A Russian in Syria

[CygnusX1]

This is the Takom T-54.



I've built the running gear, tracks and got the hull together.

The track and running gear aren't great. You can easily get floating wheels, and also wobbly wheels if you're not careful as the axle stubs that the wheels fit to are a fraction too small for the attchment holes in the wheels.
The tracks are individual links, and you should ignore the instructions and build 90 links rather than 92.

I've got another one of these kits (as a Tiran 4) and will build each wheel / suspension part as an individual station, then build the track and attach the wheels, suspension, idler and sprocket to the hull all in one hit. The sprocket wheel has no plug/socket to keep the sprocket straight and so that the sprocket teeth line up on each side of the sprocket correctly. Well, there is a plug/socket on the parts, but you can put them together without these making any difference. I'll use the track to get this part straight, as I had to break one of mine apart and re-set it so that the track would fit properly.

The rest of it has gone together without any issue.

And I'm going to paint/mark it as a T-54 in Syria.

[digger303]

Bit disappointing with the suspension wheel attachment points. I thought Takom was better than that although you seem to be taking it in your stride comfortably.

[KalebB]

Very cool piece of armor!!

Sucks to hear you had such issues with the running gear however. I'm sure you'll do her justice though

[Hawkmoon]

I had the same sort of problem with the RFM Tiger but found passing a drill through the inner hole of the plug cleared the mould excess and they fitted fine after that. I also think its the type of plastic there injecting that may be part of the problem as it gives the detail demanded but its drawback is the cleening out of holes ect so things fit. Looking good so far though

[Stokesy44]

Very excited by this build. I have the Tiran 4 you mentioned so I will be standing on the shoulders of giants while watching this build, learning all the tricks you show for the kit. Thanks for the adjustment info on track pieces already.

Looks like you're off to a nice start.

[Kevthemodeller]

That's very interesting about the the running gear issues, got this one in my stash thanks for sharing.

I'll be following along with great interest

[Oddball007]

I've built this exact kit, and had the same issues with the running gear as yourself.

Push pass this as it builds into a superb kit, I'll be following your progress with eagerness to see the end result.

[CygnusX1]

Thanks everybody.

I've built this exact kit, and had the same issues with the running gear as yourself.

Push pass this as it builds into a superb kit, I'll be following your progress with eagerness to see the end result.

I'll do a 'proper' build update at the weekend, but things are progressing well; the rest of it does (almost) fall together. I've made a few changes here and there to better represent a Syrian machine, but just started on the turret tonight, so I don't think it'll be much longer before it's done.

[CygnusX1]

So the T-54 is complete.



Builders notes: Some of the instructions aren't clear (just mho) example:



For parts TP18 and L6, I think this is a little ambiguous. "Bend the PE, put the parts together, then put them over there".
What they should look like is this, same on both sides:



Some of the sprue attachment points could be better, eg:



The sprue attachment points on the barrel leave nubs on the mating surfaces of the barrel. This isn't the only example, so just some extra care needed to clean up these parts.

If you follow the instructions 'as is' the barrel IR platform elevation links are a complete nightmare. The main part that extendes out from the turret / platform broke 3 times (in different places) whilst I was attempting to put this together. If you glue the IR light platform in place without having the barrel in place, there's no guarantee that the arm will be anywhere near the parts that attach the linkage to the barrel.
Next time I'll leave all these parts off until the barrel is attached (this is the very last step in the instructions) make them one assembly that I'll build off the vehicle, then bring the barrel, linkage and IR platform together onto the turret in one go.
I've highlighted the problem parts in the next pic.



The plastic guard around the lights on the front glacis is fragile (I broke mine once - fat fingers...) and also has a pretty poor fit - it took me ages to get it to all fit together, but it doesn't look great.

Odds and ends: the vinyl barrel cover doesn't have a great fit. I used a little bit of putty to fill a hole between the cover and its top mounting. Again, this is following the instructions; next time round I'd build it slightly differently so that all the parts come together as one.

