Trumpeter 1/35 Russian T62 Mod. 1975 (Mod 1962 + KTD21)

[Donkeywalloper]

Oh God, I missed Armour so much .
Having taken a walk over to Winged Things and Flying Metal, I'm back to my first love. 1/35 Armour
I have missed it so much .
I finished the Eduard 1/48 BF109G-6, and did the usual anal / OCD thing, I do of cleaning off the Work-Bench and having a spruce up of Man-Cave, then stepping away for a week or two, to 1, charge Modelling Batteries, 2, rejuvenate the old MoJo.
It works so well for me .
Well, I'm back, and this time, its Russian, its primarily Green, and its from a time when my other half had just been born, and I was 10.
It was a strange world back then, we loved that Rag-Bag Mujahideen, who with their somewhat antiquated weapons (Lee Enfield 303's, one of which is in this kit), and weapons borrowed from the enemy, the pesky Russians. They did a lot of backside kicking and technically, won. Well the Russians left.
The Russians, like the British in 1842, got their backsides kicked right royal and proper, and over the years, countries have tried to steamroller the Afghanistan People, and in most cases come up short, with the loss of many, many brave souls.
Tribes and Tribes and lots of in-fighting, but when then get invaded, they just act like a swarm of angry Bees being poked in a hive.
Well, enough of the dribble DW, what you got on the Bench.
Its not my first Trumpeter.
In fact behind my chair in the Man-Cave, is a completed, primed but not painted 1/35 KV2, see I do do Russian Armour.
Here's a bad picture of the top of the box.

I had a quick squiz in the box this morning, having received it from those charming chaps at www.emodels.com yesterday.
This morning, I split the sturdy Brown Paper off like an eager child, and had a loving glance over the stuff inside. Its in Grey plastic, its Chock Block with parts.
Its got PE, Metal Barrel, Wire for Tow Ropes, Clear Parts. Whats not to like eh!
I'm not going to do a massive In-Box image thing today, but once I'm back in M/C, you'll get a longing look in box.
It looks rather good fun.
I did take a photo of the figure Sprue, and the details is so good, crisp, clean and no flash at all.

I love it
By the way, I know how much you love my bizarre drivel and going off on tangents when on these builds.
Mrs DW still loving the Furlough Experience and calls it the Maternity leave she never could have. The tan is coming on with the amazing weather here in the UK.
The Garden at Chez DW has never looked so well. Of course like many in the UK, we were hit with the more time on our hands, and Garden Waste everywhere, then they stopped (in our case) Brown Bin emptying. Good God Government . Lock us in and bar us from the Pub, but the Brown Bins
The Brown Bin cessation has now stopped, and the bins will be emptied next week.
This morning, after getting all wet and moist over the next Armour build
I took my trusty Maul and Mattock, and my beast of a Breaking / Digging Bar to the Top Garden (yes, we do have a Top Garden ). Its a Tiered Garden and thats why its a Top Garden.
In the corner of the Garden, is the biggest Tree Trunk ever (well not ever, that would be ridiculous, and its not a Giant Sequoia ).
Its large though.
I, three years ago, had a right go at it. Knocked merry Hell out of it. Three years later, we return.
So here it is with first strike of Maul embedded in it.

20 minutes later, its gone.

It was rotten to the roots. Looked substansial on the outside, but it was all face and no foundation.
20 minutes of thwacking and bashing and the whole thing was out, roots and all. Bit of a depression obviously where the tree was and now nothing.
We filled a Tonne Bag with rotten wood.
Well, if you got to this bit, I salute you Sir, you probably think, "What the Hell is he babbling on about?"
You'd be right, but you did get down here so you did read this drivel.
I'm off for a lie down now, a glass of something White and Cold.
Love to you all in this turbulent time, and be kind to all and stay safe,
DW

[digger303]

I'm quiet lazy at times and when it comes to removing tree roots. I'm in the burn them or leave 3yrs brigade or a combo, cause by then as you found it isn't that hard when they are dead, dry and rotten.

Now that you have unwraped the new project I trust you are liking what you see....got some nice goodies chucked that you don't get that often these days. Way better kit than the old Tamiya according to some reviews I read and Trumpeter have boxed this kit 15 times in the last 10yrs. It must be a good earner for them....your on a winner.. chicken dinner

[Hawkmoon]

Nice kit and will be following

[Donkeywalloper]

I'm quiet lazy at times and when it comes to removing tree roots. I'm in the burn them or leave 3yrs brigade or a combo, cause by then as you found it isn't that hard when they are dead, dry and rotten.

Now that you have unwrapped the new project I trust you are liking what you see....got some nice goodies chucked that you don't get that often these days. Way better kit than the old Tamiya according to some reviews I read and Trumpeter have boxed this kit 15 times in the last 10yrs. It must be a good earner for them....your on a winner.. chicken dinner

The suggestion about Tree Stumps seems to be the way that we both have thought i.e. leaving to Rot then dealing an amount of Kick A@! to the Stump to gently remove . Seems to work. I wanted to go down the Burn route. Seen some vids on YT where you drill holes in Stump, then pour fuel in and set light, and drape with a wet Hessian Sack and leave O/N. Mrs DW pointed out that the Stump was in a corner of two border hedges, that may have gone up as well .

The kit is a real beauty, full of After-Market stuff supplied with kit. Makes you wonder why more Manufacturers don't go down this route, or am I being a bit naive
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Nice kit and will be following

Cheers HM, plenty more to come.
DW

[digger303]

I'm quiet lazy at times and when it comes to removing tree roots. I'm in the burn them or leave 3yrs brigade or a combo, cause by then as you found it isn't that hard when they are dead, dry and rotten.

