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Posted on 07/26/2004 11:18:05 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 The layout of the T-54 is conventional, with the main armament comprising a 100mm rifled gun. The T-54 has been used more than any other tank since the Second World War. It is intended for combat actions involving tanks, combat vehicles, armoured personnel carriers and other armored enemy targets. The T-55 combines a high velocity gun with exceptional long-range endurance. The T-55 has a fully tracked, five-road-wheeled chassis with a low-silhouetted hull and a dome shaped turret.  T-54 The T-54 series tanks first appeared in 1949 as replacements for the T-34 tank of World War II. The first T-54 prototype was completed in 1946 with first production beginning in 1947. The T-54 was continuously improved and modified, and, when sufficient changes had been made, the tank was redesignated T-55. The T-55 was introduced in 1958 and incorporates all the refinements and improvements of the fully developed T-54 series without being radically different in design or appearance. The T-55A appeared in the early 1960s. Production continued in the Soviet Union through 1981 and was also undertaken in China (as the Type 59), Czechoslovakia and Poland.  T-54B Large numbers are still in service, although by the 1980s the T-54/55 had been replaced by the T-62, T-64, T-72, and T-80 as the primary main battle tank in first-line Soviet tank and motorized rifle units. Used in the invasion of Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, and Syria in 1970, it was the main Arab tank in the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel. During the 1970s, the T-54 saw combat in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Uganda.  T-55 AMV
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I got to see some A-10's working out on the range at Camp Atterbury. Most impressive.
Hiya Mud!
Nice looking jet!
"The Beast" was a great movie. Sam says mostly Russian tanks also. Seemed like a good idea if you have enough clearance underneath. Welcome to the Foxhole.
Thanks for the instruction and link. Poor driver surrounded by the mud. I wonder though in the heat of battle you would have the escape hatch in place and may have to use it.
In your experience as a tanker was escaping something drilled into you, practiced regularly?
LOL. kerry is such a dork!
ROTFLOL. I don't know, could be a tie. ;-)
He looks goofie no matter what he's wearing.
Oh Well! What do I know? :-)
FReegards...MUD
Replacing the 100mm weapon of the T-54 was not an easy matter, especially when using limited tools and substituting manpower. The huge size of the breech ring and block are again clearly seen in this photo, as well as the practice of tipping the turret and using a conveyer to slide the barrel and breech in, or out, through the rear of the turret. This is a T-54A with the T-10TG gun, the designation given to the weapon when a fume extractor and the Gorizont one-axis gun stabilization system was added. The design of both the stabilization system and fume extractor used in the T-54A were influenced by the US stabilizer used in the M4 Sherman tank provided to the USSR during Lend-Lease in WWII, as well as the improved stabilizer and fume extractor used in captured M46 Pershings in Korea that were handed over to the Soviets. The gun barrel slides into a small "pig snout" mantlet that uses an internal bullet splash shield to protect the occupants of the turret.
T-54/55 factoid: While Sudan’s Islamic regime is potentially ideologically threatening, its 300 main battle tanks (250 of which are T-54/55s) and some 50 combat aircraft pose a negligible threat to Egypt. On paper, Libya’s military is far more formidable than Sudan’s. However, its forces hardly present a threat to Egypt. Approximately 1,600 of Libya’s 2,200 tanks are old Soviet T-54/5s. Moreover, a lack of manpower has forced Libya to place over half of its armor, as well as many of its 400 aircraft, in storage, thereby making Libya little more than a massive arms depot.64
Chad: It didn't start with Florida: June 1980: An attack spearheaded by Soviet T-54 and T-55 tanks, and reportedly coordinated by advisers from the Soviet Union and The German Democratic Republic, brought the fall of the capital in midDecember . The Libyan force, numbering between 7,000 and 9,000 men of regular units and the paramilitary Islamic Pan-African Legion, 60 tanks, and other armored vehicles, had been ferried across 1,100 kilometers of desert from Libya's southern border, partly by airlift and tank transporters and partly under their own power. The border itself was 1,000 to 1,100 kilometers from Libya's main bases on the Mediterranean coast.
