Jim gives us a video preview of this new kit from Mirror Models, the Russian Artillery Tractor T-20 Komsomoletz (Early).

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Looks to be another great kit from Mirror Models, and very interesting subject.

The kit was made from a Finish example. For a Russina version the fenders will need to be fixed by lengthing them and squaring them off.

Greg

Interesting video Jim... I'm currently working on a review of that kit. It is a little beauty that's for sure.

Thanks Greg! Good info to know.

Thanks Rob! I think I might have seen your post on your building it, etc. Will look forward to seeing it.

Cheers,
Jim

I'm building one too. The fact it has Finnish features is ideal for me as I'm making it into a Finnish postwar vehicle. Overall it's quite nice but as said the instructions are a bit confusing sometimes and putting the pieces together is not always straightforward, no positioning ridges or holes. The engine deck cover also is meant to be built open, you can build it closed but it's tricky. The positioning of many parts is a bit tricky actually. On the other hand the level and finesse of detail is impressive. The tracks are very delicate, but very detailed. I test fitted two links together and they didn't fit well. I'll see if some fine sanding is in order.

I got the special issue with water trailer, and frankly for the 28€ I paid it's great value for money. I've got the Azimut resin kit (different variant, 1940 model) and paid 50€ for it, no trailer and mediocre tracks (Panzer 1 ones I think!).

Cheers,

Christophe

I built the Azimut kit about a year ago, those tracks are Pz 1 and they look huge on it. Looking forward to starting the kit. LZ offers a PE update for it, which I have ordered. The PE has the missing rear screens for the 38 model....these should have been included in the kit....

Greg

Theres a lot to admire about this kit ... molding quality and finesse, scale thickness of parts, detail quality and price .... 28 euros including postage to Sweden, for the T20 and trailer (special edition kit) is a steal. There is also a pretty complete interior and engine.
Downside is parts are not consecutive as they are placed to optimise the molding process and/or bulk and no tub parts as all sides are flat plates. There is a high part count with many small parts ... but anybody who loves details will not be disappointed.

When the kit arrived, I was shocked at the size. Its not much bigger than a Dragon figure box in size, but it weighs twice as much. The box is full and optimised which I believe is becoming more important today to modelers as postage costs increase and anybody with storage issues at home knows its not fun to have large boxes filled with air. Its clear to me that Libor listens and is aware of what is being discussed on-line.



The parts are molded beautifully and there is so much finesse in the details. I have never seen a kit that is molded to finely and wall thickness is amazingly thin. There is very little flash for so many small parts. Weld lines are mostly invisible, but for those that are there, a light scraping with knife/scalpel will quickly clean them away. The plastic is excellent. Very little cement is needed to get a good quick bond. I use Tamiya fine with the green lid.



As the parts are so fine and wall thickness is so thin, this makes the build a little more complex and time consuming. Care is needed to line panels up properly, as location points are also very very fine.



As I mentioned previously, the packaging is surprisingly small, and its no wonder ... this is a small vehicle. The image below is the lower hull placed beside ICM´s Henschel 33 D1



Below are some images of what I had completed last weekend. More images and updates after this weekend. The biggest challenge now is to build it in such a way that I can build it in some sub=assemblies so I can paint the interior, attach the sub=assemblies and paint the exterior without having to build more.
After I started, I noticed that LZ Models have released an etch set for the interior including some grill panels for the backside, so rather than stop to wait for parts to arrive, I attempted to scratch build them instead. Tune in later for more.

Thanks for the post and photos!

That fuel trailer does look impressive when built.

Cheers,

Christophe

Greg,

If you can find it (took me years to locate and buy one) Modelkasten actually did non-workable one individual tracks set.

Cheers,

Christophe

According to a Finnish guy on Face book, MasterClub will be releasing a workable set in July.

the tracks are not perfect regarding the shape, but unfortunately they are that small and tiny, we spent three weeks by testing and changing design until we got some acceptable result - the original track design had too little wall thickness and parts did not fill and most broke up during demolding process (the original thickness in narrower areas was just 0,3mm, so we had to add a few times into thickness and change design, while main dimensions could not be changed of course, until we get result able to fill and also eject) Personally I feel they are not perfect, but only possible ones to be produced. I just wanted to let you know - certainly some people can have similar feeling, but they know nothing about plastic molding technology. I push my producer to their limits, but some things simply cannot be improved anymore. Of course I can consider offering super detailed resin track set from LZ. It is not a big deal, and in this case resin tracks are able to reproduce much finer detail than plastic molded ones