Bought a RPM t-26 with BT2 turret which happened to be the Twin Turret version . Instruction suggested plug up one hole & put the huge turret into the other, which makes to rediculously odd looking. Can anybody confirm this is historically accurate and such configuration exists?

I'm not familiar with the kit. Is this supposed to be the early T-26 with single cylindrical turret and turret bin? If so, the turret is not on the vehicle centerline, but offset to port slightly, in the same spot as other single-turret T-26s, nowhere near as close to the edge as in the photo.

HTH

Scott Fraser

It is supposed to be an early version which fought at Lenningrad. It is because of some other mistakes of the model that I started to suspect its validity, especially after my purchase of the Glencoe PT-76 experience, and I thought RPM is a serious company that was favoured by hobbyists, although this is my first RPM purchase....

Hi, Pierre
Sorry to bring it up to you, but RPM always had problems with historical accuracy of their kits. Very possible that Poland produced something like that, since they also bought Christie tank. This model got nothing to do with Soviet BT-2 or T-26. T-26 was build based based on British Vickers, just like Polish 7TP. They have similar but not identical hulls.
British Vickers 6-ton:



Polish 7TP:



The only Soviet T-26 with a single cylindrical turret was pretty much experimental and produced in very small numbers (marked with arrow):



Blueprints are here:
http://www.angelfire.com/art/littlebelaruspalette/stuff/Untitled-4.jpg
But it is very possible, that some 7TP were captured during Soviet invasion of Poland, up-gunned and used later in the early stages of the war. But I never heard anything about that. You can check in Russian modeling forums.

P.S. I think this is a model of a tank that never existed.

This kit definitely has a turret like the BT-2's.
Here's a photo of the BT-2 from Wikipedia:



BT-2

Cheers

jjumbo

Okay, clear as mud.

RPM kits are hit and (mostly) miss. A few are gems, bu some are real dogs. I don't believe they do their own moulds, but rather use others' and they have inherited some really sad kits. Trevor Aldred has done up a very nice summary of current kits for Soviet light tanks.

http://ampsnz.hobbyvista.com/articles.htm

It's certainly not a 7tp. It is an early T-26, as Alex stated. When the design was tendered, two turrets were considered, a cylindrical turret with bin and a second turret with an internal bustle. The second turret was chosen, but a small series of T-26s was produced with the Izhorsky turret. Alex has posted some very nice plans.

Note the kit box art shows the 37mm gun installed. This is another rarity --- the 45mm main gun was entering production at the same time, and was in short supply, so 37mm guns were fitted to some vehicles. These are rare. It's certainly possible one of these survived to be in Leningrad in 1941, but I'd be looking for a photo.

Good luck on your model.

Cheers
Scott Fraser

I believe that the kit is supposed to represent what it says on the box - i.e. a one-man turret from a BT-2 (as Scott says, with the 37mm gun), transplanted onto a regular T-26 chassis - i.e. and is not an inaccurate 'normal' (single) T-26 turret.

The roof panel in the kit suggests that the conversion was based on an early twin-turret T-26. It has the two holes in the roof - and a cover for blocking one of them off. The 'new' BT-2 turret fits into the remaining socket.

I have found no proof that this is an historically accurate combination - most people seem to think it is fictional, but I did see a response elsewhere, that maybe there were a few used at Lenningrad (I think the kit instructions refer to this too) - well, if there was such a beast - it was pretty rare. I have not seen any photos of it at all.

As to the kit itself - I think the BT-2 turret looks much too large - especially compared to the Maquette (TOM) BT-2 kit turret (which, BTW, looks too small!!) - and, as you've rightly spotted, the roof detail is off - it should have a single hatch and the vent cover(?) is on the wrong side too. The gun barrel looks to be a poor shape.

As Pierre suggested, the turret looks really out of whack on the T-26 chassis in this kit - and on some models I've seen, it doesn't clear the cover to be placed over the other turret socket - and so, sits too high because it rests on top of the cover.

I decided to pass on mine - and make the 'normal' twin turreted T-26 version - which I think is in the kit.

You could perhaps use the turret to combine with an Italeri BT-5 kit to make a late BT-2 (but it still looks too big to my eyes) - OR use it in a Stalin Line diaorama, as a standalone turret, where its scale size is a little less noticeable. (You would still need to correct the roof).


HTH

kr
Trevor

PS - Thanks again Scott !

Just to expand a little on my last reply (if that's ok)....

The BT-2 had a smallish, one man turret - often fitted with the 37mm gun - but sometimes a twin mg arrangement, where there was a shortage of available main guns. Sometimes an additional mg was fitted, poking out of the turret at the 2 o'clock position. The turret had a sloped front to the roof and a single, hinged hatch. You can see this turret in John Jukes' nice photo.

The T-26, when fitted with a single turret, had a rather larger, two-man turret with a built in bustle - it usually housed the 45mm gun. You can see this turret on the (late) BT-5 (as per the Italeri kit) and the early BT-7 (as per the Zvezda kit). i.e. it is not the same turret as the BT-2. This T-26 turret was an improved version of the slightly earlier cylindrical turret .....