Now that you have unwrapped the new project I trust you are liking what you see....got some nice goodies chucked that you don't get that often these days. Way better kit than the old Tamiya according to some reviews I read and Trumpeter have boxed this kit 15 times in the last 10yrs. It must be a good earner for them....your on a winner.. chicken dinner

The suggestion about Tree Stumps seems to be the way that we both have thought i.e. leaving to Rot then dealing an amount of Kick A@! to the Stump to gently remove . Seems to work. I wanted to go down the Burn route. Seen some vids on YT where you drill holes in Stump, then pour fuel in and set light, and drape with a wet Hessian Sack and leave O/N. Mrs DW pointed out that the Stump was in a corner of two border hedges, that may have gone up as well .

The kit is a real beauty, full of After-Market stuff supplied with kit. Makes you wonder why more Manufacturers don't go down this route, or am I being a bit naive
DW

Just as well the missus is prudent

The burn technique sounds a lot like the making of charcoal.

Dragon was like that once, then they just changed once they had established a good rep.

Can you tell me in this age of computers and slide molding, why when it comes to the molding anything rod like it invariably is oval or the two parts of the mold don't line up and you end up with two 1/2 circles stuck together and a step where the join is.
They can mold every other part together flawlessly yet fine rod like parts and even barrels won't be.

[Donkeywalloper]

Morning all

Well an amount of rain in the Midlands (UK) overnight, that was probably required but honestly not enough for Garden.
So, yesterday (Sunday), finally got stuck into this T62 kit.
The supplied In-Box treats is well, breathtaking, and makes you sad that more Manufacturers can't go down Trumpeters route.
Supplied PE, Turned Metal Barrel, Clear Periscopes, Wire for Tow Ropes and even, seperate, yes you heard right , separate Vinyl Tyres for Wheels. Knock me down with a feather and call me Shirley .
Well, Sunday morning shapes up with a few tools, a new blade in Scalpel, and my TET, it was time to build .
Trumpeter plastic is quite hard and takes TET well.
When I first mentioned this build, I mentioned that their was no flash, well I did find a wee bit in the Wheels but with a quick swipe of a Rat Tail file it was gone. You also get some very small seamlines, but again, some wiping with a Sander and its gone.
Firstly, I know these bore the hell out of some, and they want the juicy build images and nothing else. But, if you are doing a full build, you may as well throw in the Instruction page images. My apologies on quality of images. I am no Photographer and the Sunlight coming through M/C window yesterday morning, was a pain
So we have 18 build stages.















Boring, but at least thats that out of the way .
Then we have shout outs to Figures.

Plus build instructions for figures x 4 and paint shout outs for Vallejo, Mr Hobby, Model Master, Tamiya and finally Humbrol.

One colour scheme for vehicle overall, again sorry about shine

We then have two sprues, A, which mostly have Wheels and Running Gear.

Note the thin Polystyrene wrap around the Sprues 2/3 down. Whats that about? Protection between Sprues? Well yes and no, Not to protect between Sprues, but to protect these thin handles and this thin wire. Again, why can't all Manufacturers do this. It really shows a touch of class on the part of Trumpeter


Close up of Wheels, the flash I talked about earlier, was on a few wheels in one or two holes, but nothing to get upset about.

So with an Xacto Cutter, time to cut out a few wheels, and clean them up from the four locating points on sprue, but why DW? Didn't you mention Vinyl Tyres? I did, I did. Just a little wipe of the Ultimate Sander to make the Tyres go on smoother.
Then placed in Pots and labled.

Moving on to Lower Hull. One piece affair, with just the Rear Plate needed to be glued on. Some holes needed boring out with the tip of the Scalpel, to accept some very small brackets to Rear Plate.

Close up on Rear plate with brackets added.

Lovely weld lines on Rear Plate as well, very subtle.
So two fat loving shots of Lower Tub with Swing Arms attached on each side, and I have added the Drive Sprocket and Idler Wheels either side. No Poly-Caps so can't roll the Drive Sprocket and Idler wheel but with the supplied Link & Length Tracks, not really required.


That concludes this first build script, and that is a Sunday mornings work in M/C with a bit of The Archers Omnibus and some 60's - 70's Comedy exerts from 4Ex on radio in background. Thanks for looking in, and as normal, please Take Care, Stay Safe and be kind to all.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Evening all