Here's Cookie Sewell who has sifted through models of today's feature to find one worthy of a detailed review:
BackgroundAleksandr A. Morozov was one of the co-designers of the T-34 tank in 1939, but never felt that he got his full credit for designing that tank. Mikhail I. Koshkin, the designer, got the credit with the powers that be for designing what was arguably the best tank of WWII. As a result, Morozov spent the rest of his life trying to one-up Koshkin with the tank that would symbolize Soviet military power. His first major success was the T-54 tank, which went through three initial production versions and five years of improvement before emerging as the tank we know today in 1951.
Over the years from 1951-1958, the T-54 was constantly modernized and improved, and prototypes were built of newer tanks with improvements over the basic T-54. Morozov went back to Khar'kov in the early 1950s, and by 1957 the chief designer at Nizhniy Tagil (where the T-54s were built) was Leonid Kartsev. Rather than continuously making incremental improvements to the T-54, Kartsev decided to make all the improvements at once and produce the ultimate T-54 variant. His team did this, and on 8 May 1958 the T-55 Model 1958 tank was accepted for production.
The T-55 Model 1958 combined all of the improvements of the T-54 series into one tank with other improvements. These included a new, smoother turret design, greater ammunition stowage for the main gun, more powerful engine, greater fuel capacity, a thermal smoke generator, improved night sights, improved two-axis stabilizer, and later on nuclear radiation lining. However, the new tank lacked the earlier 12.7mm DShK antiaircraft machine gun as it was not felt to be necessary.
Four years later, a newer version using much thicker radiation shielding for operations on a nuclear battlefield was introduced as the T-55A. This tank had heavy radiation shielding collars around the turret hatches and radiation covers over all access hatches. But it too lacked the AA MG.
Finally, after complaints from troop commanders, both tanks were issued with a cupola for the AA MG in 1970. The T-55 remained in production in the USSR from 1958 to 1981 and 1970 standards. A proposed upgrade to a M series of tanks in 1983 was signed, but very few tanks (T-55M and T-55AM) were built in the USSR. These tanks were also built with some modifications in Poland and Czechoslovakia. The Chinese combined features of the T-54 and the T-55 in the creation of their Type 59 and Type 69 medium tanks as well. Over 130,000 T-54 and T-55 series tanks and their immediate relatives (from China) have been built.
One would think with all of those tanks in service that this would have been a popular modeling subject and well treated by the major companies, but up until now this has not been the case. Tamiya produced a kit of the T-55 in 1967 but it was, to be succinct, pretty awful. No one else even bothered until 1989 when Lindberg produced a kit of the T-55 which could be built as r a T-55 Model 1958 or Israeli Ti-67/T-55 Model 1970, but it left a lot to be desired. Likewise, around 1992 ESCI produced a kit of the T-55 that could be build as a T-55, T-55A, or Ti-67. Again, the kits had numerous shape and detail errors and were a big disappointment.
In 1999 China began producing kits from the Wasan Plastic Company and releasing them in the US under the Trumpeter label and other kits under the Lee brand name abroad. Most were not very good, as for everything they got right they made changes which got it wrong. Plus, early Trumpeter kits were made from an ABS type plastic that was very difficult to cement together. All were motorized, and the modifications made to fit the motors in the kits did not help either.
In 2001 SKIF of the Ukraine – people who should know what a T-55 looks like – introduced a kit of the T-55A, but it was so angular and missed the entire personality of the tank that it was more of an insult than a disappointment.
FirstLook
For many years DML advertised that they would do a T-55 kit, but this was dropped from their catalogue after five years. It was therefore something of a bolt from the blue in the fall of 2002 when Tamiya announced they were going to do a kit of a T-55A. Having been let down before by recent Tamiya forays into Soviet armor – their uninspired T-72 and lackluster IS-3 kits being major personal disappointments – I could only hope for the best.
