The postman came by today!
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
Yesterday, I found myself sitting on a couch, reminiscing with my brother about old times. There will be a lot of that over the next few weeks. I need to keep my hands busy but cannot paint and talk at the same time. Therefore, I pulled out my T58 much earlier then planned, tore off the shrink wrap, and started cutting. About 1,000 track parts should keep me busy for a few weeks.
My first impression is positive. The box is huge and packed with parts. Plastic is easy to work with. Outer road wheels each have two parts to create a C Beam cross section. Inner wheels are one part, each having an L Beam cross section. Track pads look nice.
This will be a slow burn. Three other projects have priority. This is just a way to keep busy.
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Wow, looks like a great kit, Freddy!
Looking forward to see more. 
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
Five piece track is much better than expected–tedious to build but surprisingly sturdy. There is no daylight between pads making it possible to glue pads to one another, greatly increasing track strength. Five piece tracks get you some minor detail on the outside track end connectors. I would rather have link and length tracks, lose that detail, and gain 38 hours of my life back.
Fit between upper and lower hull is okay. Fit of engine deck parts is okay. Fit of the turret ring is not so great. This model needs filler. The worst part is the torsion bars. The people at Takom chose to make the suspension workable but did not include adequate keys to lock out the suspension components in the neutral position. Even worse, this feature means the model is much less sturdy than it could be. The road wheels also use poly caps, something I despise.
With those complaints out of the way…the model is really cool. Details are really nice. This is going to be a great looking model.
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would the after market for the kit count for this campaign? I have the RFM m1A2 SEP V2 from 2023 BUT Im currently waiting for the new 1/35 TWMP from Shanma models to build with the kit and that part just got released 2 weeks ago!
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Also was going to put this in a diorama with magic fatories M2A4 and that was released in 2025 acording to scalemates…
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I also ordered the TWMP, very excited about it! It looks really nice on the pictures. 
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
I cannot catch a break and pick a decent model to build.
Takom models always have at least one problem. Of the 5 Takom models I have built, this is the worst problem yet. I have no idea how to fix this one.
Edit: I figured it out!
Each swing arm connects to the hull via a tab. When the upper left and lower right corners of a tab are shaved off, it allows the swing arm to swing through a wider arc, into the correct position. If I stuff some sheet stock into the resulting void space inside each swing arm, it should result in a fairly strong suspension.
One problem remains. I have no idea what the correct ride height should be for this vehicle. If I presume the right side swing arms are correct, I can set the left side swing arms to that height. I will probably go with that.
There is a lot of filling on the lower hull so I better add back some texture with Mr. Surfacer.
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Doug, maybe time to change to another brand. I have a number of Takom kits in my stash, but it has been some time since I build one. Dragon, trumpeter or Tamiya seem to deliver on quality almost every time.
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Working suspensions always get me into trouble. The sad thing is, I am gaining experience and recognized the problem before gluing anything. I then guessed wrong and still messed it up! Gak.
I actually like Takom models a lot but the people at Takom definitely make me work for it.
Anyway, I agree with your assessment. My next few model purchases will be new tool Tamiya offerings. I have a Trumpeter KV-2 and lots of Dragon models to build.
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
I made a little jig using some popsicle sticks and a thick piece of cardboard.
I then shaved corners off all the mounting tabs and installed the swing arms. It is not perfect but should look okay with the tracks installed. For ride height, I used a side view illustration in the instruction book. It turned out one side was way too high and the other way too low.
I plan to build a Takom T57, M103A1, and M103A2 so the jig will get lots of use. Next time, I will cut off the thin portion of each torsion bar then glue the fat torsion bars directly to the swing arms. That will result in a much stronger suspension.
As an aside, this tank is only slightly longer than an M60. That really surprised me.
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Looking fantastic Doug. Adapt-Improvise-Overcome! Great build. I’ve seen this in 1:1 at APG. It’s still a really big tank.
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Thanks. I just looked at my work from last night and everything looks true. I do not understand why model designers regularly make suspension parts so unnecessarily complicated and fragile. As another example of bad design, the mounting pins for the return rollers are tiny and short. Why not make them long and robust so that mounting the tracks is much easier?
