I was able to apply primer on the Tiran 4.





And then base color was applied. It is a little too blue to my taste, I will lighten it up a bit.











Thanks,

Joseph

I have applied a heavily thinned coat of white to tone down the garish blue color. It faded a bit, hardly noticeable in the picture but I'm going to go with it.


I've decided that I won't worry about it because it's going to go through some weathering. I went ahead and airbrushed freehand the camouflage. I still have to learn how to go about this with less over spray.









Next step is to clean up the over spray and then paint details.

Thanks,
Joseph

That blue kills me.
Dan

Would it help if we refer to it as the Smurf-Panzer?

I was able to paint details and I started weathering. Here are progress shots.








I took some close up shots as well.









I have also worked on the tracks.




Still a lot more weathering to do.

Thanks,

Joseph

Smerf tank
I like it.
Dan

Tiran 4 is now slowly getting "sun baked". I have applied oils on the turret. The blue color is now a little subdued. I will be applying pin wash next. Here is how it looks now.








And some close up shots.




-Joseph

The blue is a bit green now.
Dan

Started exploring weathering effects on my Tiran 4. Here's how it looks so far.










I'm not yet satisfied with how it looks. I'll try out some more weathering techniques.

-Joseph

Great set of builds, I love it and thanks for sharing.

That Tiran looks great! The upper hull scratches, chips, grime and dirt look fabulous.
One tiny not to pick. In that second picture, the dirty dusty lower hull. The dividing line there from lower to upper looks really stark in that photo. Maybe carry some of the dust up onto the lower front glaciss?

Thanks very much, Greg!




Hey there Mike, thanks for the comment too. Yes, I will be carrying the dust on to the upper front. I am concentrating on the fenders right now since they are not yet glued permanently. Once these are fixed, I will be adding some more dust all over, including the upper part of the hull.

I'm still experimenting. I have added some rust streaks and I am happy with the contrast.

Hello everyone,

Here is an update on my Tiran 4. Some of you may have seen my post on the MBT Campaign. On my post there, I liked to show the before and after shots. So, I'll post some more here.











Here are some close up shots.





On the last picture, some of the fuel lines are missing. It is because the fenders are still dry fitted. I'll place the pipes once the fenders are permanently glued.

Still not done with the weathering stage. But, I am close to finishing this build.

Thanks,

Joseph

Tiran 4 is maybe 95% done. External weapons have been installed. I will need to do some more weathering to match them up with the rest of the tank.





Some detail shots. I have used AK Interactive's Gravel and Sand Fixer and was very happy with the results. Some of the dirt are visible in the turret's rear bin.


In the front hull and fenders.


Some dirt also accumulated behind the jerry can on the fender.


Thanks,
Joseph

Hello everyone,

I'm back. Even though I have three unfinished T-55s hanging by the wayside, I started working on another one. This time it is MiniArt's Tiran 4Sh Early Type, which is an interior kit.


This kit is chock-full of sprue goodness. Both very impressive and at the same time, intimidating.


This is one of many MiniArt T-55 interior kits in my stash. And the very first one I am going to work on.I signed up for the Israel Defense Forces Campaign group build and this is my entry. I wondered what's the best way to tackle this. First and foremost, I need to have a system on easily identifying sprues as they are needed. I went through each one and affixed masking tapes. I then wrote the sprue labels on the masking tapes. That way, I wouldn't have to use my Optivisor whenever I need to look for a specific sprue. I then arranged them alphabetically on the box top.


After about 2 hours work, this is how far I got. I was able to scratch off one page from the instruction as done. I also used up all the parts from one sprue!


The following are before and after photos for the build of the bottom of the hull. They are mostly to illustrate how much work MiniArt has put in and subsequently, how much work a modeler will have to put in as well.

Display of the parts for the torsion bars prior to gluing them in place.

And them in place, plus additional parts to be glued.



Some more parts, both inside and out before they are glued.

And after.


Now for the torsion bars. There are 10 mini sprues for these. This picture shows the torsion bars from sprue to clean up.


Prior to putting the torsion bars in place. Look at how many parts there are!

After.


After all those, there are still some more parts needed for the torsion bars. Included here are parts for the fighting compartment floor.

After.


And now for the driver compartment. This are the parts for the transmission levers.

Here is how it looks assembled.



Parts for the driver seat.

Assembled seat.



Here are pictures of them in place.



Finally, these are parts for the driver compartment's right side.

In place.


Lots of work done and more to do. Oh well, I signed up for it.

