More on the boom. I added some copper tubing as the main pivot point between the boom and its cradle and a short piece of styrene tube is added to the main base to assist with mounting the assembly. The red arrows show the support arm and a locating bracket which has a pin (not yet fitted) to lock the boom in place....



Gary

There are a couple of bars that are stowed on top of the boom arm. Rather than muck about cleaning up and straightening the resin offerings, much easier making new ones from copper tube and strip styrene...



Gary

And done....



Gary

A small platform/work bench (?) is added above the exhaust outlet...



Gary

Dang it, modeling from the Gods, again.

Made a start on the upper spotlight's protective guard....



Gary

A small platform with a protective cage is mounted on top of the spotlight guard and houses an amber beacon. It is provided in PE by Legend, but is typically flat in profile and not that realistic IMHO. So I made a new one from 5 amp fusewire soldered together and to the platform...



And fitted in place....



While a beacon is included in the set, it is cast in solid grey resin - I'll find a clear orange replacement I think....

Gary

A piece of clear sprue, sanded to shape and painted with clear orange wouldn't do the trick??

Or something from the spares box


The travel lock hooks which keep the spade in the raised position are added. I used brass tube to depict the handles used to rotate the collar to loosen/tighten the hooks. Legend provide nylon string for the main cable which I replaced with copper wire from the spares box. The end is discoloured as I apply solder paste to prevent the strands from splaying apart...



Gary

Hi Gary,
a really beautiful build with all the parts and areas that you improved. Especially I like your work with soldering brass for lamp guards etc.
Accurate Armour does a set of clear cast orange warning beacons even with the small reflection mirror cast inside. Look for item A115, comes in 3 different colours depending on your needs.

Andreas

Thanks Andreas. The AA lights are very nice so may go down that route if my spares box doesn't turn up something useful.


Getting close to the build finish line... The front tow hooks mounted on the glacis plate are portrayed as being too short by Tamiya so the kits items are modified to obtain a more realistic size. Tow cables are added and here are where things currently strand...









Few small details still to add, but want to finish building before we move house at the end of the month.

Gary

Superb job Gary! A few weeks ago, I had a chance to climb all over one of these at a private collection near Leipzig. The crew stations are very cramped, even more so than an MT-LB.

I'm now working on a 1/87 scale VT-55 and VT-72

Great, great job Gary!

Cheers!

Marco

Gary, this is a fantastic build. Your skills really do inspire. You are not constrained by a need to work in any one medium. Your skills extend to all of them. Your work blending each medium together into one unified build is amazing. Thanks for posting regular updates.

Eric

Thank you for the kind words gentlemen It's been an enjoyable build despite some challenges - looking forward to getting some paint on it once we've moved and my new modelling cave is up and running.

Gary

Or in the United Kingdom ?

solid work here Gary. I am thinking where are the fuel tanks located on these variants? We all know about the fender mounted tanks and associated plumbing of the t-55. However, on the VT-55 is it just a single tank in the platform?

http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/sale/S1033802.JPG



best
Mark

Gary;
Fantastic build!!!! Very good ATD on the whole project. Your upgrades are outstanding and contribute to a lot better cleaner build. Can't wait to see it in paint.
I would like to build the same variant, but I will persue a scratch/conversion. Legend Prod. are outstanding, but somewhat exspensive IMHO.
Keep up the progress, it'll be a winner when complete.
Todd

excellent work

After further research, it seems that RMsh type tracks - usually seen on T72s - would be more suitable to this vehicle. So I've finally invested in a set of Fruils. The set also comes with 14 spoke drive sprockets - OMsh type tracks commonly seen on T55s have 13 teeth...



Gary