2 Posts in one day? Lucky people
Seriously though, apart from working at home for 3 days a week during the Lockdown, I have done relatively little Modelling .
This afternoon , in between bouts on Lap-Top, I found myself selling a lot of music CD's on a certain UK selling site.
I boxed them up ready to go to Post Office. Talking of Post Office, I have also a little box to go to my Mum & Dad's (84 years of age and in Lock-Down).
I asked what they needed the other day, and apart from the kind Neighbours doing shopping for them (Hats off to kind Neighbours), they could not get hold of the following, and tell me this is not an odd request from parents.
Parmesan (Small Lump, thats my Mum's description.
Capers (Middle Class or what )
Batchelors Dried Mushy Peas .
So being a diligent Son, a small box was assembled this afternoon and these items have been packed in. Off to the Post Office tomorrow.
I have also found an on-line company to convert VHS tapes to Memory Sticks.
So again, this afternoon, box made from some left around Cardboard and Packing Tape, then three VHS tapes have been sent off.
Whats on the video I hear you achingly ask..........?
My Passing Out Parade from 1988, when I, obviously, Passed Out of Infantry Training at Bassingbourn Barracks UK.
A recording of Mrs DW and I, on a BBC TV show, about people meeting and getting Engaged or Married in a very sort period of time.
We were Engaged in 3 weeks of meeting
I saw a tiny advert in a paper in London asking for people to contact BBC, if they had met somebody who they fell in love with at First Sight.
I answered the advert, and pretty quickly, Mrs DW and I were invited to stay two nights at a rather nice Hotel in Shepherds Bush, London.
Taxis to and from Studio at Bush House, Meals and Drinks all on TV Licence fee (dont shoot me, I just went along with it ). We ended up on stage, and the tape is the recording of us on stage.
The other VHS, is obviously the Wedding Video.
So, off they go in post to be transferred to a more pleasing viewing format.
Anyhoo, enough of this old guff
Modelling........
So what you see in this picture?
My homemade AFV Painting Rod. You guessed right, its a piece of dowel with a screw Epoxy Glued in the end. I then drill a hole into the Lower Hull and screw in said "Holding Stick". Its mounted in Vice in picture, cuz thats where it was left from Sunday afternoons fun

Close up on Swing Arms.

Having completed all that I can do on the Lower Hull, we move to the Front Glacis and Turret Ring. Firstly though, it calls out for much drilling of holes from underside of Front Glacis.

Next stage, is some very thin Turret Ring Cages (not sure on exact description, but you can see what they are in picture). Very careful cutting from Sprue points, but as plastic is quire hard and not brittle, it cuts away cleanly, a little wipe with a Ultimate stick and its as smooth as a baby's bottom

Last but not least, we have added the Drivers Hatch and some bits and bobs to the Front Glacis Plate, which include some Hooks.

That was enough work for this afternoon, and I have spoiled you with two posts, when I should be Working from Home
Thats your lot for today, see you later chaps.
DW

[RangerNeil]

That looks a lovely kit - I find my fingers twitching towards the wallet - which is unfortunate as these days the wife watches like a hawk when I'm online and looking at anything model related - something to do with catching me looking longingly at a 1/72 An-224...

Some interesting - or not - factoids from the Afghan incursion by the Soviet 40th Army.
When the Soviets finally got pushed into sending "military assistance" the Tribesmen that formed the Mujahadeen were armed with a variety of weapons ranging from muzzle load jehails up through Martin-Henrys, Lee Metfords and Lee-Enfields - with attendant ranges in ammunition. For the first year or so of fighting the Muj tactic was to pick off the Soviet forces with their long range weapons then run in, grab the shiny AK's and all the ammunition they could find, dump their long range weapons and run off. The Russian then collected them up and either sent them home as museum pieces or destroyed them. Reasonably understandably the Russians got a bit pee'd at this and looked for a solution - which conveniently lay to hand. The SVD (Снайперская винтовка Драгунова) - Dragunov Sniper Rifle was already in service with one allocated per company. This was - by military standards - rapidly altered to one per 4 man group. Ammunition wasn't a problem as it uses the same 7.62x54R round the co-axial mount in armoured vehicles and the PKM uses. In short order the positions were reversed - the Mujahadeen were trying to use the short ranged AK whilst the Russians were engaging from range with a 1 shot, 1 kill weapon. So the Muj had to go back to the Pakistani gunsmiths and obtain more ranged weapons - normally cloned Enfields. They tried to used the Soviet 7.62 rounds rather than the .303 but the Soviets have a knack of using over-pressure rounds in everything and the cloned Enfield so chambered had a nasty habit of blowing the bolt back into the shooters face so back to .303 it was as NATO 7.62x51 was hard to come by. The Muj would engage from either the tops of hills/cliffs in valleys or 3/4 the way up - so the Russians took to taking the top on the opposite side. And that was how the rest of the 10 year occupation went. The few large set-piece battles that were fought were decisively Russian victories, the skirmishes amongst the hills - maybe 60/40 in favour of the Russians overall. When the 40th was recalled to Russia in '88 it justifiably had the claim of never having lost a battle.

The T62 came in with the Russian Forces as part of the 40th Armys Armoured contingent. The armour in use by the Afghan National Army (ANA) was the venerable T34-85. All the Mujahadeen who knew how to operate armour had been trained on these - which brings us back to the issue of the autoloader... Only a handful of T62's fell into the Muj's hands - and few of them could be successfully operated at first because the loader in the turret crew was at best badly hurt, at worst minus an arm...

[digger303]

Getting that twitchy wallet feeling myself.
Keep those factoids coming Neil.

[Hawkmoon]

Nice start on the kit and looking good

[Donkeywalloper]

Getting that twitchy wallet feeling myself.
Keep those factoids coming Neil.

Cheers Neil. I know what you mean about the Other 1/2 peering a little to intently at History and over shoulder glances. Must use Incognito more
The history is great, and I always find a war interesting (probably should not use word, interesting), when its a big jock off Country giving it the Big I am, and a little, nontechnical armed militia or group, beat the hell out of them initially. I say initially, but invariably, nobody has conquered Afghanistan.
Afghanistan history always repeats itself, with Empires and large countries thinking this will be easy to conquer, yet, coming off quite badly .
Also, if you believe in 72 Virgins, and an Afterlife of Milk and Honey, you are probably not gonna be so worried about Death.
Young, British, US, Danes, Dutch, Russian soldiers with not so much Religion and wishing and dreaming of a better life on this earth, must be scared witless by Young Men on the opposite side, committing Suicide in HGV's stuffed with explosives, and not seeming to care at all.
Just my simple view.
Cheers Neil and Digger for kid words,
DW

[RangerNeil]

Getting that twitchy wallet feeling myself.
Keep those factoids coming Neil.

