Italeri 1/72 T-55A

While waiting for the mould-making stuff to cure for the Thunderbirds Mole wheels, I made a start on the Italeri 1/72 T-55A that was one of the kits I received for review recently;

Although 1/72 tanks are not my usual subject, I needed one to compare to the size of the Mole so it’s now on the bench. This model will be built straight from the box (honest!) as it is for a build review article for Model Military Int’l magazine so you’ll have to get it when it is published to see the rest of the build.

It is a new tool kit rather than the decades old Esci one that still gets reboxed from time to time and so far it is pretty good, it even features a decent replica of the engine. The tracks are in two pieces moulded in styrene rather than vinyl and the instructions suggest using a heat source like a hair dryer to bend them to shape around the wheels. I figured the easiest way to do this would be to assemble the wheels and axles on the hull sides first then bend the tracks around the running gear using the suggested heat source and hopefully I won’t end up with a melted blob of plastic on the bench. Before doing this I will leave the running gear to set as the contact points for the wheels and axles are verrrry small and I shall reinforce them with superglue.