Iraqi T-69 wreck

Well most of you know I can not sit idle on one model, actually there are about a dozen shelf queens at the moment, so I started something that I have been planning for nearly a year. Over the past year I have been collecting any and all pics of destroyed T55 and T62's to use as reference in a perfect wreck.
After the release of Trumpeter's T62 I was put off due to the numerous models posted on the web. Now that the craze has died down a bit it's time to build a T55.

Here is a list of items I have collected of the past year to be used in one way or the other.

Tamiya T55A
CMK resin interior set # 3047
CMK resin motor compartment # 3046
JR metal barrel
Either Fruil or tracks taken from Trumpeter's T62 kit

There will be a bit of scratch building involved to depict a destroyed tank. Some of the CMK parts may be used, but mainly as reference. There will be A LOT of twisted, bent and destroyed metal parts. The tank pictured in the reference pic is of ( i believe) a T69, but since there is no decent kit of the T69 I am going to do it as a T55. I may later on decide to convert the T55 to a T69 if there is references available in my search of the web. But for now I'm going with the T55.

The reference pic that I have show that the tank was hit from the air, possibly from a Helicopter, and there is a large hole in the front part of the turret over the main gun. This is the main reason why I chose to model the tank.

One of the parts of the build that I have been trying to figure out for months now, has been how to build the gun/breech/mount to show it in the position shown in the pics. Well last night I took out the razor saw and went for. So the build of this wreck has started. I will post some pics later of what I have come up with. Yes this is a different way to start a model, but it is a wreck and not a kit built OOTB, and of course I like to be different.

I must add that at one point this project will be put on hold due to another project having a bigger priority, but that you will see later.

The first thing to do is build a new turret ring on the upper hull and the turret it's self. The Tamiya kit comes ( still) with locking tabs on the turret that lock into the upper hull. The hull ring has two notches that need to be filled with some styrene strips. Once this was done I then added some rings on the hull and the turret using Evergreen styrene strips of various widths.




I wanted to depict the the gun breech fully recoiled and sitting on the hull floor, due to a direct hit on the turret roof. The was done by cutting the CMK gun breech and adding some plastic tubing for the the barrel. I had previously examined the CMK gun mount but when it was time to use it in the build,  it was no where to be found, go figure. So a new and better mount was scratch built using styrene and glued the the turret base plate.




I did some test fitting to get the right angles and position of of the turret. The rear deck plates over the motor compartment will be removed and either the CMK comp. will be used, or some scratch building in that area. The hull in the fighting compartment will be getting a lot of debris in the form of twisted and bent metal parts along with ash from the burnt items in the tank.




The turret will be propped up similar to the last two pics by wheel rims. This can be seen in the reference pics I am using for this build. Next step is to work on the turret some more including cutting a large hole in the turret's roof.


Work on the turret continued with the additions of a few of the CMK resin parts, mainly the traversing mech. and circuit box. Some twisted and bent wires were added to this box along with wiring to were the radio was positioned. the mounting brackets for the radio and transformer were made using aluminum foil and plastic strips. I also added the remnants of the ammo racks on the rear and side of the turret using the same material. All these details were done using your basic scratch building techniques and is not hard to do.

The following pics show some of the progress on the turret, including the gaping hole in the roof.





A test fit of the forward interior resin parts from CMK. I have used products from the CMK line in the past and find the quality of the resin casting to be very well done, and the T55 sets are fantastic.




After doing some research and with the assistance from a few fellow model builders, (thanks Steve, Andy and Rob) I am building this wreck as a T69II. Since there is not much left of what would distinguish the T55 from the T69 due to all the damage to the tank, this should be fairly simple.

The main thing that needed to be done was the distinctive bulge on the bottom of the rear plate. To replicate this bulge I used the rear plate of a T62 as a template. I also decided since I was at it, I might as well make two and save one for a future build. The Tamiya rear plate was used to make one and 40 thou styrene for the other. The bulge on the lower hull was made from 15 thou styrene.




One more thing had to be done to the rear plate and lower hull. I want to show an open motor compartment and therefore the cutout for the bulge need to be made. This was easy to do compared to making two plates. I simply placed the rear plate with bulge on the model and traced for the cut out. Easy as that.




Some final filling where needed and sanded and it is done. If you notice, I removed the plate that was molded with the hull. This was done for two reasons. First the rear plate would have been way to thick and out of scale and second it was easier than filling the slots for the fuel drum mounts.

