T-55

Manufacturer: ACE (Kit No.72141)

The T-55 has long been oneof the most wanted models in 1/72nd scale. ARMO was first on thescene with a resin kit of the T-55A, but many people will notwork with resin, and their distribution is not as widespread asmost plastic kits either. Both ACE and PST almost simultaneouslyannounced forthcoming T-55 kits in plastic, with the ACE kitappearing first. This first of the plastic T-55's represents a"base model" of the T-55 tank, i.e., NOT a T-55A,T-55M, or other variant of the tank. The main distinguishingcharacteristics of this version are the lack of cupola for theloader, and no 12.7mm AA machinegun. From what I understand,later modifications to the existing T-55's often added themachinegun, but none is included with this kit, despite what isdepicted on the box top.

This is a"limited-run" model, a fact which many people tend toforget when looking at ACE's latest releases. Their 2S1 and MT-LBin particular, are so fine, that it's easy to overlook the factthat these kits are not made with the same expensive technologyas Hasegawa and/or Revell. This new T-55 is not quite aswell-made as the MT-LB/2S1 kits, and it more closely resemblesearlier ACE kits, such as their BRDM-2's. Even so, I still thinkthat ACE makes some of the best limited-run kits today. Yes, theytake a little more effort to build, but the quality of the masterparts is obviously very high, so that the final model looksgreat.

The main turret sprueincludes parts for the upcoming OT-55 kit, which will likely beexactly the same as this kit, with different marking options. Thequality of the turret and hull sprues is very good. There is someflash, and a couple of the parts are molded a little heavy, butnothing that is unusable.

The wheel and track spruesare more rough, with very heavy flash, and muted detail. ACE hassince re-molded this sprue, and all future T-55 (and T-54) kitswill include better track and wheel components. The tracks havefine surface detail on the outsides of the track runs, but theinner surfaces are smooth, with the exception of very prominentand nicely-shaped guide teeth. There are several pieces ofvarious length track, as well as a great many individual links.Many of the links are malformed, but there are almost twice asmany links included as is needed, so feel free to discard thepoor links.

Markings are included forfive different vehicles: one Yugoslavian (mid-90's), one Polish(invasion of Czechoslovakia), one Afghanistan Northern Alliance,one Soviet Naval Infantry, and one Iraqi (Kuwait, 1991). Thedecals are very thin and very well printed.

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