?

regards

Greetings all, and happy holidays!

Joining the fun in here, returning to the hobby after a long hiatus. No fancy kits nor AMs, just a couple simple builds to get the modelling juices flowing again, apologies for the unexciting kits!

I think they both qualify for this GB, please let me know if they do indeed fit the parameters of the build.

Trumpeter 314: T-59B Chinese Medium Tank, based on Soviet T54A







Trumpeter 317: Type 79 Chinese Medium Tank, based on Soviet T54A

To all members of this campaign, I have just realised that I haven't greeted anyone of you yet , for this I do apologise.
There is no excuse for this, as it is after all you guys who have made the campaign possible.
So welcome to all who have already started their builds, and please forgive my ignorance

Hi Ryan those Friuls look fantastic.

Hi Mecanix , looking real cool there.

Hi James , welcome back to the hobby and welcome to the campaign .
How long have been away from the game?
I hope it's not too long, as the kits you have chosen could pose some problems

Well here's my update:



I replaced the splash guard as I didn't like the kit or the PE version:



And if anyone else is going for this Legend conversion then watch the fuel lines. The connection points on the resin tanks are to small in diameter, also the area where the fuel
lines enter the hull doesn't exist for Legend, they will have you join the lines together.
A quick check at this site sorted that out:

http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/carl_dennis/t-62_model_1972/




That's all for today



Paul

Paul ,

As far as I am concerned there is nothing to forgive or apologise for.

You are doing a fine job as Campaign leader. So carry on as you were.

Regards

Hi All,

Mecanix I will follow your build with great interest, i ahve already been looking at photos, I may have to buy the kit I don't think I could scratch it like yourself!!

James I think many of us have stopped modelling at one point or another, welcome back!!

Paul you have nothing to say sorry for at all my friend!!
That Tirain 6 is looking mighty mighty fine indeed!!
Thanks for the heads up about the legends fuel cells as I have there T54 update set so will keep that in mind!!

P.S many thanks for the links you sent me it allowed me to confirm at leasrt part of what I need to know

Cheers Mike

A quick update before the New Year.

Road wheels painted and mounted.


Track time. The kit's tracks aren't bad. I did notice there's more flash on them than I expected. They'd require a bit of cleanup anyway.




Left them to dry on the tank overnight. Removed and set aside to paint. I'm going a coat of flat black, followed by a light dusting of gray.


Tracks dry. They dried a bit more black than I expected. Mounted the tracks.








Fenders. Assembled the storage boxes and aux fuel tanks. I decided to use the kit's styrene exhaust bezel instead of the PE one. I'm still short the fuel lines. I'll fab them out of wire.


I think that's it for now. I'm probably going to shift gears and put this one on the backburner to work on some other campaigns for just a bit. I really hadn't planned on starting this one until Feb so I'm ahead of schedule.

Paul – Cheers! Came back 4 years ago after a 15 years hiatus (the usual family, work, kids etc), build a few kits, took another 2 years to re-start.

I did some research on those trumpeter kits. I assumed they had some accuracy issues being early Trumpeters, but these kits are a bit of a dog. VERY inaccurate, mostly the hull to accommodate the motorized elements. But the deal breaker was the ugly brittle black plastic that is hard to glue… Now, I don’t mind fiddling with a kit, part of the fun. But I think I will move my trumpeter post WWII armor stash to the FOR SALE pile. I got the Meng T-90 for Christmas… the difference is mind boggling.

Since I don’t have any other kits that fit this GB I will have to bow out : ( will lurk to see the builds, your Tiran6 conversion is coming out great.

Cheers and Happy New year!

PS – Watch out the Buy, Sell Forum in the near future if you want some Trumpeter Cold War era armor…

Alex she's looking mighty fine there

James sorry to hear you're dropping out, is there nothing we can do to persuade you to continue?




Paul

Thanks Paul.

James,
There's no shame in building an old Trumpy kit. I'd hold on to them and just have fun with them. Maybe build one as a target range vehicle or some heavily modified version.

Hi James, please don't give up on these kits just yet. It's an old Trumpeter kit that I'm working on for this campaign. Yes, they are dimensionally challenged, and yes, they do need a bit of upgrading to get a decent result but if you want a Chinese type 59/69/79 then you will be spending money on conversion kits even if you've started with the more expensive Tamiya T55. I chose to start with a Trumpeter as my basis because, well, I suppose I'm just a bit perverse that way.

