ESCI T-55

Fairly decent starfish wheels. Added a little distress to the rubber tires, other than that OOB. 

Basic assembly done, still need to add more fiddly bits. As mentioned, the kit is not bad for one I picked up for $12. I'm sure I could get the rundown on inaccuracty issues from Cookie Sewell, but can't be bothered with this one, it's just for fun. The major structures fit well, turret has a nice texture. Some annoying sink marks here and there but nothing too bad. Where the kit is really let down is the instructions. They only vaguely show where items go and no location aids on a lot of the parts and my oversight in not looking up references means the small fuel tank is in the wrong place. 

The engine deck screens were pretty poorly represented and worse, had a huge sink mark right in the middle which would be impossible to fix, so I thinned the plastic, cut out and replaced them with some aluminum screen. Since there is no engine in the kit, will have to get creative with shadows or fit something plausible in there. Another issue is that the top of the mantlet cover has nothing, just bare plastic. Which is weird because in the drawings for the paint schemes, it clearly shows a plate there but ESCI didn't bother. Will have to fab something up. 

Some more progress. While the kit is overall OK, there is a lot of detail that needs to be added. The mantlet cover is scratched. Most reference pics show it with a reinforcing X shape, but there is also evidence of a plain steel plate. For simplicity (and laziness) sake, I've gone with a plain steel plate! 

The kit grab bars were a flimsy mess, replace with 0.020" brass. Location also seems suspect, but I went with it. 

Fabbed (inaccurately) the headlight guards because again the kit parts were way too flimsy. Still need to add fuel tank plumbing and some other bits. 

Next up, drill out the hole for the coax MG, fix up a clear cover plate for the gunner sight and remove/replace the molded in wiring for the headlamps, then almost ready for paint. 

Home stretch on assembly, almost time for my favorite part, painting & weathering. Fuel lines and wiring added. Coax MG added and hole for the gunner's sight drilled and shaped. Also threw in a linkage for the barrel and searchlight as the kit one was again poorly represented. 

Crude fuel tank hold-downs added. Fortunately, they're crude on the real thing too! Not only was there no mantlet top cover, for some reason, ESCI did not include a periscope for the loader. When they researched for the kit, did they only take photos from ground level or what? Fortunately there was a spare one in the T-54B so it was drafted. Location is "close enough" and with careful drilling and some internal bracing it's presentable. 

Also added muzzle locking ring from 0.010" sheet styrene. 

Last pic before primer coat. I really didn't like the ESCI take on the T-55 commander's hatch. Didn't fit well, no detail so I "backdated" it to an earlier T-54/55 hatch, which was in the kit, but I couldn't get the base off without major surgery to the turret, so I adapted some sheet plastic, copper wiring and the handy lid from a bottle of Mr. Mark Setter that happened to be the right size for forming the copper wire rim of the hatch. You ever pull a loose thread on a shirt and it never ends? It was kind of like that. It's not 100% accurate but it looks the part at least. 

Due to budget cuts at Wayne Industries, the latest Batmobile had to be sourced from Eastern Europe. In any case, hooray for Mr. Surfacer 1500. 

The "welds" surrounding the rim of the new hatch (made with nice and thick Tamiya surface primer G, tuned up with a sharpened toothpick) turned out pretty well, as did those around the turret lifting hooks. To help hide the lack of an engine, I added bars of 1mm square styrene to the engine deck. I've actually seen reference pics of similar. The thing about the Soviet tanks is that they had so many field mods and were so crudely built, it's hard to say what's what. That's good and bad I guess. 

Base color coat applied. Not a bad match for Soviet armor green, but I'm not a "paint chip" guy. XF-61:4+XF-5:1 in case you're interested. XF-27 would probably work too in place of XF-61. 

Wheels done. Marble undercoat differs on wheels to add some differentiation to them. Nato black XF-69 for the rims. Should pop a little with a dark wash. In a happy coincidence, the inner wheel diameter is exactly 3/4" making masking with a circle template a snap. 

Black base works better on aircraft models since AFVs usually don't have "panels" as such. Just wanted a little depth/variation in tone as an experiment. 

Kit decals were surprisingly good, hadn't yellowed at all and settled nicely with minimal fuss. Should have painted the mantlet cover first then masked for the green as it was a pain to mask around it. 

Operation Danube stripes painted. They were an even bigger pain to mask, but the overspray gremlin was kept away at least. First black/brown wash applied to tone down the white of decals and stripes. Lightly sanded to bring the undercoat through for wear and tear. Some more weathering and oils, a few minor details and this one will be complete. Well, tracks too of course. 

The basis for the stripe pattern. They seemed to vary by unit as long as the order of "have a white cross on it" was followed. 

Still need to blend some of the heavier wash areas and re-weather the engine grills where some aluminum color from the mesh required repainting but it's coming along. 

I haven't seen any refs that show the AA MG in place during the Danube op, but I'm going to put it on anyway. Because who can resist a Dushka? 

Esci did a good job on the turret cast texture, not overdone but a wash/drybrush really brings it out. 

Progress is slow because of the tracks, they ain't good. Every link has just enough flash not to fit the next one and requires laborious cleanup. I should just grab some Takom or MiniArt tracks but I'm determined to stick to OOB and scratching what I need. 

Finally got the tracks on after mucho struggle. The track sag is all out of whack but I'm just happy they all connect. 

First coat of light "rust" wash on the tracks. Not going to go overboard with that since Danube tanks were mostly in the urban areas. A little dust and no mud to speak of. Fairly close to calling this one a wrap. 

Initial weathering stages. Broke the searchlight off, oops. 

Exhaust is coming along. 

Some oil work, a little more dust and should be done. 

Added a headlight lens and steel muzzle ring. 

Last detail is going to be the ID lights. Need to make some clearish inserts as they're just blank from ESCI. 

Searchlight back in place, haha. 

Dushka added and some more weathering. The red star is a bit of artistic license as I doubt the red army ever actually painted it on their ammo cans, but it adds a small touch of color to the overall green. 

ESCI's take on the dushka was OK, so I stole the ammo can from Trumpeter's T-54B, which looks the part better. 

Still to add the tow cable, also robbed from the T-54B and the mandatory log to the rear plate.