Hooben T-55 Build Log and Review
I had hoped for a Canadian retailer for this model, but could not find one (I had ordered a KV1 and Tiger 1 from Mato in Toronto and had a very good experience- fast delivery and reasonable shipping). I have been burned numerous times by exorbitant US brokerage fees on deliveries from the US and will always avoid this route. That left the Wild West of Chinglish Internet E-Commerce- I ordered directly from Hooben.
This was a bit of an experience. I did not expect Amazon.com efficiency and I did not get it. Shipping was around 100$ or so. The CPU/CESC was shipped later (it was not in stock). It took about two weeks or so for me to receive the tank and the CPU/CESC about a month. There were a few emails back and forth clarifying things, but it was generally fairly straightforward. The box arrived in good condition and was well packed.
I am not an expert modeler. This is one of my first forays into modeling after a sporadic past. I generally use the LAR method (looks-about-right). I wanted to roughly model a Russian Afghanistan-era tank with some weathering. My inspiration was a movie I saw back in my university days- "The Beast".
I wanted to correct some of the errors in the movie (with a modest budget, Isreali modified T-55's were used- different main gun and a US .50 cal rather than the DSHK). The DSHK is sex-on-wheels and is a signature item on any of these tanks. It was originally mounted to shoot down helicopters and, at 12.7mm, would imagine it was rather effective as an anti-infantry weapon.
I was also inspired by a photo that is on the cover of a DVD I have.
It's called "Inside Afghanistan" and is a documentary on the Russian experience in Afghanistan. It also includes a short film called "The Black Tulip" which has some classic footage. Unfortunately, there is no information on the cover photo which is a classic picture of a T55 in the field.
My research started online. I found some really good veterans photos, but there is a lack of specific information on how the tanks were used. I ordered a few books from Osprey- specifically "Modelling the T-55 Main Battle Tank" and "T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944-2004" which helped.
I decided early to follow my LAR method rather than make a nut-and-bolt copy of a known tank. Consequently there are probably errors or inaccuracies. I don't much care. My theory has always been- build your own vision to the best of your abilities and let the critics do better.
There are a few build threads of the Hooben T-55 online and I read as many of them as I could find. I had no major problems with the model and could have assembled it straight out of the box. I realized before I ordered that many of the castings would require work or rebuilding. The big pieces were fine, but many of the little parts were- ahem- unusable. There were VERY few (small) parts on this model that I did not need to modify/rebuild or scratch build. The engineering is there- it just has to be pushed to the next level. I am not complaining- at this price point, I did not expect Tamiya execution. If Tamiya released a 1/16 T-55 I would probably not buy it- I enjoy bashing up the parts and Hooben allowed this. If you are looking for a build-out-of-the-box-perfect-day-one-factory-original-recreation you should look elsewhere...
I did a fair amount of work on the DSHK.
I added brass and plastic to make it look better. Couldn't get the muzzle brake the way I wanted it, but I was 68% satisfied.
My perfect starting point would be accurate 3 views and measurements. I would have liked to model a belt with ammo and the ammo box open, but that is, so far, beyond my abilities. One of the mods I did was to make it removable and able to pivot. There are many pictures of the DSHK pointed into the air, and I like that look...
The exhaust was also modified a little bit. The heat shield was made of thin aluminum and painted.
You can see some of the flashing and mold issues here...
these were present on most of the parts.
The hexagonal and round bars on the front fender (not sure what they are for?) are a good example of casting issues- I scratch built my own.
The advantage is that I had a template for size and diameter and was able to copy it easier.
This brings us to the saga of the front fenders. Real tanks in the field are missing these or they are smashed/dented and generally in rough condition. The Hooben fenders are factory fresh and missing some detail in the spring area. So I completely scratch built them with aluminum and plastic.
It is hard to appreciate how a piece will look when it is unpainted. They could still use some work...
I added handles to the boxes on the left side of the tank and generally cleaned them up and detailed them.
The rear mud guards had to go and were replaced with black plastic. They look much better.
I added bashed up lines to the fuel tanks- it is inexcusable for a tank of this scale to not have fuel lines.
The rear fuel tanks in the kit were lacking detail and I wanted to dent them etc. I built new ones from aluminum and plastic. I was pretty happy with these even though there are errors. They look really good after painting.
The rear bumper (tree in reality) was a piece of doweling. It looked like a piece of doweling. I made my own from a slightly crooked branch which was peeled down to size.
Turret holds were made from copper wire- they look great after paint...
The small hand holds were from the kit. I would probably do this different next time and just build my own. The real ones on the tank are very poorly welded on and finished.
I rebuilt some stuff on the rear deck and added some rusting grates- probably not accurate, but I like the look. I need to cover them in some oily grease next...
The suspension fasteners included with the kit were an exercise in frustration. A quick trip to my local Fastenal solved this. This is where Tamiya deserves 100% marks. When I built my first RC buggy and F1 car back when I was a kid, I put them together with no issues. Quality fasteners are a big part of that...
Paint started with quality primer from Home Despot and a Flat Hunter Green Camo paint which mimics Russian Armor Green pretty well. Rust and dust was added after with some washes. I used a really cool iron paint with rust that I got from Micheals. Highly recommended. The tracks were rusted as best I could with a wash and then dusted with a tan.
I am not happy with the lights on any of the RC tanks I have seen. LEDs do not look realistic at this scale and I am searching for something better.
As you can see from the final product, the tank has a lot of detail.
It is very fragile as far as the little pieces are concerned and has to be carried with this in mind. I ran it on a local vacant lot in the dust and snapped some photos.
