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INTRODUCTION
The T-50 tank was intended to replace the obsolete T-26 tanks as the Soviet infantry support tank. Its production began in 1941 in Leningrad factory no. 174. Before the factory was evacuated to Omsk, 50 tanks were produced. In Omsk 15 more tanks were assembled and T-50 production was then ceased.
Two T-50 tanks have survived to the present. One is displayed in Kubinka, the other one was captured and used by Finns and is displayed in Parola museum. The Parola tank has additional armor which was probably mounted by the Soviets.
There are few wartime photos of T-50 available, while for museum tanks there is extensive photo documentation in the Net. Although small number of T-50s were produced, individual tanks differ in details, especially concerning the tank's chassis.
FIRST LOOK
The box contains five frames of white plastic. One frame contains the turret and hull parts, the other four are identical and contain chassis parts and separate track links.
The lower hull comes in five parts: bottom, side walls, front and rear plates. The upper hull is made as a single part. Mudguards are moulded separately.
The turret is made of two parts: lower and upper halves. The latter is moulded together with the commander's cupola. All hatches in the model may be left in open position, but they lack any internal detail.
Moulding is clean and without flash. There are few easy to fill sinkholes on flat parts. Fit of the model parts is good. The plastic is softer than in Tamiya or Dragon models; also the quality of detail is not as good as that of leading manufacturers.
The model contains no decals. The assembly instruction sheet is clear and well printed.
CLOSER EXAMINATION
The overall width and length of the model correspond well with the references. There are quite reliable plans of the vehicle on www.armor.kiev.ua. However their author has taken the hull length (5200 mm) for the overall length of the vehicle (this equals 5300 mm). Therefore tank in this drawings is about 3 mm too short. Nevertheless these plans depict well the proportions and general look of the vehicle.
Lower Hull
* Rear plate of the lower hull is vertical. It should be inclined at an angle of 10 degrees from the vertical. This may be corrected by cutting side walls between third and fourth road wheels, lengthening them by 1.5 mm and scratchbuilding inclined rear plate.
* Front plate of the lower hull has an incorrect slope. As a result the first suspension arm seems as it was shifted back.
* All welded joints of the lower hull have to be scratchbuilt, as the kit ommits this detail.
* Towing hooks at the front and rear are ring-shaped. They should form of rectangular bar with an eye, rounded at its end.
Chassis
* Road wheel arms are given separately. They have fixing elements but care must be taken during assembly to align them.
* Arm travel limiters differ a bit in shape from those on real vehicle.
* Position of the road wheels looks correct. Every wheel is made up of two parts: internal wheel and external one moulded together with hub and axle. Wheel is of proper shape, but it lacks screw in the middle of the hub.
It must be noted that there is a photo of T-50 tank equipped with ribbed road wheels. Moreover, the tank on this photograph has air intake/outlet screens of different type.
* Idler wheel of the Parola tank has eight lightening holes and flattened hub. Kubinka and tanks in wartime photos have idlers without holes and with hubs of domed shape. The idler wheel of the model looks like that of the Parola tank. However it lacks the flat ring on the perimeter and bolt head in the middle of the hub.
* Track tensioner mechanism was not reproduced in the model, therefore the idler wheel position cannot be adjusted.
* Return rollers in the model are all positioned at the same level. Photos show that second roller is lowered a bit in relation to first one, as is third one in relation to second one.
* Conical brackets for the return rollers lack square plates fixing them to the hull side.
* Each double return roller is made up of three parts: two wheels and axle with hub. There are six bolts on each hub, instead of eight as in museum tanks. Roller wheels have short cylinders on both sides. These cylinders help to keep proper distance between both wheels in the roller and between the roller and its bracket. The cylinder on lateral surface of external wheel causes hub to project outside after gluing in place. In order to correct this, hub has to be glued directly to return roller surface after grinding the cylinder away.
* The return rollers of Parola and wartime photo tanks have lightening holes. These holes are too small in the model and have to be drilled. Kubinka tank has return rollers without holes but with additional radial stampings.
* Drive sprocket of the model looks correct.
*Tracks are made of single links. Hollow teeth are given separately, thus every link is made of two parts. To fit the links their contact surfaces need a bit of sanding.
