SimonT - 1/35th Tamiya T62 (well worn)

[SimonT]

Morning all - on a whim grabbed this one off the pile. Not very accurate but cheap as chips - sells for around £14
After a bit of remedial work I intend to finish it as a very tired and well worn example just for a bit of finishing fun





not many parts and made for motorisation way back in 1979 - never a good sign with Tamiya kits as they tended to just make them to a size that the batteries fitted inside

Still, if I'd wanted more accuracy I could have pulled out a Trumpeter kit - this will be more fun with a lot less parts


so hull top went from this to....


....this in a matter of minutes


leaving these as a reference for the rebuild


wheels all assembled


then I made a start on distressing them with the Dremel

no particular hurry, it will just get fitted in around all the other stuff that is on the go

 

[Richard48]

Hi Simon.
Nice to see another vintage Tamiya kit.I remember aged 16 getting the Verlinden way volume 2 on military vechiles and seeing his take on the T.62 making it as a Syrian one on the Golan heights with a U.N crew and landover looking on.I was hooked then and i didnt care about total accuracy and Mr.Vs stuff blew me away then.Watching with interest.
Richard.

 

[SimonT]

Morning Richard - I know exactly what you mean. I was also raised in the Verlinden way

 

[Jim R]

Morning Simon
If anyone can make a good model out of this ancient kit it's you. Hope you and yours are doing OK. The wife rooted around at the back of the cupboards and used the finds for some baking. The virus may not get us but as some of her finds were past their use by date we could go down with food poisoning!!
Jim

 

[SimonT]

Morning Jim - we are all ok so far thanks. Were supposed to be getting together for a birthday meal for my sister but of course that is not happening. We are in contact with FaceTime instead.

Good luck with the baking roulette

On the T62, luckily I have a Trumpeter kit to compare it to - lower hull needs to lose 6mm. Upper hull then needs adjusting accordingly by taking material out of two locations in order to move the turret ring forward.

The fuel tanks are a little wide

The worst bit of this kit has always been the turret - major fail on the general shape although the diameter is ok

What I may do is correct it and then make a casting as I’m sure I have at least one more of these kits in the stash

 

[wotan]

Simon

Another from the SU 122 stable. I'm looking forward to what you can do with it.

John

 

[SimonT]

Hi John - yes, another of similar vintage

I do like bashing these old kits into something a little better

Both upper and lower hulls are now in multiple sections

 

[Lee Drennen]

Simon. Looks like you are going to put your Magic to this one nice start

 

[RichardMo]

verlinden raised too wil be watching.

 

[papa 695]

Nice start, sat in my seat watching.

 

[BattleshipBob]

Count me in Simon

 

[JR]

Made me smile at the sight of the track guards being removed, Pewter being dug out as we speak ?

 

[Road of Bones]

Watching and learning - as usual! Keep it coming Mr T

 

[SimonT]

Lee, Ian, Rick, Bob, Al - thank you all for looking in

John - you would think so but no, this time it will be nice shiny copper
Found some nice thin copper foil sheet on Amazon so want to try it out. Very thin like the pewter but copper is a bit more rigid so works well for the track guards - have used copper before in the past but my previous supplies dried up years ago

Really got into this and as a result spent all day on it so there has been a fair bit of progress


upper hull - the grooves indicate the sections being removed


the various parts after dissection


and the remaining bits stitched back together


upper and lower hulls joined


and filled - this new Squadron putty is crap. It comes out in a soggy state, sinks when it dries and the fumes are worse than the old stuff - make ones head spin after a while


turret base fitted with a blanking plate



upper half of turret had the periscopes cut out and raised as the front half of the turret is too shallow

they were fixed in with a selection of small bits of plastic card

I created a couple of tubs for below the cupolas so that when I cast a resin version I can still add a crew if wanted without having to grind out a load of resin

all the little holes were blanked off to prevent leaking during casting and a ring of thin card was added to the bottom edge of the upper half to increase the height slightly


last task of the day was to join the turret halves and then cover them with MagicSculpt

a lot of sanding, and possibly more filling, will be required to get this into a more accurate shape

 

[Mini Me]

Mind Boggling!

 

[Steve Jones]

Looks like you are having a lot of fun Mr T. Kitbashing is the best part of this hobby. Are you using any AM or will it be all scratched??

 

[SimonT]

Really enjoyed myself yesterday Steve

Have ordered an Eduard set - may be some useful bits in there but will have to keep in mind that it was designed for an inaccurate kit

Tracks will be Miniart Omsh bought cheaply - about £5

Anything else will be scratched

 

[Jakko]

Impressive

 

[JR]

Some one is enjoying themselves I think Simon.

 

[scottie3158]

Simon,
You are in your element.