Some T-26's were fitted with a cylindrical turret (as built by the Mariupol factory), which was in accordance with the original design for the T-26/BT-5. This turret looks kinda like the BT-2 turret, but rather bigger - the main identifer is the totally flat roof and the twin hatches. (Its a similar (identical??) turret to that fitted to the T-35). This turret usually had an external bustle bolted(?) onto the back. After a while, I believe that the Mariupol factory switched to the improved version, and most T-26 had that turret fitted thereafter.

You can see both of these T-26 turret types in Alex's excellent and interesting photo.

Anyways, hope thats of interest.

Rgds
Trevor

Thanks for the good info, it is still a mystery whether such a off-balance configuration existed at all . If it existed, wouldn't a TALL & HEAVY big turret like that cause imbalance of this 'light' tank', especially when this big gun recoils? It probably is a fictional model created by the company to make more money using the same old mold. Even UM's 1/72 'T-26 with BT2 turret' has the big turret close to the centre-line, flush with the left side panel. In other words, even UM company did not buy it. Another question on this RPM model is that , why this tank does not have a sighting slit for the driver? As you can see from my second picture, the driver's armour window is perfectly smooth with NO slit to look thru when completely closed

Hi, Trevor
If it is not a secret, what are your sources?

Hi Pierre – I can agree with your analysis – it just doesn’t look right does it? Someone once said: “if something looks right – it is right”. I think the corollary is probably true too. But as I said, I remember reading somewhere that some of these machines were built and used – so I’ll sit on the fence for the moment.

I agree with Scott’s assessment of the RPM kits too. They can be pretty poor in terms of finish and detail. They need a lot of TLC and extra detailing. They are certainly not in the same mold as Tamiya ( pun intended ). But they do make some interesting kits – and I like that. You need to put some work into them – but hey! Isn’t that part of the fun? (Some might argue that one!)


Hi Alex – I have no secrets, not from here anyway! At the risk of sounding a little trite, my best resource is time and a curiosity that my wife thinks borders on OCD! The Internet is a great source of info if you are ready to cross-check things and sift through all of the cr*p.

More specifically, and hopefully, more helpfully, I like this site:

http://www.battlefield.ru/content/view/24/33/lang,en/
It has some nice photos and a simple text.

A nice primer on Soviet ‘light tanks’ is: ‘Light Tanks T-27, T-38, BT, T-26, T-40, T-50, T-60, T-70’ (Russian Armour) (Paperback)
by Mikhail Baryatinskiy (Author) .
This book is reasonably priced and I think is readily available (Try Amazon).

The Armada series of ‘books’ on the BT tanks – Tahkn BT 1,2 and 3 are also good value. (They are a little like the In Action books in format). They are in Russian – but contain bags of photos, drawings and plans. The photos have English captions. These are also reasonably priced – but the price can flex quite a bit – because they are a little more difficult to get hold of. I got mine of e-bay for a good price.


As Scott kindly mentioned, I have written a detailed treatment on all (?) of the 1/35th scale soviet light tanks – which can be downloaded from the AMPS NZ site. It contains other references (mainly on-line) which u might find of interest.

BTW – I am, by no means, a scholar or expert – I have no access to primary sources - so please don’t pick too many holes in it. But I have spent a lot of time (too much) scouring the web – and I can collate info fairly well. I also have a good stash of kits to play with!


HTH
Kr
Trevor

Thanks, Trevor
I have those. Also, you might want to look for these four books. Especially bottom two. Lots of info (incl. blueprints) on T-26, it's modification and machines based on T-26.



Cheers
Alex

Thanks for that Alex - I'll keep my eyes open for them.

Sorry if my reply wasn't pitched right!


Regards
Trevor

If you can't find them, let me know in PM. I got digital copies.

Thank you - will do!

Hello, all. I am new to the forum. I have a lot of questions just on this kit!
I also purchased a Bt-2/T-26 kit. I enlarged the right side hole to fit the cover plate flush they way the one sheet of polish language instructions showed and scratch-built some "legs" to hold the turret in place and allow it to rotate (nothing fancy since they are inside) but it does look odd overall.
Is the consensus that this is a model of a rare non-factory, that is G.I. (Ivan) cobbled field variant?

Pierre, I like what you did with the hatches on the BT-2 turret in your first photo. Are those peices just cut from sheet styrene?
Ed

This is why I wish some major manufacturer would start producing these Vickers and Christie Tank variants, BT2, T-26, 7TP, etc. We need some accurate models of these very important early war tanks.

No disrespect to RPM or Mirage or whoever is producing these kits but they just don't have the ability or the resources to retool the molds and bring them up to today's standards.

We really need some newly tooled kits.Just my 2 cents.

Jeff

There might be some difficulty with traverse on an incline, but I doubt there would have been anything the suspension couldn't handle, particulary if ammunition storage was on the right. The gun didn't have that much of a kick. It might have been another story if the gun had been a 76.