There are a multitude of small, fragile parts, and a couple of parts got sacrificed to the carpet monster, but nothing major, and I was able to make replacements out of sprue or some plastic rod etc - Takom don't give you many spares, if any, for some of them.
Surprisingly enough only one part was broken on the sprue, and that was part W1 which is the main body of the turret mounted Dushka. The front end of the barrel was just gone, and wasn't even knocking around in the bottom of the box. They give you a spare, but it's a slightly different design of Dushka, but I used it anyway. Whether this is accurate for a Syrian T-54 I don't know, as 90% of pictures I have for reference show the turrent mounted Dushka removed, but I built this one and will use it anyway. Given the nature of 'mix and match' on middle eastern vehicles of this age, it wouldn't surprise me to see a T-54 with this type of gun.

PE: the PE is great, and for the most part is just a case of 'remove from the fret and stick it on'. There's only one or two parts that have complex bends. Again the instructions on how to bend the PE are a bit vague, but a few good reference pics will sort out most questions. There aren't any plastic alternatives to the PE though.

Most of the Syrian T-54's I have pictures of show them to be in quite a poor state of repair. The rear mounted fuel barrels are usually missing, the main IR search light by the barrel is also usually missing, the Dushka is missing, the lights on the front glacis are also usually missing. I left off the rear fuel barrels (but put on one set of brackets for them) and also removed the ditching log on the rear plate as none of the pics I have show this in place on any Syrian vehicle.

If Takom had taken a little more care with: the sprue attachment points, the instructions (clarity and build order) then that would lift this from what is a 'good' kit, to a 'great' kit.

Painting next - and the instructions show a sand/grey/green scheme. I can only find one picture of this scheme, and it's not a great picture (75% of this vehicle in the pic is hidden by a T-55 and it's on a training ground) most of the pics of 'in use' T-54's I have show them painted in: green/dark sand, very dark green/sand, or very light sand/green. So... who knows.

[digger303]

The track molding is impressive and the general level of detail. Oh and of course your work needs a , nicely done and you calmly coped with the instructions in a exemplary manner forcing them to your will.

[CygnusX1]

So this is currently marinating in some paint stripper (I had to buy some) and I think it's going to take some time to work as I'd rather a slow soak than a fast burn that melts plastic.

[RangerNeil]

I'm curious - why paint stripper?? The prior photos do not show it painted yet???

[KalebB]

She's looking good bud. I just got a T-55 from miniart and am excited to build either a Syrian or a Yugoslavian version of the tank.

[CygnusX1]

I'm curious - why paint stripper?? The prior photos do not show it painted yet???

There's a link in the previous post to another thread where I described some paint issues.

She's looking good bud. I just got a T-55 from miniart and am excited to build either a Syrian or a Yugoslavian version of the tank.

Cheers, yeah not too bad - just got to soak the paint off and give it another go.
Miniart seem to have just about every version of the T-54/55 going! I've never built one of their kits, but some of their T-54/5's look interesting. I really like the look of their Tiran 4 Sharir too... lots of parts

[KalebB]

Yessir they have quite a few! I have a Miniart T-54-2 and a Type 59 in the cart soon to be on the way as well. I love that era of soviet/combloc vehicle. Their Tiran kits do look great as well!

[Donkeywalloper]

Apologies, been away on the Winged Forum, and missed the AFV side.
You are doing a rather fine job on this particular model, and your write up is really very well thought out and interesting.
I kinda love these vehicles as a youth growing up in the Cold War.
They always remind me of a Omelette Pan, i.e. the Turret and Barrel
I have enjoyed building Takom AFV in the past and my last build the Takom M60A1 was a really nice build, but still with some vague instruction build sequences.
If they built perfect models, we would still complain that it was to easy
Great job chap,
DW

[CygnusX1]

Apologies, been away on the Winged Forum, and missed the AFV side.

No worries mate - there's no obligation (as far as I know?) so it's all good.

