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After feeling inspired looking at IS-2's and T-10's in Minsk, I decided to branch out and start a project on a modern Soviet armour project. Working on a cold war project was a really nice change and allowed me to try modelling totally new styles of armour and wargear. I also decided to scale up and try a 1:35 scale project.

The scene will show a T-55A and Soviet Motor Rifle Troops on patrol, the main part of the scene will be the excellent Tamiya 1:35 scale T-55A:



This really is a fantastic kit and a real joy to put together. Tamiya out did themselves with this kit, the level of detail is fantastic and the build goes together like a dream.

Once again I'll be using Osprey's excellent modelling guides, as reference:



As well as numerous magazine articles and web sources.

I'll also be using photo etch and some resin crew figures from nemrod:



I'm also waiting on some tracks from Japanese firm Modelkasten, and some resin full interior detail kits from CMK (Czech Masters Kits). Since these are all on mail order from Sprue Brothers in the USA I'll be starting what parts of the build I can without them for now. Luckily CMK provide full instructions for their kits online so I have been able to read these and see what areas of the Tamiya kit that don't require surgery or modification.

Starting the build:

The CMK instructions told me that it was safe to start work on the lower hull and wheels without the resin upgrade parts.

The lower Hull - the detail on the part is great. It's a shame that the underside won't be visible!



Since the road wheels on a T55 are rubber they are prone to chipping and little blocks wearing away. You can easily replicate this with a triangular modelling file, by filing away small chunks:



When building the suspension its a good idea to align the parts with a small metal rule to get a perfect fit:



The wheels and gears use small polycaps so the can be easily removed from the suspension and can actually move. Some track kits such as the Modelkasten kits are also workable which allow complete movement forwards and backwards.








This really is a great little touch that not only makes building and painting much easier but gives the finished kit an extra dimension.

Quick mock up with the upper hull, now it actually looks a little more like a tank!

Can't wait for it dude. What will this one consist of?

You're making quite the habit of doing awesome stuff.

sA

Assuming that this will be to the same standard as before.. would it be safe that we go get our jaw-locks now? Or foam tables?

I seriously can't wait to see how this turns out.

Cheers,

Jack.

Still in the early stages but so far it's looking good.Tamiya really make good stuff.Hope to see more soon.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm hoping to make this project even better than my others. The increase in scale will let me go into a lot more detail and get much more in. For example the full interior detail, turret detail, and engine compartment will be a lot of fun and will be even better than the interior kit that I used from Verlinden for my T34/76.

Actually the T-55 is a direct descendant of the T34 so theres a running theme between these blogs!

Deff your right its early stages but theres still a lot of detailing to do at these levels, I need to crack into the hull next and add washer cables, electriacal wiring, nuts and bolts and rivets etc.

Assassin, this dio will be made up of the tank, three tankers, and four motor rifle infantrymen, set in a winter scene. I'm thinking to do a winter camo for the armour.

Heres some photos of the figures.

Nemrod box art:



This set comes with a driver, gunner, and commander. One is in a seated position inside the tank (upper body only), one is seated on the turret (full body), and one standing (full body). I plan to convert the driver with the spares from the plastic Tamiya crew figure that comes with the T-55 to convert him into a fully seated figure to go into the CMK drivers chair.











They need some cleaning up but overall the quality of the resin casts are very good with some nice surface details. Also the faces are very nicely done. The detail doesn't show to well in these images, but theres plenty there. I've recently gotten myself some modellers oil paints for skin tones, so I'm really looking forward to working on the skin tones in that medium instead of using acrylic colours.

Next up is the Infantry, a great 1:35 plastic kit from Dragon:







This figure is very early stages of build, the gaps need to be filled with filler and extra details added such as a rifle strap on the AK-74 for example. However this gives an idea of the figure straight from the box. I really love the Russian winter hats in this kit! These sculpts really have character.

Wow,dragons stuff looks amazing.I want to buy their AfrikaKorps stuff,but research is going slow.Just as a matter of intrest how much did the motor rifle box set cost?

Always been a fan of your dioramas, keep it up!

Well anyway I hope all goes well.

Now forward for the Motherland!

The Dragon kits are great value. This Soviet set was about £5, it comes with four figures and numerous acessories. Quite a fair price really.

Great photo Chris! Thanks!

Sounds a reasonable price,I hope to pick up some of their stuff in future and now seeing how beautifully detailed they are I will be sure to.

Oh and at first I though I had the wrong era of war,but decided to post it anyway.


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And just for further refrence:



I am lonely had nothing better to do .

Thanks for the reference pic! I actually have been working off this example myself. This site has some great reference photos:

http://www.wargearweb.org/impressions/smr/soviet_motor_rifles.htm

Motor Rifle Troops riding a T-55







I actually have one of these hats myself!

Hehe,well I guess it is great refrence material(the hat I mean).Espically since you own it and can browse over it's finer details.

Started work on the CMK interior this evening.

After washing the resin components I quickly came to realise how complex and time consuming putting it together would be.

Heres the CMK kit, its a fantastic mix of resin, clear resin, painted etch, and photo etch components:









The start of the Drivers cabin:



Position in the hull:



A wall section:

SO stoked for yet another masterpiece from you.
I love watching your progession on these pieces, its amazing!

