Bitten by the Russian Bug and also because I got a bit lazy to do a superdetailed kit, I decided to give this a quick bash and did the construction in the last 3 weeks totalling around say 20 hours of construction time.
The part fit is classic Tamiya and very little cleanu up required. Lion Roar's PE is good at some parts but poor in others especially on scale thickness of the screw and bolt heads. The tracks have yet to be tied down to the wheels to simulate sag.

Painting will go ahead soon but have diverted to constructing a JS3 at the moment. Tamiya kit too.


















As usual, fire your comments away folks!

Neato and lovely drum work, comrade!

This will be a nice addition to the RGB.

For the Motherland!

Nice one, Loo. BTW, if you are interested in adding the fuel lines to the fender fuel tanks, here's a diagram I found on another forum some time back.

thanks PB and Alpha7,
the fuel lines should make it look better

Fuel lines is a must brader for the T series...just a little work..no more than a few hours will add life to this tank....after all this is an expensive t55.
i must say Tamiya's t55 is the best around...finally someone manage to capture the signature shape of a t55 turret...the details are superb and correct. trumpeter came close but not close enough..the only drawback is tamiya's t55 came in the same old rubber tracks...waaah a waste actually...as t55 always looks good with heavy sagging tracks, but then tamiya's tracks could be super glued to the wheels, no need to tie down brader..while trumpeter's t55 kenot be super glued.
this t55 is infact a class A kit..good job by tamiya

if i were you...i would spend more time on this t55 instead of tamiya's js3..which is and i must say crap. they got everything wrong from the undersized , over rough texture turret, to the wrong wide and wrong engine covers and rear hull.
yup..surprise ya...this bcos tamiya had base their js3 on an experimental js where only 3 were build. the production js3 is different ..and trumpter got their's right as they base their's on existing chinese production js3..so bos its an uphill task to build tamiya's js3..unless u close one eyes to those differences

Ari,
thanks for the indepth note. Will keep that in mind on the JS3. Haven't done much research on it though.

As for the tracks, my sentiments exactly as I am still contemplating on whether to spend some mullah on Fruil tracks!

ah now i can see the fuel lines i been looking for thsi diagram couple of years back . tq alpha

oh yeah Ck loo the front fender spring load ( i think that how its says) also need some work out , can use a electrical copper wire to replace the weld on plastic spring load of the tamiya one

sorry , just suggesting oni , up to u to use it or not ,

too bad tamiya only do half way of the spring load rod for the front fender. :(

thanks sentry!

this just proofs that modelling is more fun with friends!

do it bos..i mean on the Fruil tracks..a good kit like this t55 deserve a good track and boy those tracks will make your t55 heavy

Can't wait to see your final job, I also built 1 unit efw months ago. Hope to study some skill from you too.

Got back to continuing with the superdetailing on this kit though this was never the initial intention. It was meant to be an OOB with Lion Roar PE, but was quickly and unashamedly 'seduced' by the fantastic work done by Ari, so this here is my Labour Day..err labor.

















most of the fuel and electrical lines are added including the front fender spring mechanism with an indication of the lock.

Just an extra bit of putty on the fuel lines and some sanding down on the front light guard and its off to the painting line.

C&C welcomed and this is going to the Soviet Group Build soon.


cheers

LooCK

from PE to wiring ..you're dangerous comrade tauke....

yeah... young (or not so young, or young at heart) and dangerous:)

i can almost hear Soviet Anthem in the background.........................

Soiuz nerushimyj respublik svobodnykh
Splotila naveki Velikaia Rus.
Da zdravstvuet sozdannyj volej narodov
Edinyj, moguchij Sovetskij Soiuz!......................................fade awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Wah Loo,

You're taking this Tamiya kit to another level man. Sooner or later won't be able to see the original plastic. :lol: :lol:

Good stuff! Looking to see it at the Group build.

Richard.

good work bos....better then the one i did...hahaha.
now if all armour kits gets such treatment, then malaysian modellers will step out from the shadows...guess its about time too :P

To the 'SMM09 Best of Show recepient' and the currently residing in Indonesia 'AFV guru',

my work is peanuts compared to what you guys are churning out......

bos, never compare ,bos...all of us have different style of doing this, and none is better then the other.
the title of master or guru is a diease...and something we must avoid. we are Malaysian bos, we share our knowlegde as equals and as friends
:)