Cheers Neil. I know what you mean about the Other 1/2 peering a little to intently at History and over shoulder glances. Must use Incognito more
The history is great, and I always find a war interesting (probably should not use word, interesting), when its a big jock off Country giving it the Big I am, and a little, nontechnical armed militia or group, beat the hell out of them initially. I say initially, but invariably, nobody has conquered Afghanistan.
Afghanistan history always repeats itself, with Empires and large countries thinking this will be easy to conquer, yet, coming off quite badly .
Also, if you believe in 72 Virgins, and an Afterlife of Milk and Honey, you are probably not gonna be so worried about Death.
Young, British, US, Danes, Dutch, Russian soldiers with not so much Religion and wishing and dreaming of a better life on this earth, must be scared witless by Young Men on the opposite side, committing Suicide in HGV's stuffed with explosives, and not seeming to care at all.
Just my simple view.
Cheers Neil and Digger for kid words,
DW

Interestingly suicide bombers played little or no part in the 10 years of the Soviet intervention. I don't believe they made an appearance until the final year and even then they were were foreign nationals sent in by the Mullahs in support of what ever War Lord took their favour. The Afghans themselves preferred a straight-up fight albeit from ambush usually - as you rightly say - history iin the 'Stan repeats itself. The 10 years were a hodge-podge of insanity- a typical example being the Soviets undertook an operation against one warlord in conjunction with the ANA. During the operation an ANA Lieutanant was captured by the Mujahadeen of this particular War Lord and, in typical Afghan fashion, butchered on the spot. Captured Russians had a 50/50 chance of being ransomed depending on the War Lord but members of the ANA were universally killed.
Shortly thereafter the mans brothers, who were in the Mujahadeen of a different War Lord, turned up at the Soviet base and asked to see the base commander. The odd request was granted and it turned out they wanted to know what had happened to their brother - and what War Lord was responsible. On receiving the information they politely thanked the Russians and left - and then declared war on the War Lord who had their brother killed.
One Russian officer was to describe the 10 years as the biggest mistake the Russians made - and the biggest mistake the Afghans made.
The PolitBuro tried their damnedest to keep out of the area, recognizing that the regime in Afghanistan could not be supported on the "points of Russian bayonets" - and they were right but events left them no choice. The ruling regime had used Stalins methods as a way of converting the country to socialism and it was going under fast. The people in the cities were 50/50, the people in the countryside were arch-conservative Muslims and as history had already proved, Stalinism and religion did not mix. The then fear of having a Western outpost right on their border filled the old members of the Politburo with alarm - the Americans were looking for places to site listening posts after losing Iran and the Afghan Gov't, nominally communist, were playing the dangerous game of pitting one side off against the other.
If you want a good over view of the Russian intervention and the acts of the 40th Army I recommend reading the book "Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979 - 1989" by Sir Rodric Braithwaite - ISBN-13: 978-1846680625

[CygnusX1]

Aha! I just asked you in the 'postman' thread if you were doing a build thread on this...
Looks good so far; will be following along with interest.

[digger303]

Don't go starting any lego yet I wanna see this evolve

[Donkeywalloper]

Aha! I just asked you in the 'postman' thread if you were doing a build thread on this...
Looks good so far; will be following along with interest.

LOL you found me chap, here I am whittling on about Gardens and bits of plastic.
Good to hear from you.
DW

[CygnusX1]

LOL you found me chap, here I am whittling on about Gardens and bits of plastic.
Good to hear from you.
DW

Not to worry; makes the thread more interesting when you suddenly veer off topic and into gardening stuff. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[Donkeywalloper]

LOL you found me chap, here I am whittling on about Gardens and bits of plastic.
Good to hear from you.
DW

Not to worry; makes the thread more interesting when you suddenly veer off topic and into gardening stuff. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Well, not posted much for a while, so better get on with some updates to this model
So, despite time on hands, I haven't been doing to much modelling, which is strange, cuz I fancy you chaps are crashing through your statshes.
Sunday, being my favorite day for a bit of Plastic on Plastic thrills, it was time to give some more attention to this build.
We are still playing around with the front plate. On go the Lights and some itty bitty clips for the Front Hawser units.

i appreciate my Photo skills are, well lets face it, and lets not pull punches.......awful.
I though, persist with trying to pain your eyeballs with these awful shots.
I wanted to get a nice close-up of the Cast Moulding of the Turret. Its really well done. Good job Trumpeter.


Next section in build, was the Engine decks. Couple of nice bits of PE Mesh attached with a few dribbles of my favourite go too, Javis Thick C/A.

Next section of build, is the Side Fenders, Fenders and associated Storage / Fuel Tanks.

This is where Trumpeter gets Nil Pointes, Zilch Points and a big fat Zero for thought to Modeller
The Fender Fuel Tanks are beautifully moulded, but the Sprue Attachment points are right slap on the raised weld line.

Every Fuel Tank has one Sprue Attachment point either side
So, with a very sharp Scalpel, cut along the weld line, down towards tank, then pare off plastic excess. Then with a Ultimate Thinny and a Flat File, working closely along edge of weld line, remove all the Sprue Attachment. It took me a couple of hours to remove all of the excess and get a clean surface.
Moving on.
The Front Fender and Rear Fender needed a bit of damage inflicting. I was going to use a Solder Iron, but in the end resorted to the Trusty Dremel.


So having inflicted a goodly bit of damage, we end up with this.



That leaves us with the left and right Fenders complete.


So, there you have it for now
Hope all your builds are going brilliantly, and your all staying safe.
Love and Peace,
DW

[RangerNeil]

Those damaged front fenders look really good!!

[CygnusX1]

This is where Trumpeter gets Nil Pointes, Zilch Points and a big fat Zero for thought to Modeller
The Fender Fuel Tanks are beautifully moulded, but the Sprue Attachment points are right slap on the raised weld line.

Takom do that on their T-54 kit (and I assume all their other T-5x variants as well) that I built a while back. How annoying is that?

Love those damaged front mudguards; looking the business.
Great build so far. Keep it up mate.

[Donkeywalloper]

Those damaged front fenders look really good!!

Cheers Neil

Bit worried I had overdone it, but don't think the Due Care and Attention of Driver in these regions would be bothered about his 3rd Party FT
Thanks for dropping by, hope you and family are well?

DW

[Donkeywalloper]

This is where Trumpeter gets Nil Pointes, Zilch Points and a big fat Zero for thought to Modeller
The Fender Fuel Tanks are beautifully moulded, but the Sprue Attachment points are right slap on the raised weld line.

Takom do that on their T-54 kit (and I assume all their other T-5x variants as well) that I built a while back. How annoying is that?

Love those damaged front mudguards; looking the business.
Great build so far. Keep it up mate.

Cygnus
Really no thought for the Modeller at all.
Thanks for kind thoughts and words, best wishes to you and your family, stay safe chap.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Good afternoon folks

Hope you are well wherever the sun shines on you, or the moon lays its beam on you (he's been drinking aint he?).
Well, no, but feeling like waxing lyrical today
My day started at 04:50, on a beautiful, but crisp May morning, just a tad of frost on windscreen, but the flick of wipers removed it all. Then a long journey along Staffordshires finest highways, to work. Currently doing two days a week at work and three at home, working off new office desk at home, Dining Room table, on Lap-Top.. Wi-Fi behaves itself, but have now Hardwired myself from Modem with Cat 7 cable, and its far better. The Missus does not like the trailing wires across her Lounge, but what you gonna do Mrs DW?
So, home at 15:00, with noticeable more traffic on roads, and looking forward to BJ's announcements on Thursday and Sunday.
Back to the good stuff then?
Bit of tinkering yesterday afternoon, and I wasn't gonna do much, so started with a nice four part build of two Rear Fuel Drums. Two end caps and two halves which glued with some TET, and welded from rear, for a near seamless joint. Quick wipe with a Ultimate sander, and the seam was gone. Nice Buckle Hasps moulded in to the Drums. Will look beautiful with some Oil Wash. Not sure whether to damage them slightly, with a few divots and scuffs ?

Interest piqued, so measured out the provided Copper Wire and made up two Tow Ropes / Hawsers.


Well, its all going swimmingly well, and with a good play on R4EX, it would be a shame to waste an opportunity to make more mischief
The beautifully textured casting on the Turret, was screaming out for detail to be added.
First call out in destructions, is some holes to be made in Turret with Pin Vice and Drill for Grab Handles. Now Trumpeter, with a huge amount of squinting and some good light, have given you / me some little marks (Circular),to apply pressure with drill.

The Turret Machine Gun is added and its surround.

Then various parts added including the Loaders Hatch Hinge.

and the Commanders Hatch ring. See, I'm pointing at part with ends of Tweezers. No your right, not really mind blowing .

The play was finishing (Lord of the Flies, by William Golding), and the smell of TET, and a cool glass of Pinot being passed to me by my good Mrs DW. Seemed a fitting end to a good day.
I'll leave with three final images.
First, Mrs DW new toy, a giant Bean Bag for sunbathing. Really is b£&**dy enormous, but, very comfy.
You know I always like to drop a bit of nature in to my ramblings.
This a quite beautiful Lilac Bush in our Garden.

Nice close-up of the flowers. It also smells amazing.

So, till the next time. Look after yourselves and stay safe.
DW

[digger303]

DOUBLE BED in the garden shouldn't that be filed under "What WE did during Covid isolation?? "

[ForbesHutton]

I'm quiet lazy at times and when it comes to removing tree roots. I'm in the burn them or leave 3yrs brigade or a combo, cause by then as you found it isn't that hard when they are dead, dry and rotten.

Now that you have unwraped the new project I trust you are liking what you see....got some nice goodies chucked that you don't get that often these days. Way better kit than the old Tamiya according to some reviews I read and Trumpeter have boxed this kit 15 times in the last 10yrs. It must be a good earner for them....your on a winner.. chicken dinner

You just have to have a clean criminal record and you can get a Blaster's Permit here. It's meant for getting rid of beaver dams and small scale mining. But you drive out to Dupont's main warehouse, show the permit and get a case of dynamite. It was a fun way to kill a afternoon, 30 years ago, drive around in the country, and if you saw an old outhouse, stop and ask if you could blast it for them (most hadn't been used in decades). 2 sticks would turn a really old one into supersonic toothpicks (cocktail sticks), ones that were holding up better could get 200 feet in the air. Used a whole case when we were asked if we'd knock down an old barn and blew out the few tree stumps too. The shine went out of the whole thing after a toilet seat went through the windshield of the car. It was a windy 3 hour drive home with a large hole in the windshield and the police found the whole thing rather funny when they stopped us to inquire about the state of the windshield. I have no doubt that today mentioning dynamite to a copper at the side of the road would result in you face down in the gravel at the side of the road.

