Chinese T-59b CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE

So I decided to get out of my comfort zone and venture into a conversion which will hopefully  end up in a vignette in collaboration with Ivan Cocker.
There actually IS a T-59b kit around, courtesy of trumpeter, but the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Suffice to say that the hull has motorisation holes :-X.



Not being a Russian AFV buff ( and especially of the myriad of T-Types around) it was Mr Cocker who suggested converting the excellent Tamiya T-55.



The conversion is not straight forward and the subject is pretty much obscure and that's where cus Alex aka Gimli came into the picture with a vintage military modelling mag with some excellent technical drawings! Thx again cus xxx :-)

Main differences are in the turret configuration. The dark turret is trumpeter's while the other is Tamiya T-55. Close inspection reveals I might have to lIve with some Engine deck differences but it won't matter much for the scope of our vignette.



Aftermarket I will be using include a Voyager PE set and Friuls. Still trying to source a substitute metal barrel for the abysmal Trumpeter 105mm supplied with the kit...



Let's get on with it!
Dottore

Better do so before that lovely machine gets here. I guess you will be spenidng a lot of time with it then.

Mat

Resin I found for you ... http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=11&subcategory=186&product=1683

If not mistaken I have a turned metal barrel for an M60but not sure if it is similar to the British L7 ...

The tank I intend to model had part of the fender off...so I decided to use some PE fenders from the polish company PART. First however..some major surgery is due...and the plastic fenders had to be removed. Out comes the Dremel and the fenders were soon history!

The plastic barrel will be replaced with a gorgeous barrel from RB. RB barrels as lovely as they are however come with no instructions whatsoever so I will have to figure out how it goes together...

The resin turret is from Panzershop...not ideal and I still hope to use a Legend one I ordered but 5 weeks in waiting and still no sign of it...hope it gets here in the end...

Dottore

The tank I intend to model had part of the fender off...so I decided to use some PE fenders from the polish company PART. First however..some major surgery is due...and the plastic fenders had to be removed. Out comes the Dremel and the fenders were soon history!

The plastic barrel will be replaced with a gorgeous barrel from RB. RB barrels as lovely as they are however come with no instructions whatsoever so I will have to figure out how it goes together...

The resin turret is from Panzershop...not ideal and I still hope to use a Legend one I ordered but 5 weeks in waiting and still no sign of it...hope it gets here in the end...

Dottore

Nice project Doc. Love the tank and also your work.

Fenders ready and soldered...the difference between the sawed off plastic fenders and the PE to scale fenders is obvious. After learning how to solder I think I'll use PE fenders with every tank. Was not difficult after some practice...

Next up...finishing off the turret and attaching the fenders...

All comments welcome...
Dottore

fenders looking the part. excellent work

Sweet!

Fantastic work well done what great soldering.

really nice job doc

With the Legend T-54 1949 turret finally here I decided I would use this turret for my T-59b mainly due to the better casting of the details and ventilator positions. However this turret has an overhang at the rear which has to be removed and the turret contours remodeled as per the Tamiya T55 turret.

Images of the Legend conversion as per box art...




One of the biggest headaches in this project is the orientation of the gun barrel. Having a certain idea already in mind I knew I wanted to depict the gun barrel in an elevated angle. The plastic mantlet of the Tamiya T55 as well as the resin mantlet of the Legend turret both portray the barrel in a much lower position than I had in mind.
Mig Productions come to the rescue with the now OOP raised mantlet conversion....a drop fit for the tamiya model...
Thus after remodeling the Legend turret shape, I got out my trusty dremel and lots of resin dust later I had carved out a suitable place for the MP resin mantlet to fit in.

Mig Productions resin mantlet in elevated position


Fits Tamiya turret perfectly...


Legend turret remodelled and cast effect applied using Mr.Surfacer


The cast resin mantlet carved out using Dremel to make space for the Mig Productions mantlet.


Fits sweetly now..


With the metal barrel in place...elevated as I had in mind...


Dottore

Nice work Dott
in nannu

Good work Dottore,

Every piece, is fitting in place perfectly.

nice clean work. wish i could be so tidy.
HURRY UP still a long way to go you know

alexbb wrote:nice clean work. wish i could be so tidy.
HURRY UP still a long way to go you know

fejn ih rasek int ah.....

skyhigh wrote:

alexbb wrote:nice clean work. wish i could be so tidy.
HURRY UP still a long way to go you know

fejn ih rasek int ah.....

sa issa ghada fuq ghonqi, forsi ma tafx kif nissetilja naqra ghax dejjem jara x'jinqala ma nistghax noqod bi kwieti,xejn serju ta imma wahda fuq l ohra. hafna problemi zghar hafa giri l hemm u l hawn u qisni mignun

Many minute details to solder...but the end result i believe is worth it...
Legend (converted) turret, RB barrel, Mig mantlet, Voyager PE, Tamiya parts and scratch.













Dottore

Fenders with details...



Plastic light guard and scratched light guard...



Dottore

keep on posting and don't be slack, you have kindled my interest in this one. doing a much much better job on this one than I did.

Prosit Dottore ejja let us see the hull issa!

Wow man, awesome work, keep it up and keep them coming, really nice work.