When opportunity allows, I am going to fly cross country and spend a few days taking pictures of the tanks at Fort Benning. I really miss doing that sort of thing.
For now, I need to buy a copy of Firepower because the Wikipedia articles for this series of vehicles are all missing really important information. For example, why does the hull have such a strange and inefficient shape? It makes no sense to me.
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IIRC the hull front is curved to maximise incoming shot deflection while also providing maximum thickness - these were the days before laminated armour! And the odd sides effectively minimise the damaging effects of mine blasts by adding space (to dissipate the blast) and also create a slope to help deflect the blast up into the fenders rather than letting it just punch through the hull side. How effective these measures were rather depends on the details of each circumstance…
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The front of the T43 / M103 is definitely optimized to deflect projectiles in the era before composite armors and explosive reactive armor. That I understand.
The boat hull is more problematic for me. As you wrote, a boat hull deflects mine blasts. Many reports coming out of World War II showed that mines killed a lot of tanks. Giving your tank a boat hull is a good idea. However, assuming the model designers at Takom got the hull shape correct, the bottom plates are separate pieces, inset into a big cast structure, and welded into place. The inset makes no sense to me.
The sides are shaped like the front and obviously designed to deflect shells from almost all angles. That is a good idea. However, rather than maintaining the curved surface all the way to the top of the hull, it transitions into a vertical surface. That means an incoming projectile will deflect up the slope right into a vertical surface, exactly what the curved surface is designed to prevent. Come to think of it, the M48 and M60 do the same thing.
Edit: Takom T58 Heavy Tank
Hopefully, all the suspension problems are behind me. The completed suspension looks really nice. The question is, can it take the tension and weight of the tracks?
Fit of turret parts is good but will require some filling and texturing. Make sure to remove the mold lines on the upper turret part. This model does not have the same problem as the Takom Panzer 38 Kugelblitz. The turret fits so snugly in the collar it is difficult to look past the collar into the model.
The T58 turret is an idealized version of the real thing. The model does not include rails added to the real T58 turret. (I have two pictures without the rails and one picture with the rails.)
To my eyes, the model designers at Takom did not get the turret shape right. It is not just a little off. It is way off.
The hull is only slightly longer than an M48 or M60 but the turret is huge! It reminds me of a Panther with an 88 stuck on top. This vehicle should have featured in Godzilla movies from the 1960s.
In a previous journal entry I mentioned that the model does not come with the registration number for the T43/M103 trial hull. I was wrong! I have one picture that clearly shows the T58 turret mounted on hull number U.S.A. 30170206 . One of the fantasy tank paint schemes has that number. Even better, it is provided in both white and black.
In my opinion, the fantasy paint schemes are missing something very important–a canvas cover for the gap between collar and turret. To my knowledge, no picture of such a cover exists. However, in a reality where this tank was accepted into service, it would have such a cover.
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
I still cannot paint but continue to cut out parts and occasionally assemble them as circumstances and time allow.
Four built up sections of track. They are fairly sturdy. Picture shows top, bottom, and inside track faces. I now realize one track run was flipped in the wrong direction so the outside face is hidden.
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
Model instructions call for 80 links per side. With the ride height set on 4 popsicle sticks, the model required exactly 80 links per side. That means my eyeballs still work. A victory for eyeballs and popsicle sticks.
The T58/M103 is surprisingly small when compared to a certain modern tank.
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How’s this for hot out of the molds?
Now I’ll have to decide between this one and hte Avia. Choices, choices…
Michael 
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Great choice, Michael! I am sure that is a great kit.
Looking forward to seeing more
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Takom T58 Heavy Tank
Turret is finished. Undersides of the fenders have a lot of nice detail but also a bazillion ejector pin holes to fill. Fenders fit very snug to the tracks but I want to do a good job of it. The turned aluminum gun barrel that came with the model is a very good fit. The light gray stuff is Mr. Surfacer 1000.
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