I picked up the Tamiya T-55A on Ebay for $10... 1 of 8 kits for $80. Not what I was going for but after I got it I heard such great thing about it I figured it's time to do something other than a WWII German AFV. So here I go.

I am using the Eduard PE set and the details for the mantel cover weren't much better than the molded on stuff so did it with wire and lead foil.



The front mud guards are like most other kits with the tapered edge to look thinner than they are. I cut them off and will vacuform new ones with a new piano hinge from PE scrap and wire.




This is my 1st model using the poly caps. I LOVE THEM. Getting the wheels on and off again to work on the Friul tracks is a snap. Chunked up the tires with a file then cleaned with a Scotch Brite pad.






I know thew yellow arrowed pin marks get fixed, but what are the red arrowed holes? Did I miss something in the instruction book or am I to fill these too?

Looking good... Those holes in the fenders... You may fill all of them, and open new holes... Look at this pictures:





See the hole just below the fuel cells? They're are along the fender lenght, there are at least 8 of them, I haven't counted them... If you will fill the holes, then why not to make the holes and stiffeners? I used to have better pictures, but I had a virus problem and I lot them. Best regards.

Great work so far with this Mark. Have always wanted to try and damage road wheels, haven't yet, but will have to give it a try next build, as yours look good. Thanks for sharing. WIll be watching your build.

Cheers -

Tim

Great pics jose... thanks. I wonder if the holes in the kit fenders are in fact supposed to be the holes that are in real fenders. Do all t-55's have the stiffeners?

Tim the hardest part with damaging the tires is not making it too even looking

The attempt to vacuform the front mud guards failed. I think my Matel Vacuform finally needs an upgrade. After what seemed like endless grinding they were thinned down and glued back on. New hinges were made and some molded on detail were replaced with wire.



While the turret has nice molded in casting texture I have heard that after painted it loses some of the look being so fine. I added texture with thinned green putty that was stippled on. This is kind of "spiky" so I rubbed the side of my Micro chisel handle to flatten it a bit then a light brushing of lacquer thinner to soften everything. The 1st pic show where I scaped away the putty so the copula would fit snug. the 2nd with the oblique lighting show the texture. I'm pretty happy with the way it looks.





Photo I have found show the turret having a beveled edge at the bottom but the Tamiya turret come down straight. I sanded the angle with a coarse sanding stick to look like grinding marks. Can't see 'em in the pic. The molded on conduits were chiseled off and replaced with craft wire and some fine wiring was added to the (? dunno what these are) near the front. The Friul tracks are assembled and have been soaked in Blacken-It but I didn't snap a pic of them.






Thanks for looking

nice topic, good photo's

i don(t know anything about modern afv's but the texture on the turret is one of the best
i've seen!!

nice work!

I agree with Koen! Top notch work on the turret texture! Keep us posted!

Looking great Marc, I really like the textured cast turret,thanks for sharing your technique I'll have to remember it.
Rob

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Gary... great info & pics. Got some fixin" to do. I have to try and find a shot of the turret from directly behind. I see now the chamfer doesn't go all the way around.

Progress and fixes made.

More work done on the T-55A. I was going to temp fit the Friul tracks on for the pics but i have to figure how they got 4 or 5 link to long after the first test fit and were perfect. Must be gremlins.

Any "rod' pieces were replaced with wire. The top has had the texture cleaned off and the weld down the center replaced. A few welds to add. The chamfer around the base f the turret is fixed. Heat shield for the exhaust was vacuformed off the kit part as it was better shaped than the PE. Bracket is made for soda can aluminum.

Question about the ports on either side of the gun. The PE set has to larger one of the left covered with a black film. I am guessing this is to simulated dark glass since they do the same for the cupola periscopes as well. Is this correct and what is the port for?

I also like your texturing on the turret, looks great so far , could you tell me how many track links you used per side.As this is my next project, but as a Czech kladivo upgrade.
Best wishes
Charlie

Thanks very much Charles. As soon as I figure how mine "grew" I will let you know after I fix them. I made the tracks and test fitted them and they were perfect. I cleaned them and soak 'em in Blacken-It and left them aside for a while. I wanted ot put them on for that last set of pics but they are like 3 or 4 link too long now I must be goin' 'round the bend

Great work on that turret Marc !

Brilliant !

I've subscribed to your thread, and I'm looking forward to updates

Cheers

Paul

Hi Marc, I am not sure , but my guess is that the holes are for drainage so that water does not lay in the fenders and pool, model looks great, keep up the good work, Jim Rosado

You made a lot of mods to the kit so far i think they all make a big improvement.

Charles...I have 80 on 1 side and 81 on the other. I had to stretch the 80 side a bit to get the right sag.

Paul, Jim, Robert... thanks for taking a look and for the comments .

Hi many thanks thats a great help.
Best wishes
Charlie

Finally got all the little bits and bobs done. Added fuel line and electrical conduits. Scratched the headlight cage from wire. Ready for a run through the carwash..err... I mean tankwash... then off to the paint shop. Maybe one day I will get the decals I ordered.

it looks very good. I will follow this one with interest.

spit

Hi Marc looks great , could you post some pics of how you did the fuel cell plumbing. What scheme will it be in? I will be following this closely. Best wishes Charlie

Pawel, Charlie... thanks for the comments.

I will get some closeups later today.

Hi Marc,

Very nice build. I especially like the fuel lines. A few close ups of those would be great. Looking forward to seeing some paint.

Cheers mate, Jim.

Thanks Jim... appreciate the comments.

Got the 1st coat of paint down and just a few touch up to do before coat #2.



Here are some close ups of the fuels lines. They are made from phone wire with the insulator as the rubber connectors. The 3 pic show where both ends of the wire went. I went over dozens of photos the see where they went but I am still not 100% that they are correct. The Aber detail is supposed to have a little map of the fuel lines. Would love to see that.







I am very pleased with the way the texturing turned out. I remember seeing a post in which someone was looking for an after market machine gun. Don't need one. The gun is beautiful. The PE I added really is only a slight improvement.

The decals have arrived but did not provide much more the way of info. It did however give a website to download hi-res color sheets for the set. It doers not give more info other than "yellow" and "blue" so I got as close as I could to the sheet. So here she is all painted up and ready for the weathering round to begin. I did do some green fading with lightened base color before the camo. And a shot of home made cables Made from 12 wires. 4 twisted and the resulting 3 twisted with a Dremel.