IDF Tiran 5

First written: April 22nd, 2008 | Updated: April 3rd, 2009

The other T55…

Yet another Israeli tank… Israel has a long history of conflicts with its neighbors. Since the Independence war, two major wars and an ongoing conflict that lasts till today has turned their armed forces into  a very effective machine, and often with surprising results.

There is something in their ingenuity that distinguishes them from every country. The continuous transformations and adaptations to their material turned the specific Israeli versions of AFV into something very peculiar. The fact that they had T55′s was a total surprise to me. But then again, Germans had Russian vehicles and Russian had German vehicles. The reason was exactly the same – captured T55′s were converted and deployed under Israeli colors after 1969.

The Tiran existed in three major versions, depending on which base version they were transformed from. They were no more than captured Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian tanks converted to suit their needs, namely the substitution of the main gun and several other transformations to the tank.

I’m going to build the Tiran 5 version. Based on the excellent Tamiya T55A with a Blast Models resin conversion this is going to be one of my all time favorite projects. If you read my pages you probably guessed that I have a soft spot for Israeli armor, so a Centurion and other Israeli AFV’s are planned.

The Kit(s)

 

Tamiya makes an excellent T55, and Trumpeter makes a really bad Tiran 5.

There was not much to decide. I decided to get the Tamiya kit and one of the best (if not the best) Tiran conversion for making the Tiran 5 – The Blast Models resin kit.

There’s not much to say about the Tamiya kit, so I’m just going to "talk" about the resin kit from Blast. It’s awesome!

The quality of the resin parts is second to none and the accuracy is also of note.

All the photos and reference material I could gather, confirm the accuracy of details of the kit.

From the cupola hatches, to the turret and hull racks, everything seems to have been checked and rechecked on this conversion.

The only minor issue being the gun tube, in which the front section comes a little warped.

However, I don’t panic anymore. I just use hot water and an hair dryer and it’s just a matter of minutes till everything is in order.

Some other parts are going to be used on the kit, namely a set of excellent Friul tracks, the Eduard basic T55 set, a generic tie down loops set from Aber and of course, Bison decals.

The building started already and I’m changing and detailing all the small things that are needed to make this kit a remarkable model.

Building

12-04-2008

Building a kit like this has it’s advantages.

The Tamiya base is excellent in every respect. The way the parts go together is typical of their high quality and that’s what I would expect from them. And I start to think the same about Blast Models.

Their resin sets are always good. In this particular case it was done as a perfect match for the T55 from Tamiya. The end result is surely top notch, provided one handles it with care.

Working with resin is not the same as working with plastic and there’s a need for that little more attention.

I’ve been having a precious help from an authority on IDF armor.

I’ve joined a forum exclusively dedicated to this area and on that forum I found a very helpful Moderator. None other than the head of the Latrun Armor museum in Israel – Michael Mass.

He is a reserve L. Colonel of the IDF and he happens to be a former "Tiranist".

He has the most amazing collection of photos of all IDF armor and specifically of the Tiran.

He provided information and photos of details I could never imagine. This help can turn a regular model into a very accurate replica of the real thing. I had a crush on IDF armor, but with this kind of help a lot more will follow.

I can see myself doing the Achzarit, Shot Kal, Nagmachom etc etc. Almost all details are done and in just a couple of hours the kit will go to painting. And that’s the proof of the pudding.

Turret ready… well, almost

Apr 13, 2008

The turret is now ready. After countless hours doing all the details, it’s finally complete and ready for painting. I like to give a coat of Tamiya primer for two reasons:

1. Because of different materials (resin, metal, plastic) the paint tends to behave differently if a coat of paint is applied directly
2. It highlights any imperfection that may exist and gives the opportunity to correct before it’s too late.

The hull follows close. Most of the work is done and there are only a few minor details missing. I guess that with 4-5 hours work it can be ready for the first coat of primer.

Hull ready

Apr 18, 2008

After the turret there was a huge amount of detailing needed on the hull. Some of it was already done, but what was missing meant a lot of hours looking through a magnifying glass.

All the parts from the Blast kit, the PE on boxes, tie down links, and an endless amount of little things took 5 days (around 4-5 hours each) to do. In the meantime I decided to have a go at lowering the  suspension. It was too high but it was already glued.