* The track pattern differs a little from that in preserved vehicles. Only Parola tank has a few links of the type seen in the model. Probably this kind of links was used by Finns to replace damaged or worn original parts.
Upper hull
* This part of model looks correctly in terms of shape and size. Welding lines were imitated but they need improvement in some places.
* Driver's hatch is of proper shape, yet it lacks the screw holes. Visors and hinges of the hatch are crude and differ from their originals.
* Mudguard brackets on the front plate are of "Parola" type, Kubinka vehicle has triangular brackets with opening in the middle.
* Headlight mounts are modeled after Parola vehicle and differ from those on serial tanks. Parola tank mounts have been modified by Finns as they used headlights with armored covers, probably taken from disabled T-26s.
* Headlights in the model are made as solid parts. Techmod has changed their shape by adding cylindrical protrusions to fit them to "Finnish" type mounts.
* Rectangular covers on front oblique plates of the hull are too small and located too high.
* Sloping rear plate bolted over the transmission is too short in the model and should be extended downwards.
* Transmission access hatch is made as separate part and was moulded together with hinges.
* Air intakes/outlets have imitation of louvers perpendicular to the tank's axis. It seems that in the real tank every inlet was covered with two louvers parallel to the tank's axis. Inlet screens are moulded as solid parts with imitation screening. They cover all inlet details after gluing. Scratchbuilding the screens may be difficult as they were not made of plaited wire mesh but of thin rods bended to proper shape, crossed perpendicularly and joined with welding.
* Bulge in the middle of engine compartment roof seems flat in comparison to the photos.
* There was minimal external equipment carried on T-50 tanks. In the kit there is shovel on the left mudguard and Soviet type toolbox on the right one.
* Mudguards are moulded separately. Their fronts have four longitudinal ribs, which can also be seen on Kubinka tank. There are wartime photos showing tanks with mudguard fronts and rears plain.
* Mudguard rear is modeled after Parola tank. It is plain and has rounded corner. There are mudgard brackets fixed to rear plate of the model. Such brackets are visible only on Parola tank.
Turret
* The turret is the Achilles' heel of this kit. At first glance it seems that it lacks distinct "undercuts" at the sides of its front part and that commander's cupola is to high. After placing turret on the hull it turns out that it is incorrectly shaped.
* Front part of T-50 turret covers whole width of the hull roof. Furthermore, it is asymmetrical in shape and its right front part projects outside right edge of hull's roof.
The turret in this kit is too narrow. As a result "shelves" of uncovered roof are left on its both sides.
* Kit's turret roof is flat and sloped towards the vehicle's front. Turret roof in T-50 is horizontal and only short part at its front is sloped slightly.
* Commander's cupola is too high and has distinct step in the middle of its height while the "real thing" has gently curved lateral surface.
CONCLUSION
In my opinion the most important problem when assessing any kit is its similarity to the prototype in terms of dimensions and proportions. The small shortcomings of the kit may be corrected through detailing, sanding, filling etc. Dimensional errors are usually very hard to correct and need scratchbuilding/replacing of whole subassemblies of the model.
Apart from scratchbuilding/correcting of some minor parts, scratchbuilding the turret and commander's cupola is necessary to get good replica of T-50 out of Techmod's model. Due to complex shape of these two parts this is task for experienced modelers. Techmod's kit would have been quite good model of T-50 if it had a better turret.
REFERENCES AND SOURCES OF PHOTOGRAPHS
1. Janusz Magnuski (James Grandsen), Lekki czolg wsparcia piechoty T-50 (Light infantry support tank T-50, (in:) Nowa Technika Wojskowa (New Military Engineering) 3/1999;
2. Maxim Kolomyets, Parola photo essay, (in:) Tanko Master 4/1999;
3. Modelarskie zblizenia – czolg T-50 (Modeling close-ups – T-50 tank), (in:) Model Fan 7/1999;
4. Gizmologic Cafe (http://homepage1.nifty.com/gizmo-cafe/);
5. www.jagdtiger.de;
6. Andreas Larka website, (www.andreaslarka.net);
7. www.armor.kiev.ua;
8. www.tankograd.narod.ru/kubinka/;
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