Tamiya 1/35 T-55 Enigma Custom

Good day to you Gentlemen.

I have here another kit that I have been working on for quite some time. With every new addition added to the log, this one get push further and further behind along with 2 other kits on the bench.. It was a struggling effort to finish this as I cannot resist the call of the new additions but I pulled through and finished it finally. 

If I recall correctly, Tamiya’s first T-55 kit was released in 2002 and it became an instant classic due to its high level of detail, accuracy and ease of assembly. It is still easily the best T-55 kit available in 2012.
Obviously, Tamiya has taken advantage of this excellent base kit to deliver an Iraqi T-55 Enigma.
Although the running gear, lower hull and some of the detail parts are from the original boxing, much of this kit is new or modified.
Now moulded in dark yellow, this kit comprises approximately 382 plastic parts, four large polythene caps, ten small polythene caps, I small sheet of vinyl mesh and two full-length flexible vinyl tracks. Two of the sprues and the upper hull are brand new, while the turret has also been modified to accommodate the armour segments and other fittings.
All the parts, whether from 2002 or 2012, are moulded to the same outstanding level of quality.

Bored with building and painting schemes identical to the real vehicles, I decided to go for a custom model on this one; a experimental T-55 Enigma Per Se. The scenario is that before the Iraq war, the Russians saw how the Iraqi modified their T-55 and bought some back to Russia and experimented with it by adding in some parts here and there including a SGD, added-on side skirts armours to cover the back part of the vehicle and fording equipments. 

The scenario is for this gal to be just dirty on the wheels and lower parts from driving around on the range from the experimentation and demonstrations. I didn't even put on black smoke pigments on the gun as well to further emphasis the point it was just driving around. I purposely didn't put on any kind of oil spillage nor chipping.

Refusing to go for the Iraqi Sand colour that everybody is going for, I opted for a Russian colour scheme. Debating within my mind, I chose the Russian three tone over the over-all green.
For the green, I mixed Vallejo Russian Green with another 1 of Vallejo Air (Field Green) and some green I cannot remember which from Tamiya. I used Nato Black for the black as I have found alot people used that for the T-90s. The Tan is Deck Tan from Tamiya. I gave it a panel line wash from AK. Because of the Tan in the paint scheme and the scenario I want to put it into, I only gave it a light coat of brown filter.

Well, that's about as much I can sum up about the build. 

I know it is not perfect but this is probably one of a very few kit that I am very happy with and is totally satisfied. I really loving how this came out.

It's time for the photos - 

(If you think some are small, just click on them )

The running gears -

And the lights -

And the machine gun -

The smoke stains -

And here are the parts I added on to customised it -

These are the two extension side skirts I scratch-built 

I put on this box on this side of the turret to make it look more busy

I put on smoke grenade discharger over there along with the fording equipment

I put this long tube part thingy to make the back of the turret more busy

And as usual, my show case photos from various angles -

 

And as usual from me, the Gary Wintin Shot  -

Well, that's all I can say about this. As you all know, my patience is my bane so the usual hiccups are met but nothing I can complain. I actually am satisfied with everything I did on this and I am really happy this little thing is sitting on my shelves. About time I am satisfied with something as I always look and find faults on most of my work and have this nagging thought in my mind '' damn, I could have done it better'' and that is just frustrating. 

I couldn't keep building if not for my supporting friends and comrades. Thank you guys for always supporting me. Thank you dear readers for your patronage as well.

Until Next time.

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A peek inside the box - Trumpeter 1/35 Soviet JS-4 Heavy Tank

As a fan of novelty vehicle and unusual ones, when this was announced I couldn't resist but to get this. I sold a kit that I didn't want to build and get this instead.

Like the Terminator, I don't really see too many inbox looks so I will do just that. As you all know, I'm one of the guys who don't give a damn about how a side skirt of a tank is 2mm too short or too long or blah blah. So, I will just keep this as a look of what is inside the box and some very obvious pros and cons of the kit.

First we have a rather beautiful box art of the machine -

That box is wide and a typical 1/35 model box but a bit thinner then some Trumpeter's boxes.

And then we have the manual, the colour guide and the usual sheet of a catalogue page showing the new releases 

Here are the sprues of the entire kit -

Sprue A -

There are 4 of them which include the road wheels and some of the running gears.
Sprue B -

There are 2 of these sprues which include the sprocket, idler and the transmission hub and others.

Sprue C -

There are 4 of them with the return rollers, many little grab handles and the external fuel tanks.

Sprue D -

Sprue D, as you can see, consist of the fenders and the side skirts.

Sprue E -

Sprue E has the bigger pieces such as the unditching log and the muzzle break and hatches.

Sprue F-

This small little sprue is sorely for the DShK machine gun.

Sprue T-
a total of 10 sprues of these are provided -

And the most important things - 

The upper hull, the metal barrel, the lower hull and the turret.

And last but not least, the PE Fret, the decals and the metal wire -


Since I will surely be building this kit, I opened up the bags and took some close up pics of the parts quality -


































The Pros of the kit: first styrene kit of this tank in this scale, numerous options for open/closed hatches, crisply moulded details and a METAL barrel, relatively low parts count at 530+

The Cons of the kit: missing some details ( but these are minor ), a little bit soft details on some of the hinges, no clear part ( I doubt it is even needed for a vehicle such as this ) and a very softly moulded casting details. I would strongly recommend to rough up the cast texture as the kit supplied texture is not enough. High price which retails at £54.99.

Retailing at a £54.99, this kit is over priced. I have their earlier T-62 kit which include the same details ( including a metal barrel) along with separate black pieces for rubber for the wheel and it only retailed at £36.99. I don't really know why Trumpeter decided to sell this at £54.99. ( I have just finished the 2S19 and that kit retails at 59.99 which was worth it as it was a large vehicle with 1000+ parts ). Never-the-less, it is a kit of great quality.

If you are into unusual vehicles and a modeller who like to build non main-stream topics and subjects ( like me ) then this is one of the kit that you surely must have. If you are not this kind of modeller, this high amount of money better be spent on another kit.

This will definitely be a great addition to any shelves and I can't wait to get cracking myself.

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