[RangerNeil]

Not to mention the fun at airport security when the chemical sniffers went off...

[Donkeywalloper]

DOUBLE BED in the garden shouldn't that be filed under "What WE did during Covid isolation?? "

We have very tall boundary hedges Sir.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Not to mention the fun at airport security when the chemical sniffers went off...

Brilliant story Forbes, isn't the times we habit, rather prudish and boring now.
America and Canada seem to have had a more laid back side to Explosives and Guns that the UK have never had. Must be all the Mining, Bears and such.
I don't particularly get on with the neighbour who is in the house that occupies the property that the hedge runs along. We chatted a few times when we first moved in 3 years ago.
He kept saying repeatedly, how he hadn't spoken to previous occupant of our house for over 15 years, over a dispute about cutting the hedge
He also mentioned he had not spoken to his neighbours on the other side (not the deceased, well I don't think he meant that ), for 20 years.
Me, being a very laid back chap, at the time, didn't really twig this conversation. It did though dawn on me once the Wind Chime, my beautiful Wife bought and put up in the Garden, opened up merry hell from him............................................
Sweet Lord, did it bring his true colours into the market.
We, the street were woken one morning, at 04:00 by a person ringing a School Hand-Held Bell outside our house and the person walking up and down the street ringing said bell.
I remember looking out of the front window at the following:
The odd neighbour was in his Dressing Gown with said bell scuttling into his drive-way and away from the scene of the Bell Ringing.
My lovely neighbour from other side (again not deceased ), in T-Shirt and Shorts, calling out in volume, not heard since Nuremberg Rallies, when the chap at the back shouted out, "Could the funny little man with the odd moustache, speak up, as he couldn't get the gist of what he was saying"
"Who the effing, effing, effing hell is ringing a Bell at this effing time of the morning"?
I spoke to my nice neighbour after this event. He sort of saw the funny side by then, but having two young daughters, was not so chuffed at the time. He and I agreed, that Bad Neighbour is one shorts of a full load.
Since then. You guessed it. We have never spoken to the Bell ringing fool. He doesn't like Neighbours or, talking.
So back to Dynamite.............can you imagine two sticks in that trunk and what that bangs result would create in the campanology realms with Bad Neighbour

[ForbesHutton]

I would never advise or encourage any sort of criminal behavior or violence on a public forum. That's what Private Messages are for.

to the spy agencies that monitor everything

[digger303]

[quote=digger303 post_id=349123 time=1587863235 user_id=6485

You just have to have a clean criminal record and you can get a Blaster's Permit here. It's meant for getting rid of beaver dams and small scale mining. But you drive out to Dupont's main warehouse, show the permit and get a case of dynamite. It was a fun way to kill a afternoon, 30 years ago, drive around in the country, and if you saw an old outhouse, stop and ask if you could blast it for them (most hadn't been used in decades). 2 sticks would turn a really old one into supersonic toothpicks (cocktail sticks), ones that were holding up better could get 200 feet in the air. Used a whole case when we were asked if we'd knock down an old barn and blew out the few tree stumps too. The shine went out of the whole thing after a toilet seat went through the windshield of the car. It was a windy 3 hour drive home with a large hole in the windshield and the police found the whole thing rather funny when they stopped us to inquire about the state of the windshield. I have no doubt that today mentioning dynamite to a copper at the side of the road would result in you face down in the gravel at the side of the road.

ROFL

DOUBLE BED in the garden shouldn't that be filed under "What WE did during Covid isolation?? "

We have very tall boundary hedges Sir.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

I would never advise or encourage any sort of criminal behavior or violence on a public forum. That's what Private Messages are for.

to the spy agencies that monitor everything

Quite right Sir
Apologies
DW

[AgentOrange]

nice kit,I did the Trumpeter T72

[RangerNeil]

I would never advise or encourage any sort of criminal behavior or violence on a public forum. That's what Private Messages are for.

to the spy agencies that monitor everything

There was quite a neat - and surreptitiously accurate - cartoon doing the rounds last year which ran thus

In the first frame a News reporter is saying "We are reliably informed terrorists are using Whatsapp as government agencies cannot crack its encryption".

In the second frame a GCHQ techie is going: <Snigger>

[Donkeywalloper]

I would never advise or encourage any sort of criminal behavior or violence on a public forum. That's what Private Messages are for.

to the spy agencies that monitor everything

There was quite a neat - and surreptitiously accurate - cartoon doing the rounds last year which ran thus

In the first frame a News reporter is saying "We are reliably informed terrorists are using Whatsapp as government agencies cannot crack its encryption".

In the second frame a GCHQ techie is going: <Snigger>

We all know whats happening, probably even more at this weird time.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Just loving the Trumpeter / 1/35 / AFV / Russian thing, so I went and bought this from www.emodels.com
Its not a everyday vehicle that I have come across before, but in line with Trumpeter standards, its packed to the gunnels with Interior parts, PE and various odds and sods that will make a great model (one hopes).
DW

[CygnusX1]

Just loving the Trumpeter / 1/35 / AFV / Russian thing, so I went and bought this from www.emodels.com
Its not a everyday vehicle that I have come across before, but in line with Trumpeter standards, its packed to the gunnels with Interior parts, PE and various odds and sods that will make a great model (one hopes).
DW

T62 looks like it's coming along. Like your garden... erm... "furniture"?... too.
That 2S23 looks like a great kit; I think I've seen pictures of this vehicle in the battle for Grozny.

