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Яusso-Soviэt Forum: Cold War Soviet Armor
For discussions related to cold war era Russo-Soviet armor.
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Photos of T55s in african or sryian service
Spiderfrommars
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Milano, Italy
Joined: July 13, 2010
KitMaker: 3,845 posts
Armorama: 3,543 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 03, 2012 - 08:10 PM UTC

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Looks like the "Gaddafillbilly" armor was not that effective


Frenchy


Well Frenchy



It looks perfect as a playground...


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DAMN you Mauro and damn you to Mike ... now i need to get another T-55 cause that Libyan modified tank is too cool not to build and i'm very upset about that ,,so upset that i have to now go out and buy another great model of a great tank bugger it !!
Oh well thats the modelers curse

Damn you Mike for asking that question ,,if ya hadn't asked it i wouldnt have seen it ..glad ya did
Mauro ,,great pics as always dude

Now the hunt for another T-55 begins ,,really looking forward to building this now ,, simple but very cool looking

Phill


It looks great, doesn'it?
Unfortunately there are no closer pics...at least I haven't found them yet


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Hi Mauro,

Thank you so much for all your help I will try to do justice for it all.

I think they just look so cool & different, and understand how busy life can be.

Cheers Mike


You're welcome!
Sharing information, pics and tips is one of the best thing of our hobby in my opinion

Cheers
Tanksami
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2011
KitMaker: 1,314 posts
Armorama: 1,217 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 03, 2012 - 08:52 PM UTC
Well said Mauro,

I am learning so much from everyone since I joined it's like being able to go to my local model club 24/7.

Just great
Cheers Mike
Kharkov
Joined: April 09, 2011
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 175 posts
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 06:06 AM UTC

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Don't worry!

It'll be a great occasion to start doing some scratch built jobs!

The main job that you have to do is modifying (or scratch making) the part D-41 of the kit



D-41 part modified by Matt (aka Kharkov) :



Here you can find a great thread about a build of a Polish T-55

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/176707&ord=&page=1

Matt's been doing a great job on it!

Unfortunately I'm very busy these days, but this week I'll probably have a little time to spend.
I'll send you a PDF drawing in 35 scale of the modified D-41 part and rear grilles

Regarding the Libyan exemplar look here

https://milinme.wordpress.com/2011/03/19/field-modification-in-libya/

http://planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7732


Cheers



Yep, part D-41 is a pain in the A.. tbh

Best option is to scratch a new one from plastic card, the method I chose, ie to re-shape the openings was alot of hassle tbh.

Tanksami
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2011
KitMaker: 1,314 posts
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Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 09:21 AM UTC
Hi Matt,

As i have never reallt scratch built anything would you prehaps be willing to Pm me the diminsions for what i need to change the new hatches to & what you used??

Any help would be very greatfully appreaciated

Cheers Mike
Spiderfrommars
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Milano, Italy
Joined: July 13, 2010
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Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 09:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Matt,

As i have never reallt scratch built anything would you prehaps be willing to Pm me the diminsions for what i need to change the new hatches to & what you used??

Any help would be very greatfully appreaciated

Cheers Mike


so, you'll probably have tho drawings of them... I haven't forgot waht I've promised Mike...I haven't had any time to do it
Aniway, as I've already told you, Matt's been doing an awesome job on its Polish T-55. (Hi Matt) He can help you in a great way!

cheers
Tanksami
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2011
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Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 09:44 AM UTC
Hi Mauro,

I still all the info you sent me & no i don't have any drawings at all & I understand that you have been busy.

I have been jumping from all sorts of differnt posts for some future builds so I know what you mean.

Cheers Mike
Kharkov
Joined: April 09, 2011
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 175 posts
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 10:22 AM UTC
Mike, are you doing a T-55 with the engine deck hatches open or closed ?

If your doing it closed and you simply want to convert a Russian/Czech deck into a Polish deck then the best option is probably to just scribe a new line.

It's the air box hatch that needs changing, the small square one.

First, you need to make a template hatch, use the Tamiya size for the hatch, but without the angle on the corner, in other words make it a full square, instead of having one corner angled.

You need to make this template from fairly thick plastic card, I use Evergreen, from model shops, it needs to be fairly solid, because your gonna be scribing round it with a knife.

Then,

Fill the hatch recess line with glue, then sand it all flush, remove the hinges as well, and sand it all nice n smooth, CA glue works well for this kinda thing.

After sanding smooth you should still be able to see the old hatch line, will be faint, but should still show.

Place your hatch template in posistion, then scribe round with a knife, very carefully at first, with hardly any pressure on the knife, you simply need to get a new groove started,

Once you have it started, simply scribe it deeper, and bingo you got a new hatch, or rather a new hatch outline.

Now make 2 new hinges, and place them at the bottom instead of at the side, Russian/Czech air box hatches open sideways, Polish version opens backwards.

I'll try n get some pictures sorted out, it's hard to put this into words tbh.



ps Hello Spider
Tanksami
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2011
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Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 10:31 AM UTC
Matt,

Thanks for that I will proberly just do closed as I not have an engine or any practise at scratch building so the scribing of a new hatch sounds easier.

Can I just use the hinges I shave of the tamiya kit back on the "polish" hatch??

Cheers Mike
Kharkov
Joined: April 09, 2011
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 175 posts
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 10:43 AM UTC
Yes, if you manage to shave the old hinges off, then use them,

Polish hinges tend to be triangular in shape, Russian/Czech ones tend to be square shaped, but nothing to worry about tbh.

The good thing about the scribe method is that you have a 'fail safe', if you make a mistake then you can simply fill with glue, sand smooth, and re-try,

Plus your using the Tamiya part, so you dont need to scratch anything.

If you want to practice scratch building parts, then Tamiya's T-55 engine deck hatch is a good practice subject, simply buy some Evergreen Plastic Card, and copy the part,

If you make a mistake, it dosnt matter, simply try again
Tanksami
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2011
KitMaker: 1,314 posts
Armorama: 1,217 posts
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 12:36 PM UTC
Matt,

Thanks for that I will give it a try for sure, I am going to read up on your build log as well, from what photos I have seen if I was to try & add the mesh screening what is the correct type for a polish jobie??

Cheers Mike
Kharkov
Joined: April 09, 2011
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 175 posts
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 01:18 PM UTC


This is my fav picture of a T-55 deck

The mesh covers over the Rad venting should look pritty much like that, the mesh then had armored covers (hatches) over the mesh, not shown in that photo,

Aber, Eduard and many others do etched mesh covers.

The Eduard set, TP043 T-55 Grill and Armored Plates set is very good and worth getting.



This is the Eduard set TP043 showing the armored covers over the mesh.
Tanksami
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2011
KitMaker: 1,314 posts
Armorama: 1,217 posts
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2012 - 01:58 PM UTC
Matt,

Thank you very much info will be very helpful for my future build, hopefully I can do all your & Mario's help justice.

Cheers mike
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