I’m extremely interested in IDF subjects and in learning how to work with resin conversions – given Legend’s good reputation, and the relatively inexpensive nature of the kit, I thought the Trian conversion might be a good opportunity to learn about both.

Have any of you built Legend’s Trian conversion? Do you think it would be a suitable kit for someone who is just learning how to work with resin?

Any tips, recommendations, suggestions, or information will be greatly appreciated.

As always, thanks –
Noah

Noah, I haven't used the Legends kit, nor do I have one, but in my experience Legends stuff is usually pretty good. Having said that, I do have the Blast Tiran kit and it is very nice and would be a good first resin conversion to use. There's not a lot of cutting and hacking you would need to do to the base Tamiya T-55 to get it together. That along with the clean up of the resin parts is normally the hardest part of the build. The down side is the Blast conversion will cost you more. Here is a link to the Blast online shop:
http://www.phpshopxml.com/blamod.shop/CID/d21d669d4e7f0c0ec5da3fa2ec3718ce/function/itemPageDisplay?shopItemCode=BL35019K

and a review of the Blast set on PMMS, which gives you a very good idea of what will be involved with the build (and the Legends set should be about the same):
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/blast/bl35019k.htm

and the Legends set here on Armorama:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/149

I would say either one would be a good conversion set to practice on your resin skills.

Mike

Noah,

I agree with everything Mike has said.

My full build & paint description of the Blast Tiran conversion is in the new AFV Modeller magazine. (#37)

The Blast Models set is very accurate (not 100%) AND quite easy to put together.

You can see my finished model at my site http://www.idf-in-scale.com

Adam

Not to hijack the thread for my own devious purposes, but has anyone used the Trakz (VLS) conversion kit for the Tiran? It looks like it costs about the same as the Blast kit, give or take a few US $. It includes a new turret, but doesn't come with the road wheels shown on the package.

I found a review here, but haven't seen much about it mentioned on this site.

BTW, if you've seen the pics of Adam's Tiran, you'll know that the Blast conversion set certainly is nice.

-YL

Noah-
I have used this set for an SLA Tiran and I personally liked it. They include the fuel cells with the inlets/outlets for the fuel lines. Some of the pcs in my set were warped; I was able to use everything except the MGs. and the Barrel. For the price (I think I paid @ 17 USD for it!) its hard to beat.

The Blast set is VERY nice, but also expensive.

Chris

My sincere thanks go out to all of you for your responses.

Mike – I really appreciate the links and your input on both conversion sets. The both seem great – but as a first timer I’ll probably opt for the Legends set as it’s a smaller investment if I accidentally ruin it

Adam – Your tank is absolutely outstanding! I especially like the weathering. I’m going to have to track down a copy of AFV as I’d really like to read about how you did that. I see you opted for some other “extras” aside form the conversion itself and you replaced the kit tracks with an aftermarket set. Are Tamiya’s tracks very bad? If so, that might scare me off as I’d like to avoid the added expense.

Many thanks again to all of you,

Noah

If you like, the AFV Modeller article is available to buy as a download here

http://shop.afvmodeller.com/customer/home.php?cat=339&XCARTSESSID=675942d2abf7138757e0443f1667cc0b

David

Noah, the Tamiya tracks aren't bad, it's just that they are the "rubber band" type, and to get the track sag that is characteristic to the T-55 you will need to glue them or fix them to the tracks in some way or another.

Mike

David – thanks for that link to AFV, I downloaded the article

Mike – Yah, looking at it I see there is quite a bit of sag to the tracks. The set Adam used isn’t as expensive as some of the white metal ones I’ve seen. Do you know if they are difficult to use / assemble – are they made or resin too? If they are resin, does that mean each link needs to be cut from a block?

The tracks Adam used are Modelkasten and they are made of styrene plastic. They are pretty easy to assemble for workable indy links. Here's another link to a comparison review of T-55 track sets on PMMS, which also tells you about assembly.

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/t55_track.htm

I've used the Friuls, but the MK T-55 tracks are very nice and cheaper , I plan on using them on my Tiran. The only word of caution I would give you about them, (aside from being careful the carpet monster doesn't get the tiny pins ) is to NOT use enamel based thinners to "wash" or weather them with, some thinners will virtually disolve the small pins holding the tracks together and they will then fall apart.

Mike

Noah,

Thanks for your very kind words.

Mike is absolutely correct with his info.

I used the Modelkasten track. In my opinion they are the best detailed T55 tracks available. Construction of them is a breeze, just don't use too much glue (as Mike mentioned)

The addition of some aftermarket tracks to your Tiran will be the most visible upgrade you can make.

Regards,

Adam

I prefer the Masterclub set for the T55- They are CHEAP and every bit as good as WW2 productions( or anyone else for that matteR!)

The MK set is just a bit fiddly for my taste......

chris