This kit is now out, and I received one precipitously on Christmas Eve from Bill Miley of Chesapeake Model Designs. After opening the box, the best way to describe my reaction is one of stunned silence. While I am sure that the German armor fans will argue, my personal opinion is that this is probably the finest overall armor kit ever produced by Tamiya.
First off, the kit is pretty much dead on the money in regard to dimensions and details. It is one of the later model tanks (after the hull machine gun was dropped) but comes with parts for four basic variants (T-55 Model 1958, T-55A Model 1962, T-55 Model 1970, and T-55A Model 1970) as well as many of the differentiating parts for Soviet and Warsaw Pact variants. The design of the kit is also such that conversion (or more likely a follow-on kit) for the T-54 series or the Type 59/69 will be quite easy to accomplish. The engine deck is separate (but not the radiator or oil cooler grille area) and all major detail parts are separate, so there is a lot of room for personal customizing.
The driveline is accurate and comes with the correct pattern of interlocking wheels and the "scalloped" idler wheels. It comes with 13-tooth drivers and the standard steel hinged early pattern tracks (later replaced with 14-toothed drivers and single-pin rubber bushed T-72 type track in the 1980s). The belly pan is complete and includes torsion bar connection details. The tracks are accurate, but a bit thin in the current Tamiya style, and will not "sag" as they should. A good set of Fruilmodel white metal tracks (No. ATL-01) is available and recommended for this kit.
The turret is the first accurate rendition of a T-54 or T-55 series tank in a kit. The gunner and commander sit on the left side of the gun, and as a result the turret is "bulged" there to accommodate both men; the gun is also offset slightly to the right so that it remains on the centerline of the turret. Tamiya nailed this feature. All of the details are included, as well as a choice of Soviet or Polish cover fittings for the coaxial machine gun port and gunner's telescopic sight. It even comes with very petite styrene tiedown loops for the rear of the turret.
Other details match as well. The fuel tanks are unique; the front right one is a single but the rear two are molded as a pair with the connectors in place, so the modeler doesn't have to figure out how to connect the lines if he does not wish to go to that level of detail.
Two types of snorkels are included (the Soviet OPVT and a Polish one that hinges for semi-permanent mounting when installed). All detail parts are finely molded and all hinges, clasps, handles and tiedowns are in place. The only spot I saw where detailing is a bit thin is the inside of the commander's and loader's hatches.
Decals are included for five different tanks: a) Soviet T-55A Model 1962; b) Soviet T-55 Model 1970; c) Polish T-55A Model 1970; d) Polish T-55 Model 1970; and e) Czech T-55A Model 1962. Each is keyed to callouts in the instructions, so a word of warning to pay attention to the small print when working on a particular tank.
Overall, the only real disadvantage to this model is the fact that diehard Soviet armor fans like myself have had to wait 35 years for it. The good news is that it is worth it, and the price should be low enough to stock up on them.
(Chesapeake Model Designs is also about to release a series of composite resin/aluminum barrels, one of which will be the D-10T2S for this tank, and a prototype of which was included with the model by Bill Miley. No word on when, but from the prototype, it will be worth the wait!!!)
Cookie Sewell
AMPSReview Copyright © 2002 by Cookie Sewell
Here's your award Phil!
Back in those days they drilled into us if you can be seen, you can be hit; if you can be hit, you can be destroyed.
I pretty much expected to be cut in half by the cupola if my tank ever took a hit on the turret. Lucky for me Turrentine Range was the most dangerous place I ever took that tank.
LOL. kerry is scum.
Thanks for the links and information. Good stuff.
LOL.
Cute old postcard. Thanks Victoria.
Lucky for us too. Thanks for all your help in explaining the escape hatches.
IMHO Tamiya makes the best Armor Models out. Most of my model collection was Tamiya Armor.
Nice hole in that T-55 turret. :-)
I'm John Kerry and I would've voted against the TOW missile--
but I was too busy winning the war for the Communists.
LOL!
I am sooooooooooooooo jealous.
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