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T55 Enigma

T-55 Enigma

This vehicle is one that has been on my to do list for ages ever since the release of the excellent T-55 from Tamiya. Coincide this with the fantastic Enigma conversion set from Cromwell models and you can build a very accurate vehicle.

Constrtuction

I began by cleaning up all the resin pieces, after the various parts are very easily removed from the casting blocks [the mounting bolts on the front armor plates need to be sanded off at this stage, if you choose to do the vehicle at APG.] of which are very cleanly molded with very little flash, and only took about an hour to do!. One point with my set here; the resin springs that are used to hold the armor block on the turret over the drivers hatch were broken in various places and were unusable. I re-made them using some fuse wire coiled around a suitably sized drill bit. Now construction started as per the instruction sheet to attach the torsion bars.

Next came the moment to cut out the parts of the fenders to be replaced with the Cromwell parts, which have the strengthening ribs which support the armor blocks. My method was to cut slightly smaller and file until the resin part was a snug fit. The rear fenders over the drive sprockets were also cut out at this juncture. These were replaced with ones made from Plasti-card. A resin tool box [Plus models] was placed on the guard over the exhaust outlet. This was made using lead foil and pressed over the kit part to impress the ribs. Mounting brackets for the guards were made with some Pewter sheet.

The open tool box was constructed from Plasti-card with etch hinges etc taken from the spares box. This box is guesswork really as the original one was missing on the APG vehicle. A lot of work is required on the rear plate; 2 brackets need to be made, again I used Plasti-card and bolt heads done using the Historex punch and die set. Various brackets came from a Verlinden etch set. The brackets for the fuel drums need some filling of the various release marks, and holes drilled where the straps would attach. A couple of nuts and bolts were made using Plastic rod and the punch and die set and placed in the drilled holes!. An Eduard zoom set was used for the grills on the engine deck, the large ones been a good fit, but I had problems with the 2 smaller ones. So I cut to size and replaced the surround with plastic strip. The open fan cover was again made using plasti-card and rod.

The feature that needs doing to the Tamiya kit[even if it is the only thing you do] is to fabricate the fuel pipes etc between the cells.. As I had a Legend set [for a Tiran conversion] I stole the fuel cells which have the fuel pipe stubs molded on. It is just a matter of drilling out the ends and shaping the pipes from brass rod. A breather vent next to the fuel pipe inlet on the engine deck is missing on the Tamiya kit, but this grill is supplied in the zoom set. So before I fixed the cells and pipes in place, this area was cut out and I attached the grill.

Moving on to the front, after some careful positioning of the armor blocks, these were glued in place, and all the brackets were made using Plastic strip, bolt heads added from the punch and die set. I then cut off the bottom of the light guard, attached it then fabricated the conduit. The stays and brackets for the front fenders were re-done with wire and Plasti-card at this point.