Anyway quick update.
Paint stripping went pretty well.
Some damage though, but mainly because I think I scrubbed too hard in some places.
One of the small hooks on the front glacis plate (it's just gone, never to be seen again) but was replaced with an as good 'near match' from the spares box.
The IR light in front of the commanders hatch's PE frame fell apart and was unrepairable - this whole assembly is quite fragile, so I was kind of expecting it to at least fall off, but not die completely. So I just left it off as most vehicles in Syria don't seem to have it anyway.
And the two rope attachment brackets on the side fender detached (the actual glue points are quite small) and melted in the stripper, and so I just left them off as well as I didn't have anything suitable in my spares box to replace them with.

Surprisingly enough the one place that I thought would definitely break (the horn/headlight cage assembly) is still present and correct.

So after some rinsing/washing, plus some other clean up here and there, and plenty of drying time, it's now back to primer and in black/white.


As for overall paint, after doing some reading I think I'm going to attempt something like this:

[KalebB]

I'm glad to hear the stripping went mostly well!

I'm excited to see how you do that camo pattern you posted on the irl tank. That will looks awesome for sure

[Hawkmoon]

Looking good and a nice choice on the camo, I have always been drawn to the more exotic camo that some nations added to there tanks.

[Donkeywalloper]

I'm not sure any obligation is necessary on any of the forums, but I get a feeling of losing my touch with my favoured AFV.
I love the bottom reference photo, what a great little dio as well?
You are doing such a lovely job chap, really outstanding
DW

[CygnusX1]

I love the bottom reference photo, what a great little dio as well?

I would love to have done a small vignette/dio, but I sealed all the hatches shut and I don't really have any figures that would look suitably Syrian to hand and I'm a bit skint at the moment so buying more stuff is put on pause for now... maybe if I come across some figures that won't take much converting in the future I might do something with it.

[CygnusX1]

So, I'm calling this one done. Loads of pics incoming.

First: paint before any markings/weathering etc. It took a while to get to this stage with a few false starts, mainly on selecting colours. The reference pics I have (already posted a couple here) and the one with the guys loading ammo show that the front of the vehicle is mostly 'green/yellow camo' and the rear of the vehicle is mostly 'sand', split roughly around the engine deck area, although there do appear to be some camo spots in the sandy paint.

So I kinda started with a dark green, something close to 4BO, painted it, but after drying time and a good look in the daylight I decided that was too light, so settled on a generic "dark green" mixed from Tamiya greens. The yellow camo started life as XF59 Desert Yellow. There's a deal of white in there, a fair few drops of red, and some smears of grey until I got something that looked good in the mixing jar, so went with it. I also mixed up a sandy shade from some XF57 Buff (which is a great colour, and one of my favourites), a touch of white. This is what I ended up with.









So then on to the weathering, markings and final construction.
It took me an absolute dogs age to get markings that I liked. They're painted on, and I felt that there must be enough white paint on the turret to produce a pronounced step given the amount of times I painted over my hand painted Arabic, but finally settled on what you see below.























Apologies to any native Arabic speakers if I've butchered the language there...
I painted the wheels the same sandy colour that I used on the engine deck/rear. And weathered it to the point as you see here.

Final thoughts on my first Takom kit:
Likes: It goes together well, has a very good/excellent level of detail out of the box, but if you wanted to go super-detail then this would be an excellent base model to do so, good PE that's easy to use, nice bit of metal cable to build tow ropes included, seperate wheels, tyres, track links and enough optional parts and decals to build (I think?) about 7 different versions out of the box.

Dislikes: the running gear needs very careful attention so you don't get wobbly/floating wheels, instructions could provide a little more detail (mainly on how to fold the PE when it needs folding) and are ambiguous in where some parts go and the overall build process could be refined so that small parts that attach to other small parts are all brought together in one assembly. You will need some reference photos too, as sometimes the instructions don't provide a 'this is what it should look like when you've put all the parts together' type drawings.

