The other T55...
Abr 23, 2008
Yet another Israeli tank...
Israel has a long history of conflicts with it's 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 Titan 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 taht's what 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 the proof of the
pudding.
Turret ready... well, almost
Apr 13, 2008The 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:
-
Because of different materials (resin, metal,
plastic) the paint tends to behave differently if a coat of
paint is applied directly
-
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, 2008After 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 more heavy 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.
-
The mount for the IR light on the turret was
modified from the original Tamiya part.
-
Sink marks on the rear of the turret that I
didn't notice. They were the placement marks for the original
kit
-
The suspension height
-
The angle of the ammo box on the right side of
the turret
-
The ventilation slot on the base of the turret
-
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.
What will be 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
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