Have been blogging this in one of the campaigns but posting here too in the hope that someone may be able to find any flaws I've missed before committing to paint.

Base kit is Tamiya's Tiran 5 with AM coming from DEF Models, Voyager, Aber, Legend, Modelkasten along with scratchbuilt parts.

Most of the work went into converting the vehicle into a T54 upon which the Tiran 4 was based. I'm depicting a very early 4 so a lot of features such as turret stowage boxes etc and not here as they weren't utilised at this early stage in the vehicles development.

Plan is to paint this as a Lebanese vehicle though I have yet to decide on a paint scheme.

Critique away....











































Gary

Nice looking vehicle and nice work!

Almost a shame to paint it

Gary, I never posted in the campaign thread but your work is amazing! I hope you never paint it

Gary,
What a beautiful Tiran! I like your pictures as well, very nice. Its easy to see your great work. If I could suggest you move the front turret lifting hooks inward since the light is not mounted. The DEF set looks great. I wasn't aware they provided the idler with the adjustment screws or the engineering mounts for the upper glacis. It also looks as if the hatch rings are correct for the T-54, not just copies of the Tamiya T-55A kit which are for later T-55s only.
Good stuff. I look forward to seeing it in SLA colors.

Chris

Thanks for the feedback chaps - much appreciated

Chris - the DEF set is pretty good in the main but there are a couple of minor gripes such as the commanders hatch (which is why I modified the Tamiya one). The idler adjustment parts aren't included - I had to scratch build the T54 specific types.
Good call on the lifting hooks. I've relooked at some T54 ref pics and it's obvious now you point it out! Thank you

Gary

Done



Gary

OMG that is so beautiful! Exceptional craftsmanship.
Hate to say it but it's almost a shame to paint.

Man that was a quick fix!! You did a nice job on the idler mount, it looked like it came with the set -
I m also wondering if you should add the Uzi with bracket in front of the commanders cupola

Chris

Lovely

You really went all out. Very clean build. I look forward to seeing it painted, then finished.

Thank you one and all





Fortunately, an easy fix. The idler mount wasn't easy but an important addition as it is very visible with the fenders off. Uzi mount is already there - just to the side of the turret below the cupola. Loaders one is on opposite side

Gary

An amazing build, been following it on IDF modeling site. Your attention to detail is outstanding.

I don't know much about Tirans, so I can't offer a better comment than WOW!

Mario

Astonishing piece of work Gary! I'm looking forward to seeing what scheme will you choose to paint it.

I was just wondering about Lebanese paint schemes vs Tiran name.
I was under the impression that "Tiran" was the Israeli name for the captured and modified T-54/55/62 tanks. These tanks after being phased out of IDF first line were handed over to SLA at the beginning of the 1980s sans 105mm gun. So I was thinking that Tiran in Lebanese markings = Israeli mods + 100mm D10T gun. Or were there earlier Tirans supplied to Lebanon?
I know very little about the subject, so please bear with me.

Cheers,
Greg

The Lebanese never received Tirans with the 105mm gun. They do have a mix of ex-IDF Tiran 4/5. When the SLA collapsed The Lebanese Army and others took over the fleet of armored vehicles. Most all current Lebanese T54/55 have the IDF bits removed but you can still see the mounting points for items. As far as coloring they are Dark Green, Drab Green, or a very dark (almost grey) green.

Chris

Gary I now see the bracket for the uzi on the side... sorry bout that.

Looks fantastic

Chris,
that is exactly what I wrote, or at least I thought that 'sans' means without.

So my doubts were, if it is a Lebanese Tiran it should at least have the 100mm D10T gun, and this one has some different barrel, and as you write it should have fittings from removed IDF mods.

Cheers,
Greg

Greg

It is armed with a D10T 100mm gun. This is an early version without the fume extractor. AS for fittings, there were very few things added by the IDF on the initial variants. You'll notice the total lack of turret stowage bins for example. All the other fitments here can be found on SLA Tanks. The 'Tiran in Lebanese Wars' book by Samer Kassis is a very useful reference guide.

Gary

Gary, I have the book, for now it is my only source of knowledge on the subject. My understanding was that Lebanese forces received Tiran tanks from IDF sometime after 1980, so most if not all Tirans received from IDF would have late modifications present (IDF stowage boxes) and be retrofitted with the D10Ts available to the Israelis.
But I had another look in the book and there is a tank in Lebanese markings in such form as your model(I just noticed the earlier barrel, doh ) so it looks I was wrong as there are many tanks without the stowage boxes that are called Tiran by the author (though I'm fairly certain that with all the mixing of parts one can't really tell apart a Tiran from a 'tiranised' T-54/55 with 100% certainty). Anyway it was just a matter of terminology and a silly question of mine.

Again your model is astonishingly detailed and I look forward to see which scheme will you chose for it

Cheers,
Greg

No probs Greg. That's what I love about this site - the wealth of knowledge and the ability to have debates which challenge the norm. Great way to learn

Gary

Thanks Matt. No where near paint at this stage. We're having a new house built at the moment so in a little bit of disarray at the moment until we can move in (all going to plan) in October. So I'm just concentrating on builds at the moment and painting can start once I have my new workshop up and running....

Gary

Looking good! I do hope the paintjob's going to be a complex and involved as the modelling.

Absolutely stunning!