T-54/T-55 Campaign

I think whatever can be seen from outside is painted 4BO/camo color.

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perfect - thanks…

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turret interior all primed on my MiniArt T-54… hope to get white and 4BO painted tomorrow - maybe some of the other colours as well

I’ve managed to get some paint on the hull and turret and have found out 5gat I need to send the main gun barrel, which I must have forgotten to do.


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Looks really good.
Is this the Tamiya kit?
Curious about the strange contraption on the turret rear. Is that a counter-weight for the extra armour on the front?

@phantom_phanatic yes Stephen it is the tamiya kit and I think you are right, it does appear to act as a counter weight as well as affording some additional protection and some extra storage.

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I wonder if the rear vertical plate could be reactive armour blocks? Would be a useful spot to pile up the crews kit.

I treated myself to the Israeli Tiran version for my birthday. Don’t think I’ve got time to enter it for the campaign though. I’m trying to get together some references to help out. Their T-55’s are a lovely range of kits from builds I’ve seen.

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Stephen, the rear armor served as a counter weight. Based on what I read in the after action reports (reprinted in books) all the armor was layered armor, so no reactive armor.

Surprisingly the armor on the turret front over the drivers hatch was supposed to hinge upwards to allow the driver to enter and exit if the turret was in a certain position. This leads me to believe the armor cannot be overly heavy.

But a cool looking conversion for the T-55 tank. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks, that makes more sense.
I wasn’t sure what sort of home made armour they were using and the blocks do look a lot like the reactive armour.

the young chap who helped me out at my recent trip to bovington tank museum told me the Americans have a similar tank in their possession and they opened up the armour side sections to find them filled with rubbish/trash.

oh and you are right about the section above the drivers hatch being hinged as I took this picture whilst at the museum.


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Interesting.
And leaves even more questions. It’s all very strange.

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Well…it is called the ‘Enigma’ … :crazy_face:

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Very nice detail shots.

Must be a bit claustrophobic having to open your hatch and then hinged up the armor to get out. Especially if the tank is on fire :grimacing:

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I have some pictures of the T55 from Bovington, from about 10yrs ago I think, sorry can’t access them atm, but the front armour had a hole in it were you could see about 3-4 “layers” of spaced armour inside with a rubber mat like piece stuck to each layer.
Mike

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Not much different then a M1, if the gunner/tc don’t help the driver (raise the barrel, position of the turret) he is not getting out either as I recall.

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Thanks for the cool picture, Nikos!

Ryan, good point!

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Miniart T-54 progress -Turret interior parts all added apart from the sight mechanism… Need to weather it of course. Not happy at all with the rear ammo rack but dont think you will see much once the upper half is on (leaving the roof removable

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Nice progress, Robert. I feel claustrophobic, just thinking about working and loading the gun is such a confined environment.

Looking forward to see more :slight_smile: