Thanks, I'll give it a try.





Paul

Cool Paul, this stuff is 1 dollar a tube and you can cast with A+B epoxy glue if needed.

Anyway, the FAVORIT upper hull was warp saggin' on top.




Measured the difference



Cut support pieces from kit sprue





Exhaust system assembly parts fit in place

I admire your dedication.... following with interest.

Thanks Chris.
The fuel tanks and (storage?) boxes on the fenders are done. Now starting to approach all the kit supplied PE for the hulls

Running out of time on this campaign. I'm going to continue by concentrating on the FAVORIT driver training tank. Then finish the other two after that.

The head lights guard is PE so it is square instead of tubular. First I needed to make a form to bend it around. They provide dimensions in millimeters in the iSheet.


Basic geometry made this simple.














Then the fender support PE was cleaned up and arranged for position on the model. The iSheet describes specific locations in millimeters for this.








moving right along

The turret is a simple structure. The turret parts sprue is a different color green and a different plastic.

Some major gappidge needed filling with putty and the kit iSheets describe metal parts included for making grab handles for the sides of the turret. My kit did not include this material

I made my own with stretched sprue




putty in the gappidge


nice weld detail on top


Web searching images in 1/1 compared to the model part, I figured out the dimesions of the grab handles


mark the right side for drilling


mark the left side for drilling


trial and error gets an acceptable result




The Driver Training Instructor hatch needs a handle too

The FAVORIT is ready to paint. Perfect weather here today so I'll get primer on it and maybe the base coat color

Painted and weathered. I kept it super subtle because I read that the Czech armor aren't all grimy and thrashed but well kept













I don't know, I might go a little further with this

the BUBLINA hull is assembled with kit supplied PE and other details.

the tow bar thing'a-ma'jig assembly instructions:



These parts needed cleanup before and after gluing together because of weird alignment issues. Part (3N) was molded solid in the two ends. I cut and sanded open these details with a razor saw and #600 sand paper










the brass detail was some scrap PE frame from this kit, cut to size and glued there to represent detail that I sanded off during parts cleanup



The fender fuel tanks and storage box , tow bar and engine deck are dry fit in place for the picture but will be painted separately





the head light brush guard "bird cage" was assembled around the same wood form that I used for the FAVORIT

This part (what is this part called?) was very thick and just didn't look right. I thinned it by filing it down on a sanding stick for grip.
This was done for the FAVORIT and the SLA APC. The BUBLINA doesn't get one according to the SKIF instructions







looks a little better but I accidentally dulled my nice file by sanding across the abrasive stick

The SLA APC-55 was based on a hand me down Tiran T-55 tank from the IDF. A lot of the detail and other profiling comes from that

The i-sheet for the head light brush guard PE assembly. I used the technique that I used for the 'bird cage' of the BUBLINA and FAVORIT by making a wooden form to bend the brass over.





the first bend was made in my bench vise






Then another wooden form was made for the water bottle holder on the left fender













the kit PE for the fording equipment has detail on one side and flat on the other. I searched ref photos and looks to me that this will be glued with the detail on the bottom and flat side up



the hull and details are basically assembled

the SKIF kit hulls ready for primer.

left - FAVORIT
middle - BUBLINA
right - SLA APC-55



assembly of the turrets next. Thanks for looking

Great work with the PE.
Those SKIF's are coming along great !

Thanks, John

BUBLINA T-55C1 turret build is complete with some work required and some just added for interest

The company sprues that were added to the FAVORIT, BUBLINA and SLAPC-55 kits are from Master 44 UA.


The casting is rough.



Removal of .5 mm of material from inside of the TC hatch opening is required to fit (part 3G) hatch ring into top of turret. I used a rat tail round file for this operation. I should have used a larger radius half round file or maybe a, sheet metal step drill, that has the perfect diameter cutting step.
https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/easystore.co/14425/images/products/1493877.jpeg









The method I employed resulted in a very rough shape. Once the hatch ring part fit snugly but without distortion, I glued in place with liquid cement to give me time to position level and correct. After that set and cured over night, I filled with CA and let that run into the remaining space and gaps.





Front turret plugs were also kit supplied parts and were used as instructed and not puttied smooth because I saw reference pictures and those looked like roughly plugged cavities.