Fantastic G-M is making a new diorama ! It must be a bit lonely here for you amongst all us crazy sci-fi / fantasy modelers with our made-up tanks and made-up wars. Its great to have you here though, your work is always fantastic and a great inspiration.

That interior kit is amazing, it sure puts forgeworld to shame with their interior kit for the chimera.

Keep up the good work mate.

Nice job so far.

Thats a nice little kit,how difficult is something like that to paint?

Thanks for the comments guys! Very much appreciated!

The interiors will take a long time and the current Drivers Cabin is very much WIP.

Here are some reference photos of the real interior of a T-55 to give you an idea of how it will end up when finished:

Drivers Cabin



Turret











I'll be trying my best to get it as accurate and detailed as the real thing.

@ StubbyGB - I totally agree that while FW offer some internal kits and very minor etch they really miss out. I think there would be a huge demand for further expansion in this area. Some of their tank designs are great and theres so much room for super detailing. You really learn a lot more about resin working with other companies, it isn't until you use competitors stuff (even in Sci-fi and Fantasy) and Scale model resins that you realise just how bad the quality of some FW resin kits are.

In this kit for example I have loads of absolutely tiny elements and there was not a single break or damage. It also was shipped from the USA to England! Ultra fine detail, clean casts, excellent quality resin. I have lost count of how many FW kits have arrived broken.

I love made up tanks too! I have plenty of 40K stuff, it's just taken a back seat at the moment sadly

@ firebat and Death Gear - Thanks guys I will try not to disapoint!

@ Deff - painting these kits is tricky somtimes but no more so than your average complex Citadel kit. The parts are all washed in warm water with a mild abrasive cleaner and a tooth brush first. I find that scale model resins do not have a huge amount of mould release agent on them so they wash quite nicely. I then prime the parts with Mr Resin primer from Gunze Sangyo. Its a specialist primer for resins that bounds really nicely to the resin and can also be used to fill surface inperfections and air bubbles etc. I then just paint as normal with airbrushes, oils, acrylics, and pigments etc. A fine detail brush and some patience are all you need really, and plenty of good reference photos!

Aaah...I see.Well anywho,goodluck with it.

Here's a catalogue photo of the Hornet Resin upgrade heads for the Motor Rifle Troops that I will be using. They should be arriving in the post over the next few days



These are great sculpts and I'm really looking forward to working with them on the remaining troopers. I might end up swapping the head on the current trooper I've built as well if I decide they don't match up well.

Here is a shot for futher refrence,it's a tanker uniform:



(Forgive me for posting all these pics if they are in no way helpful.)

Thanks for the pics, it's always cool to share reference photos!

Feel free anytime you find something cool!

I think you'll find you have just opened up the flood gates to hell,prepare for spam(lol no).

I will be sure to.So what colour will the motor riflemen be done in,like shown on the box or in some form of winter camo?

Winter Camo always looks great - would that be historically accurate? Could you perhaps have a bit of a mix; maybe some people with some non-winter camo pants or something?

(And by "pants", I am using the American term, not the one from the land of my birth. I don't believe they do interior detailing for human figures.)

Thanks guys.

As to winter camo for the Motor Rifle Troops I don't think they used a set winter colour scheme. Given the fact that the coats are obviously for winter operations (fur collar and padded) and that all the reference photos I have show them as green, khaki, or green/brown camo. I know that historically speaking (WW2) Soviet troops used winter overalls that were white during heavy winter fighting, I'm not sure however if this practice was continued into the 1970's - 1990's.

I do know that Soviet armour was either white washed or painted in a green and white winter camo.


Perhaps the troops continued the white overall tradition? I've seen reference photos of troops in green and brown camo fighting in snow so maybe they didn't bother?

Accually I think they wore something like this:




Soldier of 1978.


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Here is the site link if you would likle to read up:

http://www.russianwarrior.com/STMMain.htm?1969_uni_Arc.htm&1

seems to me it was worn by armoured companies/troops.Yet I might some how have read it wrong(this happens alot).

Yeah that looks about right. I found these examples of Russian troops (post USSR) that follow the same practice:





Heres some example of the kind of winter camo used on tanks, in this case its an APC.



I also found these cool exmaples of Russian camo on what looks like T-55's or maybe a T-55 variant.






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Deff Dread red Edition wrote:
seems to me it was worn by armoured companies/troops.Yet I might some how have read it wrong(this happens alot).

No your spot on the page actually refers directly to Soviet Motor Rifle Troops.

Sadly though there are no figures in these extra overalls and I don't fancy sculpting them! So I will stick with standard winter dress without the ZMK Overalls.

I'm actually drooling a bit looking at the interior details. Jesus, man. This is going to be (to quote Snoop) "off the hizzle, dizzle."

sA

Thanks!

I hope to be able to get a bit more of the interior cracked out tonight. I just heard that my CMK Engine set arrived in the post today, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on that too!

smiling Assassin wrote:I'm actually drooling a bit looking at the interior details. Jesus, man. This is going to be (to quote Snoop) "off the hizzle, dizzle."

sA

Agreed!

Anywho winter camo or not I can't wait to see them!