MiniArt 1:35 T-55 Polish Prod • Kit No. 37068
The T-55 tank began its design towards the end of the Second World War and would go on to be the most produced tank in history – with an estimated build number reaching nearly 100,000! Everyone aligned to the Eastern Bloc used them at some point – Iraq being a major user. Watching Operation Desert Storm on TV as a teenager really was an eye opener – and seeing books filled with Iraqi wrecks and wreckage really had me keen to build an Iraqi T-55 at some point. Iraq used the T-55 mostly within its regular armoured divisions, the T72 was kept aside for Republican Guard forces. Iraq had about 2,000 T-55’s – but had nearly another 2,000 Tyle 69 tanks, which were Chinese copies of the T54, and look outwardly quite similar to the T-55. When Tamiya released their T-55, Marcus Nichols did an incredible job on his for TMMI, which remains iconic to this day. I didn’t want to copy his work, rather I wanted to produce my own take on an Iraqi Desert Storm T-55.
SO, TO THE KIT
MiniArt’s kit represents a Polish built T-55, and may be built with all of the common in-theatre modifications made by Iraq. It comes with individual tracks, a decent sheet of photo-etched parts and a big box of plastic sprues. This was initially off putting, but construction was actually quite simple.
I always start with the main components - get these right and the rest of the build is easy.
Getting the multi-part hull together was very simple. Just make sure the mating surfaces are square and free of flash.
Suspension components are very detailed. Sadly these are mostly hidden once the wheels are on.
I painted the interior with a good coat of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black, so no grey plastic was visible though the engine deck.
CONSTRUCTION