T-55 kits head to head

Tamiya, Esci, Trumpeter and Skif go head to head with their T-55

They say that if you wait long enough the ideal solution will come along. The T-55 is a perfect example. I bought an Esci T-55 about two years ago second-hand but complete from a stand at an IPMS model show and started to collect information on it.

The T-55 Model 1958 was originally designed at Nizhny Tagil by a design team under the lead of Leonid Kartsev. It was intended to be a new design taking on all the improvements built into the T-54 series and adding more internal space, a redesigned turret to lower the silhouette, night fighting ability and a more comfortable ride for the crew.
In 1962 a new version was introduced called the T-55A which added further refinements and nuclear radiation shielding for the crew. This took the form of air seals over the hatches and at all the apertures to keep radioactive dust out. The T-55 has been the subject of a number of upgrades and refits in it's long career - production finally ceasing in 1981. Versions were built in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and the basic design was copied by the Chinese as the Type 69.

I knew the Esci wasn't the only version - or even the first. Tamiya had produced a version in 1967 and Lindberg another in 1989. Neither kit was very good as they suffered from the cold war information blackout so were built mainly from grainy black and white photos and guesswork.

Then in 1992 the release of Esci's kit seemed a good bet as they'd had the opportunity to look at and measure the real thing. It could also be built as a T-55, T-55A or Ti-67. It looked a rather good option.

The Trumpeter version was next in 1999. I've got their T-54 which makes up into a good model. But, the T-55 was one of Trumpeter's earlier models, and was moulded in an ABS type plastic which seemed to be resistant to all known modelling glues...

Trumpeter's kit also suffered as it was designed to fit round a motorization pack. The hull is a bit too long and the engine deck 4 or 5 mil too high.
The turret has a shape problem as the gun is exactly on the centreline rather than being offset, as it should be. This is a problem shared by the Lindberg and Esci turrets too.

Overall Trumpeter's later re-worked example is pretty good; despite the little problems like the lights being correct for the T-62, and undersize for the T-55. This is due to Trumpeter's habit of using common sprues amongst their several versions. There are accessory lights available or you could use the ones from the Esci kit, which are pretty good.

In 2001 it was Skif's turn. Their offering seemed to be everything that was asked for - it has interior detail, deck mesh, a PE fret and a turret with the off set main gun from the people who after all should now what this beast looked like. So I bought one - and it wasn't cheap either. However it took a bit of stick in the modelling press for inaccuracy. This isn't entirely the case as the turret and it's interior is good, the road wheels are accurate but the tyres have a strange tread pattern. The tracks themselves are a style I've never seen on a T-55, so they may need replacing in any case. Overall the hull is poorly shaped, and if you have one - I got just about the first one in the country, imported by Jon from Pol Models - put it in the loft stash for now at least.

About this time Dragon stopped advertising their planned T-55 making a lot of modellers very unhappy - much was expected of it based on their recent releases. I don't know why Dragon decided not to proceed - perhaps they thought that the market was already saturated.

Then Tamiya decided to take another stab at it with the benefit of new technology and a bulging reference library - together with many measurements of the real thing. Every time a suited and brief-cased Japanese gentleman enters the Tamiya hall at the Tank Museum there is a flurry of speculation on the net ;-)

And this is where the contest is won. Tamiya have done us proud this time. True there are some problems - the fuel pipes from the external fuel tanks will need to be added, and it's an expensive beast too. But overall - of all the versions I've got this is the one that will be built.

There are a number of alternative parts for the four basic variants: Model 1958, T-55A Model 1962, T-55 Model 1970, and T-55A Model 1970, dependant on the version you are building - check the instructions carefully before committing to the glue!
Talking of glue - the vinyl track is glue-able with the sort of stuff you'd already have in the toolbox, and are quite useable. They will need to be glued or fixed to the road wheels to get the sag correctly.
It seems a pity to shell out for extra tracks from Fruil or Model Kasten in this case as the look of the T-55 is well captured as it is. Some people will of course. I love metal tracks but I'd be hard put to justify doing this as anything other than straight out of the box. The vinyl track will not sag like Fruil do but a combination of glue and thread or pins will solve this.
If you are planning a later model T-55 - there was a refurbishment program in the 1980s that changed the track and drive sprocket to a fourteen tooth version which looks like the ones fitted to the T-72 - so check those reference photos.

There are 5 marking choices, 2 Soviet, 2 Polish and one Czech - the decal aftermarket will be busy for this one as a lot of countries used the T-55 in some form or other. Aber and Eduard are entering the market with PE additions but these are only going to add a small amount of extra detail overall.

Now that's decided and you are getting your wallet ready for a trip to the shop - what can you do if you want to buy a Tamiya kit but you already have one of the older kits?

You could cross kit the Esci hull with the Skif turret, which gives you the best bits from those two. Better still - if you like doing dioramas and you have the Skif kit and a good reference book you could model a destroyed T-55, with the turret flipped upside down to display it's interior. Cut and sand off the rubber treads from a few of the road wheels to make them look burnt out, and use either the Fruil or Model Kasten tracks to unroll for broken tracks.

One route that you could try is to try and track down the Verlinden T-55M update kit for the Esci - No.705. This was produced to correct some of the errors in the Esci kit, and consists of resin replacements for the turret, fuel cells light guards etc. Speaking personally Mr Verlinden and I have disagreed on the accuracy of his products in the past. One thing I will say is that this set is intended to rectify problems on the Esci kit and won't improve the Tamiya kit which is just about as close as anyone is likely to get - even devout rivet counters seem happy with this one :-)