Patricks 1/35 Takom T-55A

[Guest]

Here's my entry into this GB. I bought the kit 'part-built' on ebay, although very little has been done with it.

Box art & obligatory sprue shots


Although I had planned to do a Syrian vehicle, I'm now thinking more about the Serbian camo scheme on the left here
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[monica]

very nice looking kit,Patrick,will be watching this one,
good luck with it,

[grumpa]

Russian Bears! I love them, will be watching progress.......Jim

[Guest]

very nice looking kit,Patrick,will be watching this one,
good luck with it,

Russian Bears! I love them, will be watching progress.......Jim

Thanks Moni & Jim. I've made a small start on the lower hull & so far I'm not that impressed with the kit. For one released in 2016 the mould seam lines are pretty bad. But thankfully they'll be covered in mud!

[papa 695]

Nice one Patrick

[Guest]

Oh! Oh!! I'm in Patrick!!
I'm really interested to see how this one turn on
The Serbian camo looks pretty good, is a nice choice

[Guest]

Good luck Patrick! This looks to be a top of the line kit, will love to see the outcome here.

[Guest]

Well the building is done, bar a bit of fettling here and there.
[ATTACH]274904[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]274905[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]274906[/ATTACH]

A few words about this kit. Had I paid full price for it, I'd be very unhappy. There's no way this is worth £40-45.

For a newly tooled kit, it's really really poor. The detail is soft and the instructions are vague & hard to follow. The pictures are so poor that it's often hard to know if you've got the right part.
The fit is often terrible. An example is the rain guards on the turret for the co-axial MG & gunners viewfinder. Because the turret is curved, these parts should be curved also. But they're flat! I had to cement the top first, leave it to dry & then clamp & cement the lower half.
Problems like this abound on this kit, leaving the builder with very little satisfaction.
Also the moulds are slightly mis-aligned, leaving not only thick seam lines, but often tiny steps that are impossible to completely eradicate.

Takom should be up there with Meng & Dragon as leaders of the field. But on this evidence, they're bringing up the rear.

Next time, everyone's favourite... individual link tracks!

[col68]

Thanks for the honest view on this kit Patrick I was considering on one for a future build. I'll keep my money for something else

[Guest]

Thanks for the honest view on this kit Patrick I was considering on one for a future build. I'll keep my money for something else

I would Col. I wanted Takoms new King Tiger, but now I'll wait until the current interest has died down & get one more cheaply on ebay.

I'm certainly not saying that all their kits are below par though. Just the one I've got!

[Guest]

Base coat on, Tamiya NATO green
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[tr1ckey66]

Looks like a great kit from the shots. Certainly no build difficulties evident in the pics.
Looks great Patrick!

P

[Guest]

Very nice work Patrick this is looking the business so far.

[col68]

Lootking good patrick

[Guest]

Good to know this kit does have issues, but youve done a great job with it. Looking really good with paint on.