Talking of which, you also mentioned the Meng T90. I'm half way though building this kit (in parallel with Zvezda's example) and I can't say it's a thing that I love. The plastic has a strange rubbery consistency to it and I've had a couple of problems with mal-formed parts owing I guess to flow issues in the moulds, indeed one part was missing altogether! Having said that I hope it lives up to your expectations, and anyway I did say that I am a bit perverse.

Anyway back to the GB. Here's my progress with my Trumpy based Type 69-II.

First off I had to ditch the spider-web wheels and nicked some from a Dragon NVA T34/85 that I had in my stash.

But then I realised that these weren't quite right so after a lot of agonising I decided to steal a set from my much-prized Tamiya T55.

Sprockets from a Trumpeter T62...

and idlers from the original kit.

Also had to modify rear hull plate (fan bulge yet to be added).

Trimmed then thinned down the track guards...

so here's how it looks so far...


Oh, and don't worry about the T55, I have plans to build it as a real bitza from the Balkans conflict where anything really did get used to keep their hardware running.

Happy New Year and all that good stuff...

I came up with an idea based on some of your comments. I also have the Trumpeter Type 69 II Iraqi Army service kit. I can build it as a half-wreck (no open/exposed areas, dont have the skills to scratch-build interiors), avoiding having to use the awful vinyl tracks.

I also have the Trumpeter USMC M1A1HA kit that I can build for the Trumpeter campaign and have it "drive by" the Type 69II wreck. I think that should work.

This is the kit:





Tell you one thing about those old Trumpeter boxes: they can last MANY years in a stack with nigh a dent in them.

Cheers

Happy new year James, and a fine decision you have made to stick with us . Now go for it buddy, you'll not regret a thing I am sure


Jon cool work on the Tamiya wheels there .
As for the "Balkans bitza", what's it to be? And will you do it here?


Here's my update, I have lost three of the turret stowage bin holders to the carpet monster so I'll have to think something up for those.



I still have this loaad of resin to get through, but I not not using the resin MG's as the appear to be too small . So I'll use some scratch and the fantastic Academy US MG's set instead.



see you tomorrow fellas and keep those builds a comin´





Paul

Hi James,

Very glad to hear that you have decided to stay with us in this fantasic campaign that Paul has given us all!!

Jon

Looking very very nice indeed love that slat / cage armour!!

Paul,

Looks like you still have a trillon or two bits of resin left to "enjoy" there my friend!!

Cheers Mike

Hi all

Great builds, every one!!

This one is ready for some paint. As an additional detail, I have added cable for the firing mechanism for the MG.





Ole

Mike , stop it you're making me blush, either that or I have developed an allergy towards plastic, resin, pe and cyano glue



Ole that is coming on great dude . I don't suppose
you have considered doing the graffiti version that's at the Bovvi Tank Museum ? (Just a thought)






Paul

Hi all, nice progress!

I continue my build on ACE's T-55, which is a very bad kit... poor deformed parts, and nothing really fits!! I have taken to describing this build as "polishing a turd"

Nevertheless I will try to complete it as best as I can, and here is the progress so far:







I am hoping the final product will at least *look* like a T-55 lol!

Cheers
Lawrence

Hi Lawrence, I wish I could make "turds" look like that , it would sure save me money on buying plastic kits
Seriously though it looks fine, we all go through these nasty
kits but you're doing fine dude . Stick in there, and you will be credited with great looking model.



Paul

Well,
It's a cute little turd.

Cheers Rob.

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your kind words I must admit such kits do give ppl like me (who was brought up on shake & bake kits lol) a fair bit of education.

I referred to reference photos more than the kit instructions, esp for the placement of the T-55's wheels... that being said, I probably need to build a dozen tamiya stuff (or equivalents) after this to restore my sanity

Next I will try to fit the tracks... happy modelling everyone!

Well then how do I follow a polished turd

Here's the scratched 50 cal mount with Academys 50 cal.. I still need to do a little fine tuning on there, but at least it is now the right height and shape:



here the Legend bits:



here's a sketch of the mount as I saw on the net:



I know I'm not the best drawer, but it's good enough for my needs





Paul

@Paul: Nice!!!!!!!