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T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:09 pm
by NickDonitz
Having started my Hooben T55 I decided on building an Enigma, as many f you will know it was built by the Iraqi's after the Iran Iraq war about 1988-1990, as a direct result of the devastation to tanks caused by rocket launchers. My inspiration was a cover pic from Scale Military Modeller International

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:17 pm
by maxmekker
Looking FW to follow :thumbup:

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:38 pm
by NickDonitz
The T55 Build has been covered very comprehensively most recently by Ad Lav and there's little to add, it started out as a pain to build especially if you use the instructions, id acquired a Shapeways motor mount to do away with the brass spacers included in the kit I ended up milling 2mm off it to get it to fit. It was not a smooth start. However things were about to get better. Standard plastic cement won't effect the Hooben poly plastic and it needs a stronger Plastruct type liquid glue or superglue to bond it. From a modellers point of view its a lovely model with plenty of detail and looks great straight out of the box. But we dont do straight out of the box do we?

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:43 pm
by NickDonitz
The rollers that aid turret rotation wouldn't spin as when the screws are tightened they lock the parts up so with the use of some brass tube and file i made a bore to cut the existing flange further down to allow free movement

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:04 pm
by Ad Lav
Have fun building it!

They run beautifully when built with some choice upgrades to help it along...

The enigma is a favourite of mine.

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:04 pm
by NickDonitz
Having built the elevation unit and recoil and got it to fit (you guessed it it needed some work). I started on the turret. There are numerous versions of the T55 as a rough guide the nicer finished turrets are on Polish made tanks then Czech then roughest castings on the Russian built versions (but that's not laid in stone). I decided that I would use the Polish version as a basis. I cut away the very basic cable mouldings, made good the surface and then made paper patterns of the top armour plate that matched up to the reference photos I was using. Then joy of joy i cut these out of plastic card very carefully to get a great fit. Lots of lovely weld lines to add and then the stowage brackets on the side of the turret out of brass wire again welded to the sides

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:08 pm
by NickDonitz
Thanks Ad I loved your build, I've scratched my head on numerous occasions putting it together but I know its worth it

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:19 am
by NickDonitz
Played around with the interior layout so I can get an IBU , speaker and a smoke unit in. The smoke unit is going in sideways just in front of the motors. Because of the limited height ive moved the fan which normally sits on top of the unit to the end opposite the exhaust nozzle, ill take a picture at some point to show you. Ive cut through the exhaust port in the upper hull and made a frame to guide the smoke. Once ive done the final install (after painting) ill know exactly where the nozzles are and make a better seal.

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:36 am
by NickDonitz
Frontal armour made and fitted, it actually overhangs more than it should for the time being until i'm happy with the final fit of the upper hull, then i will just trim it off and redo the bottom weld line. I like using black plastic card as if it gets scuffed its not as noticeable as white.

Re: T55 Enigma

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:40 am
by NickDonitz
Anyone want a spare turret