Decals: don't know, didn't use any of them.
I give it a solid 7/10, but the real test is if I'd buy/build another one. Well, I already have another one as a Tiran 4, so yeah it's a kit I'd build again without hesitation.

[digger303]

Lovely build. What did you do to get the wheels to be a snug fit ?
I was thinking about adding a piece of 1/2 circle rod and sanding down to make it tight when I go to build one . What do you think ?

[KalebB]

This was an impeccable build bud. I love the camouflage pattern and how it's got so much variation in it from the engine deck and the rest of the upper Hull and turret. I have a MiniArt T-55 in the stash and this gives me mojo to do something with it sooner rather than later

Cheers and once again stunning build

[Stokesy44]

Looks awesome, beautiful paintwork and weathering.

Makes me want to build my Tiran up next

[CygnusX1]

Lovely build. What did you do to get the wheels to be a snug fit ?
I was thinking about adding a piece of 1/2 circle rod and sanding down to make it tight when I go to build one . What do you think ?

What I did was made some sretched sprue and attached it to the hub like so:



Pic just for illustrative purposes...
That way the wheel should stay central on the hub. Then the test fitting/sanding phase until the wheel was a nice tight fit and would stay put without glue and under some gentle shaking/prodding. The hubs were attached to the hull at the time, and was a bit of a ball ache, but once I got a kind of production line going, it doesn't take that long at all really.
Next time I'll do all this whilst the hubs are loose, and it should be a much easier time.
Careful with the sprocket too - it's got a plug/socket joint, but you can put it together without these having to line up.

[CygnusX1]

Lovely build.

This was an impeccable build bud. I love the camouflage pattern and how it's got so much variation in it from the engine deck and the rest of the upper Hull and turret. I have a MiniArt T-55 in the stash and this gives me mojo to do something with it sooner rather than later
Cheers and once again stunning build

Looks awesome, beautiful paintwork and weathering.

Makes me want to build my Tiran up next

Thanks for your kind words gentlemen, it's very much appreciated.

[Donkeywalloper]

One of the best Cam jobs I have seen for some time.
Great build and brilliant thread.
DW

[Hawkmoon]

Looks good to me and the camo is spot, on a credit to you sir

[CygnusX1]

One of the best Cam jobs I have seen for some time.
Great build and brilliant thread.
DW

Looks good to me and the camo is spot, on a credit to you sir

Thanks gents, and all of you, it's much appreciated.
It was a bit of a haul (what with having to strip that Ammo paint and all) but I think it turned out pretty good.

[digger303]

Lovely build. What did you do to get the wheels to be a snug fit ?
I was thinking about adding a piece of 1/2 circle rod and sanding down to make it tight when I go to build one . What do you think ?

What I did was made some sretched sprue and attached it to the hub like so:



Pic just for illustrative purposes...
That way the wheel should stay central on the hub. Then the test fitting/sanding phase until the wheel was a nice tight fit and would stay put without glue and under some gentle shaking/prodding. The hubs were attached to the hull at the time, and was a bit of a ball ache, but once I got a kind of production line going, it doesn't take that long at all really.
Next time I'll do all this whilst the hubs are loose, and it should be a much easier time.
Careful with the sprocket too - it's got a plug/socket joint, but you can put it together without these having to line up.

Thanks, but was pretty much what I was thinking, except I was going to go with 3 pieces of rod.

[CygnusX1]

Thanks, but was pretty much what I was thinking, except I was going to go with 3 pieces of rod.

Sorry if it sounded like I was teaching how to suck eggs...

[digger303]

Thanks, but was pretty much what I was thinking, except I was going to go with 3 pieces of rod.

Sorry if it sounded like I was teaching how to suck eggs...

Not at all, I asked.. you answered and I replied....normal conversation.
I was just wondering whether there was different method of achieving the same outcome because your model making experience is undoubtedly vaster than mine. I should have phrased my question differently perhaps.