With the use of Tamiya Thin Glue (it has the ability to soften previous glue) and some twisting, I lowered the suspension 4-5 mm. And that changes the stance of the tank significantly. It looks heavier and meaner.

After all those small details, the hull was painted with a first coat of primer and the usual set of photos taken. Here they are to the right.

The last one was a last minute change, again thanks to the invaluable help of forum members. This time in Armorama. A member pointed out that the ventilation slot was not there and in fact it was quite easy to do. A file, a small strip from a PE fret, some filler and 1.5 hour of work produced that little slot that I missed from all the reference material I saw. Many things in this model were result of the input on forums.

1. The mount for the IR light on the turret was modified from the original Tamiya part.
2. Sink marks on the rear of the turret that I didn’t notice. They were the placement marks for the original kit
3. The suspension height
4. The angle of the ammo box on the right side of the turret
5. The ventilation slot on the base of the turret
6. Chamfer the base of the turret

Very easy to correct, but I would miss them if it wasn’t the sharp eye of these guys. Some of them were a dramatic improvement on the model, like the suspension or the IR light mount that would not survive scrutiny from more informed T55 modelers (as it didn’t). Many thanks to them.

I’m planning to paint the base coat this weekend and according to the best examples I’ve seen, Tamiya Buff is the base color. Why change a  wining team? If Adam O’Brien used it on is EXCELLENT Tiran, then I’m sure it’s suited for me.

Painting

Apr 20, 2008

The work is progressing fast. Maybe because I want to see the final result ASAP. I applied a base coat of Tamiya Buff (1.) and post shade of Xrtracrilycs Israeli Sand (2.). A brown filter from Mig (Sin Industries) was used to enhance the post shade effect in some places (3.).

This is used to give more depth to some recesses or even to change the way the light normally behaves on a surface. Vertical surfaces are normally lighter because they are less exposed to strong sunlight.

But before further filters and washes I had to apply decals and this was done over a coat of gloss varnish where the decals were to be placed. I preferred to use this approach so that I don’t apply to many coats to the model.

The decals are from the recent set released by Bison (I’m still missing the registration numbers, and they are needed for this model) with Microscale Microsol.

Oops…

Apr 21, 2008

I don’t know why, but I have a tendency to mess up Israeli colors. They seem easy at first sight but things can go wrong very fast. After the filter and gloss for the decals I could not stop looking at the model thinking it was too yellow.

I looked at it under natural light and it was in fact too yellow. At this stage the decals were on and correcting the color was a tough job. But I just could not let things as they were. I planned a strategy for solving the problem.

All decals needed to be masked and a mist of the correct color had to be sprayed on. But what color? After several tries, a mix of Tamiya Buff, White and light grey seemed to be the correct mix.

The proportion is 60% Buff+20% White+20% Tamiya Light Grey. A very diluted (20% paint+80% water) was then sprayed over the model.

In the end I removed the masks from the decals and did it over them, blending the decals with the base color. White got less white and the decals seem painted on the model.

Looking at the results I can say that the color seems the right tone.

Pigments and weathering will take care of the rest. Again a close call on a paint color that was getting out of tone.

Weathering

This was a two phase process with a lot of time between the two phases. The first chipping and pigment application was really very soft. I did it in May, and the model was just sitting on the shelf for a while waiting some details. In the meantime I made other models and especially changed my view of chipping and weathering.

The two DVD’s by Mig productions had a very important role in this. It’s amazing how your perception changes when you see other modelers work.

When I grabbed the model from the shelf a few days ago I understood immediately that the chipping was way to soft and the tank was nowhere as dirty as it should be. So I decided to revisit the process and do it again. Even when I think I’m doing much more chipping, some view it as very subtle and controlled and that’s exactly what I want to achieve.

I just applied lighter base color and metal spots in places where it seemed reasonable to have them. After all, when you look at a vehicle this big you can find countless little imperfections on the surface. The pigments werejust dropped on the surface and then blended with Mineral White Spirit.

The cables the registration plate and a few painted details on the cupola and hatches finished the ensemble.

I hope you like it, because I sure do.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Michael Mass and the folks at IDF in Scale forum. Without them and their priceless input this would be a much worse model than it is.

What was used in this kit

Tamiya T55A Blast Models Conversion for Tiran 5
Friul Tracks
Eduard set for T55
Tasca .50 MG Set
Aber .30 metal barrels
Bison decals
Karaya Cables

 

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