RPM T-60

[Ken Abrams]

Joining in with this kit, something I picked up on eBay for cheap money during the covid lockdowns when I was bored and 'click n shipping' all sorts of stuff to my house...

I've been on an old kit kick for a while now. I found myself missing the days of my youth when I just built these things strictly for enjoyment and didn't get myself worked up over the details. The plastic is soft like a bar of soap and the photo etch is flimsy and thin as a piece of paper, reminiscent of something made in a garage. (No disrespect to the guys who make their own PE in their garage )

Step one is the entire side of the instructions, the plastic assembly is only a small part of it and the rest is all the photo etch. I'll leave the road wheels and suspension off until I'm done with the PE.

I jumped ahead to step three to assemble the turret. Pretty straight forward stuff, even the PE is super simple flat panels.

Next up is the fenders, which are goin to be a little challenging. If I stuff them up I have the plastic ones to fall back on.

I may get a turned brass barrel and horn I found on eBay for it as the main gun is pretty rough on plastic.

Thanks is for looking.

 

[Iron Mike]

Pretty sweet!

 

[Ken Abrams]

Dang you're fast!

 

[moon puppy]

Dang you're fast!

That's what she said....

Looks swell Ken!

 

[jknaus]

Nice. Love seeing your builds as they progress
James

 

[errains]

I just love what you do with these little kits!!...so please continue!

 

[MrT]

Glad you could join us.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Another kit from Russia. Looking good so far Ken! Keep up the good work. Brass is easy to work with if you know a few tricks. I am sure your fenders will be just fine.

 

[Skinny_Mike]

 

[Ken Abrams]

Brass is easy to work with if you know a few tricks.

This is true! My favorite trick is to avoid it completely whenever I can!


Okay so for this next update I continue on with the photo etch.

As I mentioned earlier, this stuff is paper thin and even just removing it from the fret can twist it up making the removal of the little nubs left behind a little tricky.

I clamp the parts in the Bug™ and use a sanding stick to clean them up.

With a little delicate handling and a few rolls on the knife handle they look pretty clean.

Of course, my favorite thing about PE fenders is banging the crap out of them, so they don't stay so neat looking for very long!

They look good and beat up now, as do the stowage boxes and stuff, so I decided to start the tracks.

I originally planned on using the kit tracks, while not great, the individual links were simplified but didn't really look that bad...

The lengths however were horrible...

This meant sourcing some aftermarket. I pondered metal tracks for a bit, found a few sets but ultimately decided to get a set of Techmod plastic individual links.

Not the best quality but cheap as heck and super fast shipping so I was off to the races.

In between assembling those tiny, tedious track links I found myself doing other tasks to keep from goin crazy.

eBay had this little gem so I had to pull the trigger, so much nicer than the kit part!

I also shaped up this quick base in between track links...

Looking at walk arounds of these little tanks and wow, they were covered in really rough welds. I started with the turret plates and some putty. I'll use stretched sprue for the weld beads on the tank itself.

Now, those tracks!

One side done, doesn't look half bad. Too much sag? Meh, I don't care I like how it looks!

Of course it wouldn't be complete without a figure, or three...

Evolution miniatures are such great quality, and this set is perfect.

So that's where I am! I know that was a lot, life's been super hectic so I just keep track as I go and then dump it all here when I can.

Thanks for anyone looking, see you on the next photo dump

 

[iambrb]

Wow neat stuff!

 

[errains]

Excellent Work Ken!!!

 

[Jeeves]

Looks awesome Ken!

 

[moon puppy]

Sweeet! I've said many times, nothing looks like beat up metal better than beat up metal.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Very nice work Ken!

When I am working on PE, I use a small 1200 grit diamond hone/file. It is hard and stiff and so fine that it doesn't catch on the PE hardly at all. It works great for removing the nubs.

 

[Iron Mike]

Looking good, Ken! Digging the brass.

 

[Gator]

Nice work. I can't imagine the conversation the crew is having. "Okay comrades. You see that barn over that that look like it moving?" "Ya." "That's no barn. That's a Tiger tank. We don't shoot at those." "Why?" "Because it just makes them mad."

 

[Ken Abrams]

It’s been ten whole months since I updated this! I’m guessing the group build may be over at this point, so to those with powers, feel free to move this thread if that’s the case.

So let’s pick up where I left off.

Tracks! Here’s a set of photos showing how they are dry fit and removable for separate painting.

.

The next thing I decided to tackle was the hatches, they are molded with the hinges in the closed position so in order to put the figures in the hatches i had to address this.

After carefully gluing only the small hinge piece, I cut the rest if the hatch off at the hinges edge. This would allow me to reposition the hatches in the open position.

.

With this done I went back to working on the base. Using thinned PVA glue I attached some shredded seaweed balls for the ground cover and some sand/dirt/gravel for the road bed. Once I was happy with the coverage I painted it using Mr. Surfacer mahogany.

.

.
Once the primer was dry I began applying lighter shades of buff, yellow and deck tan to the grass and picking out random stones in the roadway with various earth tones, this really helps the stones to pop off the surface and give a lot of random detail to the roadbed.

.

Okay that’s a lot to dump in here, I did start painting the tank and figures but I’ll cover that in the next update. Let’s just hope that doesn’t take me another ten months!

Thanks for looking, questions and critiques are always welcome.

 

[moon puppy]

I’m guessing the group build may be over at this point, so to those with powers, feel free to move this thread if that’s the case.

Yeah I got some maintenance I need to do on the forum. We got a lot of old stuff, just remember, you get what you pay for!

Interesting on the tracks. Nice work!

Love the base!

 

[Brokeneagle]

All looks great Ken, just catching -up with this build