Also... Nice slippers

[digger303]

Self propelled mortar....it's a interesting variation. Wonder the Russians haven't fitted a couple of antitank missiles to it.
Looks to be a great kit and of course I'm doubly interested in how it goes together having just built a similar 8 wheel drive .

[Donkeywalloper]

Cheers Cygnus and Digger, comments much appreciated and thanks for look-in.
I haven't done any modelling for ages, and to be honest since this last post, I have done Zilch
My gorgeous Furloughed Wife dropped me right in it. Up to the neck in doodoo.
Its not Death or illness but its turned our house into WW3.
So, Mrs DW has been going on about our Hall, Landing and Stairs ever since we moved in.
It was painted, I suspect, when the house was built (1950), in Primrose Yellow or Sick colour.
So, Mrs DW, goes down B&Q and buys a shed load of Emulsion to over-paint the Sick colour.

If you're eating now I apologise profusely.
This is where its goes absolutely T£t's up
The Primrose Yellow starts coming off in sheets all over the Roller that Mrs DW is wheeling with gay abandon.
Its an absolute mess.

So, DW steps in to the War, and rings a chap locally, to come and fit scaffold in the areas unreachable safely.
£80 to fit this.

DW removes all the Primrose Yellow and some White Emulsion from Anaglypta with a Wallpaper Stripper. Shorts and a lot of elbow grease and walls are stripped.
Whats under the Anaglypta?
More and more Primrose, Flaky Yellow
Now, I could kill myself with a Electric Sander and cause more mess than ever.
Middle of the night though, I had a brainwave, Steam the paint off with a Wallpaper Steamer.
So Boss has lent me another Steamer.
This weekend, shorts, scraper and Steamer. The paint does come off but in a Yellow slurry.
Hope you all have a great weekend whatever you are doing. It won't be TET and Sprue cutting for me.
Stay safe,
DW

[digger303]

Cheers Cygnus and Digger, comments much appreciated and thanks for look-in.
I haven't done any modelling for ages, and to be honest since this last post, I have done Zilch
My gorgeous Furloughed Wife dropped me right in it. Up to the neck in doodoo.
Its not Death or illness but its turned our house into WW3.
So, Mrs DW has been going on about our Hall, Landing and Stairs ever since we moved in.
It was painted, I suspect, when the house was built (1950), in Primrose Yellow or Sick colour.
So, Mrs DW, goes down B&Q and buys a shed load of Emulsion to over-paint the Sick colour.

If you're eating now I apologise profusely.
This is where its goes absolutely T£t's up
The Primrose Yellow starts coming off in sheets all over the Roller that Mrs DW is wheeling with gay abandon.
Its an absolute mess.

So, DW steps in to the War, and rings a chap locally, to come and fit scaffold in the areas unreachable safely.
£80 to fit this.

DW removes all the Primrose Yellow and some White Emulsion from Anaglypta with a Wallpaper Stripper. Shorts and a lot of elbow grease and walls are stripped.
Whats under the Anaglypta?
More and more Primrose, Flaky Yellow
Now, I could kill myself with a Electric Sander and cause more mess than ever.
Middle of the night though, I had a brainwave, Steam the paint off with a Wallpaper Steamer.
So Boss has lent me another Steamer.
This weekend, shorts, scraper and Steamer. The paint does come off but in a Yellow slurry.
Hope you all have a great weekend whatever you are doing. It won't be TET and Sprue cutting for me.
Stay safe,
DW

You have my condolences you my good fellow are in it up to your neck.....that's a horrible predicament .

I don't feel I can say cheers it doesn't feel right

[CygnusX1]

That's certainly a... distinctive... colour you've discovered there chap.
Good luck with that steamer; glad it's you and not me...

[digger303]

Lets hope this weekend is the end of that and more bench time is available....I like Russian gear.

[Donkeywalloper]

Cheers Cygnus and Digger, comments much appreciated and thanks for look-in.
I haven't done any modelling for ages, and to be honest since this last post, I have done Zilch
My gorgeous Furloughed Wife dropped me right in it. Up to the neck in doodoo.
Its not Death or illness but its turned our house into WW3.
So, Mrs DW has been going on about our Hall, Landing and Stairs ever since we moved in.
It was painted, I suspect, when the house was built (1950), in Primrose Yellow or Sick colour.
So, Mrs DW, goes down B&Q and buys a shed load of Emulsion to over-paint the Sick colour.

If you're eating now I apologise profusely.
This is where its goes absolutely T£t's up
The Primrose Yellow starts coming off in sheets all over the Roller that Mrs DW is wheeling with gay abandon.
Its an absolute mess.

So, DW steps in to the War, and rings a chap locally, to come and fit scaffold in the areas unreachable safely.
£80 to fit this.

DW removes all the Primrose Yellow and some White Emulsion from Anaglypta with a Wallpaper Stripper. Shorts and a lot of elbow grease and walls are stripped.
Whats under the Anaglypta?
More and more Primrose, Flaky Yellow
Now, I could kill myself with a Electric Sander and cause more mess than ever.
Middle of the night though, I had a brainwave, Steam the paint off with a Wallpaper Steamer.
So Boss has lent me another Steamer.
This weekend, shorts, scraper and Steamer. The paint does come off but in a Yellow slurry.
Hope you all have a great weekend whatever you are doing. It won't be TET and Sprue cutting for me.
Stay safe,
DW

You have my condolences you my good fellow are in it up to your neck.....that's a horrible predicament .