Still more work to be done on the inside of the hull, especially in the motor compartment. Using reference photos of destroyed T-55 and T-69 tanks from the Gulf war, I went about building the floor of the tank with all remnants of what is left of the interior. I began by adding squadron in thick blobs, and into this came bits and pieces wire, metal and misc. debris. I built the sides and the floor section as to be able to cast this in resin for other wrecks that I plan on doing in the future, and saving me the trouble of scratch building this over again.




Once I have these parts cast in resin, then work will continue by adding more debris to the interior as per the reference photos of the tank I am modeling.

10-22-2010

Work on the T-69II has been a bit slow, mainly due to the scratch building involved in building a wreck like this. I moved onto the motor compartment next, and this has to be all scratchbuilt to depict a destroyed and stripped down tank. Looking at the reference pics, the motor, transmission and most of the items found in this area have been removed, or destroyed.

The first thing to do was to make the floor and sides out of .20 sheet styrene, and onto these the details will be added such as the motor mounts.




There is still plenty to add in this area, and requires more time and research.


11-15-10

A long over due update on the progress of this T-69.

The motor compartment has been completed and along with the masters of the wrecked interior, have been sent to a friend to make molds and cast the parts in resin.

The following five images show the completed main parts to the motor compartment, including all the small details which took forever to get right.














The masters were finished a couple of weeks ago and sent off to be cast.

Today I received some images of the first test castings of the parts. One of our biggest concerns was being able to mold and cast the wall with the fan shroud. As you can see in the following images, it came out great.

Wrecked interior floor.





Motor compartment floor.





The master is the bottom image and the resin casting above it.








The resin castings of the motor compartment represent a stripped out T-55 compartment. I will be adding some destruction to it along with a correct fan shroud for the larger T-69 fan.


These casting will be available for purchase in December from Celticwerks, distributed through Alpineflage Hobbies.
I will also be doing a full review and build of these two sets here on the reviews page.


Next update will be the actual installation of the parts in this model.



12-02-10


After waiting a few weeks until the arrival of the resin castings, work has continued on this project. I received enough of the initial test castings to build a few wrecks. Some of the parts have minor flaws but are in areas that can and will be covered by debris and maybe dirt. These parts are from the first molds made of the masters, in the mean time all problems have been rectified and mass production molds have been made.

I used some of the parts and dry fitted them in the T-69 hull to check for fit and to see how the build will continue with these new parts.

The Celticwerks CW3501 Stripped Motor Compartment will be hitting the market mid December 2010. Here is what the set includes.



Left and right side inserts.



Fan shroud and firewall.





Here are some pics of the parts test fitted in the hull.








So now that we know that the resin casting fit, it was time to make some alterations to the fan shroud. The T-69  has a bigger fan and shroud than the T-55, hence the bulge on the rear plate and floor. I will use the front part of the shroud to make a new wall and fan shroud for the T-69.
 
In the pics you can see that I haven't used the firewall. The firewall in the tank that I am modeling mine after, has a completely destroyed firewall. This will be scratch built using either styrene or metal foil.

I am currently working on a video and a review of this set and will post it up as a guide for whoever is interested in this set.

Here are a couple of pics of the model with turret and upper hull in place.








The next update will show more progress in the rear of the tank in the form of added debris and a new fan shroud.



12-08-10


Work on this project is finally picking up again, in the form of added debris and some detailing.

The reference pics I have for the tank I am modeling do not show much of the motor compartment, so I am winging it here. I used some aluminum foil for some of the twisted metal and also the remains of the tank on the left hand wall. Styrene strip and small diameter wire was used for the remains of the braking system of the hull floor. There are some other details from the braking system that still have to be added, again using the limited reference I have of this tank.

I also added some of the turret details such as the lifting hooks with added welds, remains of the roof ventilator and some other stuff.


The following pics show the small progress that has been made so far. Having to cast the motor compartment definitely has paid off and now I have enough resin sets for a lot of other wrecks.

















Next update should be of the completed interior and preparation for painting.


12-13-10

I had hoped to have started painting the interior by now, but decided the interior lacked some details along with the firewall. I did some work on the remains of one of the braking systems using aluminum strips, styrene strips and wire. here is what that area looks like.







Next update coming soon in PART II painting and weathering. The pics of the built interior prior to painting can be found there