-Joseph

Glad to see you back at it,
Those miniart kits are just too much for me-I’ve got a T54-49 but will probably never tackle it.
I’m thinking of kit bashing it with either a takom of HB kit.
Dan

Thanks Dan. I went overboard with Miniart T-55 kits. I better get a move on.

This update is for those who are interested or for those have not worked on, and are curious about a Miniart T-55 Interior model. If you are none of these, move along. Nothing to see here.

The amount of detail is amazing. Here are the components for what looks like fire extinguishers.

And how they look when they are installed.


These are the pieces needed to assemble the exterior of the left hull.

And all of them glued in place.


Here are the parts for the left hull interior. Per instruction on the current page. There are more parts on another page.

Glued.


This part requires a lot of work. Notice all the sprue connections? There are 15 of them that will need to be cleaned up.


Here's a better view of the sprue connections requiring clean up.


After clean up.


The part will not be visible when glued in place. It is at the bottom section. Right under the strapped ammunition.


And then, when dry fitted to the bottom of the hull, it is even more less visible.


This show the additional parts for the left side interior.


That's it for now. More in progress pictures later.

-Joseph

Joseph, I confess to being a "lurker" until now. I was curious how you were going to rescue your "Smurf" tank. Great save !
What keeps you from burning out on T-55's ? I was on a Stug jag for a while and it will be a long time before another one hits my bench.
Maybe if somebody releases a "complete interior" kit it could happen again.
Thanks for all of your hard work both building, answering questions AND the tutorials !!!

3 out of 3 beer rating for your awesome efforts & skills !

Hi Ivanhoe6, thanks very much for commenting! For a while there, I thought this was a private thread between me and Panamadan! I am "beery" happy with the rating that you gave me. I have a bunch of Stugs in my stash that I have yet to start working on. It is one of my favorite armored vehicles. I am happy with how the smurf tank turned out. I am still learning to paint and weather.

Regarding your question about not burning out on T-55s? I think I can attribute it to variety. When I hit a plateau, I work on another project. For example, at the same time I was working on my smurf tank, I had several other projects. Last year, along with the Tiran, I was able to complete the following:




I'm not kidding when I said variety, as you will see. I also have these other projects in various stages of completion:













Along with some 1/72 ones:





A figure project:


And finally, one 1/350 destroyer.


My wife has patience of a saint with some of these projects sitting on top of her China collection!

-Joseph

Now you need to pick up a hobby boss Type 59.
I've started mine and its a nice kit so far.

I just wanted to chime in and say that the T-55's look incredible. Great job on these builds everyone! I am on a Soviet/Combloc study binge right now and love learning about Soviet Cold War vehicles, weapons, uniforms and gear. I reflect on what WW3 in the 60's or Late 70's/Early 80's would have looked like with these and thank god it didn't kick off.

Holy Smokes Joseph ! You have been a busy boy ! And, you don't discriminate either ! Great PE work on the ship model!
Thanks for sharing all of your diversion projects !

Hi Dan,

I got two of the Type 59 interior kits from Miniart, plus one from Takom. I'll probably hold off getting the HobbyBoss one. But, I am curious to see your build. Do you have a thread for it?

-Joseph





Hi Nathan,

Great to hear from you! I was in high school in the 1980s (during the Cold War!) when I got a hold of Steven Zaloga's book, "Soviet Tanks Today".


Pictures and/or information on Soviet Bloc Military was rare at the time. So, I was excited when I got this book. I pored over the pictures repeatedly and dreamt of building scale models of those vehicles. Now, it's finally coming to fruition. I have a ton of Soviet stuff in my stash. I also have lots of books on armors and uniforms.

And yes, I agree, I'm glad it a global Hot War did not happen!

-Joseph




Ivanhoe6, I am an equal opportunity scale modeler! With my overactive predilection, I'm glad I've concentrated on scale models. Who knows where I'd be if I turned to gambling or drinking?

I am just as glad that there is a medium where I can share my projects. This used to be a very individualistic hobby. Now, I can communicate with people around the globe!

-Joseph

Here's an update on the Miniart Tiran.

The ammunition rack comprises of a lot of parts. The most difficult ones to remove from the sprue are the locking bars. There are six of them in the kit. Good thing I needed only five because I mangled the first one!
Here are the parts layout.

And now assembled.


Here's the parts layout for the engine before,

And after.


Additional parts for the engine.

And after. There are still some PE parts which I didn't glue. I'm afraid I might lose them while I'm dry fitting the components.





Slow progress but I'm ticking off pages from the instruction manual. I am now on page 10 out of 22.

More pictures to come!
--Joseph