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Armor/AFV: IDF [Israeli Defense Forces]
Armor and AFVs of the IDF army from 1947-today.
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Captured Israeli T55?
retiredyank
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 12:16 AM UTC
Were all T-55s captured by Israel converted to TI-67s? I know the T-55s captured, in the 6 Day War were converted. However, what happened to those captured in the Yom Kippur War?
Bravo1102
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 01:54 AM UTC
Well I know a few were passed on to the US Army. Afv-G2 had pictures of brand new T-55 and T-62 in the 1970s that had come from the Israelis in 1973.
HeavyArty
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 02:09 AM UTC
All the ones retained by Israel from both the '67 and '73 wars were converted to some form of Tiran (4, 4Sh, 5, 5Sh, etc.) depending on the year and what upgrade level they were at.

Israel did keep a few in their original configuration. They were quickly pressed into service when captured and were called Tiran 1 (T54) and Tiran 2 (T55). These were removed from service and rebuilt rather quickly though.

Others were sold to various foreign buyers. Those that were sold, were rebuilt to the specs of the buyer.
chefchris
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 02:33 AM UTC
Not all were turned into tirans. They used what they could. Cannibalized the rest and put them in storage. The Lebanese received some. Spare parts abound...
retiredyank
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 04:27 AM UTC
Thank you for the informative replies. I have the Tamiya T55A and would like to portray it as captured by the Israelis. Paint chips abound. Are there any key differences I should be aware of? I am not against minor scratch building. Actually, I am looking forward to using some of my tools, purchased for just this purpose.
18Bravo
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 04:44 AM UTC
Since the Tamiya was not quite as correct as 2002 reviews would have had us initially believe, you may want to choose a particular country's version, and make sure at least the engine deck is correct for that one. Tamiya's kit is a mix of different versions. Of course, if you build it as is only the most discriminating modeler (and former member of this site) will likely know or care.
ReluctantRenegade
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 08:22 AM UTC

Quoted Text

were called Tiran 1 (T54) and Tiran 2 (T55).


Although Wikipedia states so, those designations never actually existed. Captured T-54/5s and T-62s were called Tiran 4/5/6 respectively. Upgunned versions of the T-54/5 range were called Tiran 4/5 Shh after the 105 mm ‘Sharir’ gun, which was basically a standard M68 105mm barrel mated with the original D10T breech.
ReluctantRenegade
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 08:30 AM UTC

Quoted Text

TI-67s


This is a general, western designation of T-54/5s captured by Israel in ‘67 and put into IDF service. In other words, Ti-67 corresponds to Tiran.
panzerbob01
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 04:22 PM UTC
Matt N.;

If you have the Tamiya kit, I think that you may want to find some replacement road wheels. Alas, but Tamiya went and molded those little radial ridges on the rubber tires as engraved lines instead of the proper "proud" ridges that are there on the real tires.

I haven't personally owned nor built this Tamiya kit, but folks seem to generally like it (other than those screwy tires) and say that it pretty much looks the part when done. Knowing as there were multiple versions supplied to Arab states, with some detail differences among them, you may want to look up what likely bits will need or want changing to get what you want - or not!

I THINK that some other company - Takom? MiniArt? - is now offering an Israeli Tiran II (captured T-55 or T-55A). It may be useful to look at pics and posted details of that / those more-modern (and parts-rich) kit(s) to see what details and features they emphasize or present. Some of these may be mods that you might consider applying to your Tamiya kit.

Cheers! Bob
retiredyank
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 09:32 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Matt N.;

If you have the Tamiya kit, I think that you may want to find some replacement road wheels. Alas, but Tamiya went and molded those little radial ridges on the rubber tires as engraved lines instead of the proper "proud" ridges that are there on the real tires.

I haven't personally owned nor built this Tamiya kit, but folks seem to generally like it (other than those screwy tires) and say that it pretty much looks the part when done. Knowing as there were multiple versions supplied to Arab states, with some detail differences among them, you may want to look up what likely bits will need or want changing to get what you want - or not!

I THINK that some other company - Takom? MiniArt? - is now offering an Israeli Tiran II (captured T-55 or T-55A). It may be useful to look at pics and posted details of that / those more-modern (and parts-rich) kit(s) to see what details and features they emphasize or present. Some of these may be mods that you might consider applying to your Tamiya kit.

Cheers! Bob


Thank you for the suggestion.

BTW I found a Polish engine deck, on Shapeways. I will reference this, in the "How to Model a T-55" thread.
Tank1812
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 10:33 PM UTC
Here is polish built t-55 hull that will help illustrate some changes. That decking is a good start and reasonable priced.

http://armorama.com/forums/245974&ord=&page=1

HTH
retiredyank
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Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 11:12 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Here is polish built t-55 hull that will help illustrate some changes. That decking is a good start and reasonable priced.

http://armorama.com/forums/245974&ord=&page=1

HTH


Thank you for the link. The scratch build looks much better than the deck, on Shapeways. This is looking like it will be turning into a fun build.
ReluctantRenegade
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Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2018 - 12:19 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Not all were turned into tirans. They used what they could. Cannibalized the rest and put them in storage. The Lebanese received some. Spare parts abound...


Lebanese militias allied with Israel didn’t receive any original T-54/5s from IDF stocks but backdated Tirans, retro-fitted with their iloriginal D-10T guns.
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