Putty filled the gaps left over on the TC hatch ring now


The 2 view scopes on the top of the turret were modified together from parts on the sprue of this kit that were designated as "not to use". I saw more reference pictures on line so I added these to my model for added detail interest.





















The kit provided plastic grab handles for the sides of the turret were used but are very fragile. The only way I could clean the seams off of these parts were to cradle them in a piece of neoprene tape while sanding and filing smooth.













The turret ring keys need to be filed down in width to fit into the hull key ways.

This turret is now ready for primer.

The SLA APC-55turret is finished.



Before glueing in part (1d) into turret part (1f), I did some other things. Part (7d) needs to be glued in before part (1f).



This part (7f) lower hatch ring must be glued in after slicing off registration pegs. Position in this configuration but cut off pegs.


I didn't do this and it made a weird oval.


My beautiful assistant saw this and thought I was making her a ring.


Such an imagination in that pretty little head

The TC scope has a sink hole in the cast. This is covered buy the PE part.










There are no registration marks to set the vision blocks onto the turret. I saw reference photos and it looked like the LH side was further back.





There was fit gap issues with this build so I used CA sand putty.




The reference photos I saw placed these vision ports at "about there" and "about there".
The left side is just behind the 90º mark. This is where I glued mine.



These are suppose to be glass so I polished mine here.



trim the PE hooks down to about half. I glued the tracks on first then glued the PE hooks parts into it later.


Stretched sprue was used to make the LH turret grab handle.


The i-sheets describe PE part 22t but for the water bottle rack on the RH rear side, use part (31t).


There PE was bent astound another wooden form for this.

Very nice build thread and interesting T55 varients. I will be following with interest

Thanks for checkin' in

Now to the nitty gritty! How about the blower hole on the turret lower side? And beveling the edge of the turret base? Driver's washer fluid tank on the RHS? Fuel lines? Just messing with you....
I love the work you've put into these kits. It inspiring to those of us that love the T54/55/62 series of tanks!

Chris

Hi Chris, Thanks for the comments

BTW, beveling is for wood shop. In steel you chamfer

The KMT-6 Mine Plow on the T-55C1 BUBLINA assembly.



Some guess work and preliminary dry-fitting is required to assemble the mine plow mechanism assembly.





I should have used parts (19 and 20) instead of parts (9N and 14N) as instructed.
Parts (19 and 20) are cleaner casts and I wouldn't have had to shave off the mounts on the front of the lower hull.
Clean-up of the new parts from the Master44 sprue is difficult. Good news is that they won't be clearly seen.






The 'string' which is to be cut to 40mm in length is not included in my kit. I used sewing thread on this build.
The holes were drilled in the appropriately suggested places and the thread was threaded through.





The bottom of the plow arm assemblies have a sink mark in exactly the right place. I used them to guide my drill for a through hole. This is where I glued one end of the (cable).





The detail on the cylinder is pretty plain. I assume this activates some sort of unlocking device which then allows the plow to drop into the dirt . . . ? . . .






inside view of LEFT plow arm


outside view of RIGHT plow arm

I searched the web for as much ref pictures showing the function and route of the cable. The thread (cable) was guess guided through the mechanism and glued in place.

BUBLINA T-55C1 is ready for primer. I still need to acquire a set of SKIF vinyl tracks for it


The crooked and misaligned, fender fuel tanks and storage boxes are just set up there for the picture





South Lebanon APC-55 also ready for primer.


The crooked and misaligned, fender fuel tanks and storage boxes are just set up there for the picture.

BUBLINA T-55C1 under base coat of UN white. Subtle weathering underway. This is my first white military vehicle so this is a learning experience for sure.



Base coat Rust-Oleum gloss white sprayed out of the can. Then light gray pin acrylic washes followed by about 10 sable brush filters so subtle that I couldn't even see the effects each time. I just had to trust that they were working.

A little more grime under the fenders behind the wheels. This was ground down chalks mixed with hobby acrylics wash

KoSprueOne they are looking fantantasic mate ,
glad to see you are still at 'em







Paul

Hey Paul, thanks for the comment and for dropping in.

The SLAPC goes under primer in a few minutes