Well here is my newest project I an starting up that will be combined with several other vehicles for a diorama set in the closing years of the Russian-Afghan war. My goal is to achieve the tank seen here in the photo moving along the road with a KMT-7 mine roller.
For this project I will be using Trumpeter’s T-62 Mod. 73, Mig’s T-62M1, and KMT-7 mine roller.
Now there has been a lot of talk on different website that Mig has miss labeled the kit as a M1 instead of M. Mostly stems around the engine deck not being correct in the picture on the box as it displays a standard M and not an M1. With all the research I have done so far, I have not been able to find solid facts to say what the M1 deck is suppose to look like. The T-62M was fitted with V-55U engine, while the M-1 had the V-46-5M installed which supposedly had a different deck. Here are just some examples of the M engine decks.
The real problem for is the turret supplied in Mig’s kit is completely unusable for me. The turret has too much shrinkage in it to be of any use for the construction. Which is too bad since it had some nice details on it.
So now I will be using it as a template for my construction. I’m still debating as to which version of turret to build since within the M family there are many different configurations that could be made. I’m not going with the anti-radiation gladding and going for more common turrets.. I’m either going with the standard TPN-1-41-11 gunner’s sight supplied in trump’s kit, or go with the 1K13 sight/fire control system supplied in the Mig kit. Here just a few examples of possibilities.
I’ve started construction on the lower hull and first thing I did was to move the pesky wheel bump stops for the road wheels. Easy fit, just cut and move slightly over more. I also replaced all the missing weld seams and filled in location holes on the side of the hull (still needs to be sanded down). I also corrected the crew escape hatch on the bottom of the hull. One thing that I plan to improve on is the belly armor, the hole for the front drain plug does not line up the armor plate. Also the armor panel need to be widen just a bit more. But this will more a little bit later since I need order more plastic stock. Another thing to address is, if you plan to build any of the M’s, you need to add a second shock absorber to the number 2 road wheel. This not necessary since the road wheel will hide the part missing, but since I’m adding this much detail I will add.
Hopefully I will have more posted soon, I’m still casting parts from my first T-62 I built.
Threaded Mode