I don't feel I can say cheers it doesn't feel right

Nope, but glad you realise how far in doo doo I am.
Thanks for the look in.
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

That's certainly a... distinctive... colour you've discovered there chap.
Good luck with that steamer; glad it's you and not me...

Cheers Cygnus, and I would not wish this on my worst enemy.
Cheers
DW

[Tomcat64]

Blimey I popped in expecting to see some Russian tankage and found a detonation in a custard factory!

Best of luck with all that DW you really have got your work cut out for you there - I'll stop whining about having to sand seams down after seeing that!

[Donkeywalloper]

Blimey I popped in expecting to see some Russian tankage and found a detonation in a custard factory!

Best of luck with all that DW you really have got your work cut out for you there - I'll stop whining about having to sand seams down after seeing that!

Heheheheheh Neil
Custard Factory is bang on chap.
Sorry for lack of Glue and Plastic, I'll get on with story
DW

[Donkeywalloper]

Gooooooooooooooooooood Mooooooooooooooorning all

Welcome back to my hell, that is, as Neil so delightfully put, The Custard Factory .
Except, I'm not going to go down that line, and bore you more with my woes in decorating.
Oh okay, I wanted last weekend (16th / 17th) to spend sometime agitating plastic and gluing stuff together.
Nope, the Friday before, whilst at work. Mrs DW was using our tried and Tested Karcher Wet-Vac. I have had it for years and years and it has served me well.
When cleaning the Filter out, you take / twist a little sealed bung off.
You need to keep that safe.........................................
Mrs DW did not keep it safe, and threw it in Dustbin, on the day of collection of contents of said bin
Without that 10p Bung / Twisty Seal thing the Wet-Vac does not work.
It keeps blowing the Filter off.
So, Saturday morning, found me with many, queued up at Screwfix buying another Wet-Vac.
Saturday evening, I did manage to find the Karcher Bung thing on-line, via a huge on-line Spares company in the UK, which I could buy with a new filter, for £20.
At least over that weekend, I could continue with Steaming, Sanding and Swearing at Landing, Stairs and Hall walls
Can't fault on-line Spares company. I had the Filter and Bung arrive at Chez DW Lunchtime on Monday.
Let me show you the new Veg Plot.
Running in a row, along front of Man-Cave, are five Sunflowers. The one closest to camera is a tiddler, but trying its hardest.
My Boss at work, lost his Mum in March to cancer. In her Garden, were lots of Sunflowers. The Brothers, collected the seeds, and those that had provided some help / support during her illness, were given seeds to grow in Gardens.
Under the Bamboo sticks, are Broad Bean Plants. I love Broad Beans but Mrs DW is not so sure, but I reckon that after trying her own grown she may sway back to liking them.
The three plants to the right of the Bamboo Tent, are from rear, Squash and two Marrow plants.
I also have a lot of Beetroot seedlings to put in but need to get them bigger.



Also a Rhubarb Plant at front.

We also planted some herbs.
Marjoram, Thyme, Mint, Sage, Rosemary and Tarragon. I have some Planters with Bay, and Oregano as well.

Did I also mention the Banana Cake attempt.

Everybody in Lock-Down seems to be cooking Banana Cakes. My attempt has a twist. Cranberry chips and Chocolate Chips.
Not bad, even though I say so myself.
Now, whilst pulling off Puke Yellow Wallpaper, and day-dreaming of TET and putting Plastic together with Plastic.
It dawned on me, that I had done nothing about tracks on the T62.
I had thought that the Tracks were Link & Length. Presumption doesn't normally get you very far.
Read the instructions chap
All individual Track links.



Luckily, they are held on by only three Sprue attachments.
Got myself comfy in Man-Cave. Xuron Clippers and a Ultimate Sander. Off we go.
2 1/2 hrs later, and very sore fingertips, this is the result. The receptacle is the inside of a Bento Box (two halves in Green and Blue), that I have retrieved from Bin ( ).

Just one side
I also added some PE to Commanders Cupola, which is bracket for IR Searchlight (sorry about light and contrast in M/C).

I did find a strange anomaly in instructions. The Tube thing on the Turret (what is it?), in two halves marked C2 & C4. On Sprue, its marked C2 and C3.

No problem. Went together well and no seam line.

I'm afraid, thats my lot.
Apologies.
As I speak, a Plumber is taking off two Radiators in Hall and my friend the Electrician, is coming Saturday, to install LED Down-lighters, Modern Light switches and moving a couple of ceiling Pendant lights.
All go in DW world.
Stay safe, take care,
Love and Peace to all.
DW

[RangerNeil]

I think the sprue thing might be the snorkel attachment for fording deep rivers....

[CygnusX1]

Ha! Those track links look like a breeze compared to RFM's take on 'individual track links'.

I think RangerNeil might be right, and that tube looking thing is a snorkel in a stowed configuration. A little difficult to tell from those pics though as you didn't include whereabouts it goes on the turret....

And save me a piece of banana cake. I'll be round.

[Hawkmoon]

Yep defo the snorkel tube see link and its confirmed in the chassis chapter-

https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/ ... t_T-62.php