RFM T55AMD Drozd

From the recent build poll,

You, my fellow sprue cutters decide!

Here is the winners build thread, the T55 AMD Drozd.

After looking at the sprues, they show a lot of great detailing on all the areas.

There are 13 main sprues in the nicely detailed box, 13 track link sprues and some link pin sprues. A 3D print for the mantlet cover, clear sprue, wire and string for the recovery ropes, and the normal nice colour coded instruction booklet going through 30 stages upto the paint options.

I won’t go through each sprue as everyone usually flicks through those images but will give a general overview…….

The turret has some added texture to the cast so I may not have to add any extra.

The 3D mantlet

Not yet decided on the final paint finish, but on first impression, it looks like a very nice kit. Will start the build in the next few days.

22 Likes

Looks like fun. Wow that clear spue is substantial,

almost like a car kit😄

Dave🙂

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Fan of all things T55. Probably pick this one up soon.

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That mantlet looks nice!

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Last time I said that I almost got slapped across the face. :joy:

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You should have said:
Ooohh! Nice Shelves!

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Looks like a splendid kit John. Will be following along.

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First cutting and putting together done … just the basics on the lower hull plate.

No issues, there was a tiny bit of flash on 2 of the belly plates but that was gone in seconds.

Next up will be the hull side walls (separate parts) and the rear hull plate which will make up the basic hull tub.

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Bit more forward movement with the assembly.

Got the hull sides & rear plate fitted, then the torsion bars in and sprockets as well as the 4 over size wheels put together.

No fit or parts issues this far and parts like the hull sides had very nice location slots for a precise fit. Will crack on with the running gear tomorrow .

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Mr Drozd is taking on a T55 shape now …. LH sponsor isn’t secured on, just pressed in and balanced.

You get the option of having like a driver’s protective shroud fitted over an open driver’s hatch, which has a front armoured section and a small windscreen and a semi domed canvas type hood covering the hatch area….. I’m just going for the closed hatch :grin:.

Under the sponson they have included 4 PE strips, as to why I’m not sure as you won’t see them with the small side skirt when it’s fitted

I suppose you could have the mudguard raised in a display/dip so you’d see them then, but still not sure of the need of them really.

The wheels are nicely detailed with the raised sections on the rubber etc.

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Building up nicely with no issues still.

Sponsons are now secured on, and most of the glacis detail is on.

Wheels will come off for painting

kit gives you the option of having an armoured block on the glacis or leaving it as normal…. I went for the block configuration

Next up is more detail work on the sponsons like fuel lines and fuel tanks and stowage boxes and engine decks work.

15 Likes

Nice clean build.

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Thanks DV, it is a nice kit for sure. I’m looking forward to getting onto the turret as that has a lot of new nice details.

1 Like

Most of the engine decks have been put on, and have also started putting the fuel tanks and other parts on the RH sponson.

Really enjoying this build, RFM have knocked out some great kits over the last few years, hats off to them for that.

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Looks great sofar :+1:, and you even managed to stay OOB untill now :grin:

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Thankfully, I am not a T55 expert, so any add ons will be oblivious to me … :grin:

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Ahh, the sweet bliss of ignorance
:grin: :wink:

a full set of reference books create a lot of extra work …

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Especially with T-55: the more you dig, the merier you find you need to dig…

Awesome job on the Drozd, John!

RFM are the top tier for T-55A in our scale.

Cheers,

Angel

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HI John, there are so many T 55 variants, you can keep building and adding new odds and ends forever! Looking really good! As I’m a glutton for punishment, I really like the Aber T 55 PE sets - they are admittedly, maybe a bit much (maybe a lot much! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: ) but a real exercise in endurance!

Cheers

Nick

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Well, books and PE sets, that’ll be the end of your OOB days than :joy:

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