I shall be entering this SIG with just about the earliest vehicle I could
Trumpeter's T-62 ERA (explosive reactive armour) mod.(model)1962. I just got this kit yesterday so I'm getting right into it! There's quite a lot in the box, but nothing too insane, with only two smallish frets of PE and a nice metal gun barrel.
And now the vehicle:
"By 1955, the T54 and T55 had been mass-produced and upgraded, but the western powers kept on innovating as well and unveiled excellent medium tanks. There was already a pressing demand to find an answer fit to western models like the M47 Patton and Centurion which frontal armour can deflect or defeat 100 mm rounds. As a result, engineers devised the 100 mm HEAT round, at first costly (and at that time the crew did not have the required training to deal with these ammo), although it had the theoretical advantage to fit into a similar (but smoothbore) barrel. No new tank model was envisioned, but this was infirmed in January 1961, when a disgruntled Iranian officer defected to USSR with his brand new M60A1. At that time engineers devised an APFSDS round which was easier to operate and could be produced in larger quantities. However the latter was 115 mm in caliber, and needed a higher muzzle velocity to be effective.
"Therefore new guns were tried. In 1957-58 with the D54T. Later in 1961 with the new smoothbore 115 mm (4.53 in) integrated into the T-55, but trials eventually failed. There was no way to obtain the room needed for the recoil other than dramatically increasing the turret ring. And to support the new, heavier turret, to have a lenghtened chassis. This modified T-55 became the T-62, eventually 25 pre-series were built in the summer of 1961, and by July, a full-scale production was ordered. When the production stopped in 1980 in North Korea (it stopped already in 1978 in Czechoslovakia, and 1975 in USSR) a total of 22 700 has been delivered, more than any other western model, but still far less than the combined T-54 and T-55 which were not completely replaced due to the introduction of new modern rounds compatible with the rifled gun. It found its mark on the soviet arsenal, was used by around thirteen operators, and well-proven in combat. Its numerous limitations and issues only appeared recently and explained its replacement early on by the far better T-72.
"While the chassis was basically a stretched-out T-55, the Ob'yekt 166 turret combined with the new U-5TS "Molot" Rapira gun made for a new appearance. Indeed, the T-62 looked externally even more lower and longer than the T-55. The gun itself participated in this, with a staggering 9.34 m (30 ft 8 in) gun forward, and 6.64 m chassis length compared to 6.45 m for the T-54/55. It was perhaps even slightly narrower according to charts (3.30 vs 3.37 m) but kept the same height at 2.40 m, compared to almost 3.40 m on the M47 Patton.
"While the chassis construction was basically the same, compartimentation and most parts identical, the suspensions still comprised five paired "starfish" model roadwheels on each side, on individual torsion bar suspensions, idlers at the front and drive sprockets at the rear. But there were differences in characteristic uneven gaps between roadwheels, with larger gaps to the two rear pairs. Also, only the first and last pairs received an hydraulic shock absorber. There were still no return rollers, and the same tracks were used.
"The hull armor was slightly thinner compared to the T55 (mensurations in brackets) with 102 mm at 60° on the hull front (100 mm), 79 mm upper sides (80 mm), 15 mm lower sides (20 mm), 46 mm rear (60 mm), 20 mm bottom (20 mm), and 31 mm on the top deck (33 mm). The overall weight was nevertheless 40 t (44 short tons or 39 long tons) compared to the 36 (39 short tons) of the T55. Protection in general was 5% better on the hull front and 15% better on the turret than the former T54/55, although to save weight other less vital parts were somewhat sacrificed. The driver was located to the left front of the vehicle and turret, and had a single piece hatch. Due to their similar engine, the T-62 could, like the T-54/55, generate a smokescreen by injecting vaporized diesel fuel into the exhaust system. There were equipped with an unditching beam at the rear, and had a thin snorkel to ford deep rivers, usually dismounted and carried on the turret's back."
-Tanks Encyclopedia: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldw ... t_T-62.php
- T-62A-ERA.png (208.28 KiB) Viewed 5546 times
"Each time the gun is fired, the tube must go into détente for cartridge ejection; the power traverse of the turret is inoperable during ejection and reloading operations. Since manual elevation and traverse are rather slow and not effective for tracking a moving target, rapid fire and second-hit capabilities are limited. The T-62's practical rate of fire is limited to 4 rounds per minute, which falls behind the capabilities of Western 105 mm gun equipped tanks.
"It takes 20 seconds for the T-62's turret to rotate through a full 360°, which is 5 seconds longer than the time needed by the US M60A1 Patton tank.
"The turret also cannot be traversed with the driver's hatch open. Although the tank commander may override the gunner and traverse the turret, he cannot fire the main gun from his position. He is unable to override the gunner in elevation of the main gun, causing target acquisition problems.
"The US Army considered the T-62's gun more accurate than that of the M60A1 within 1500 meters, but less accurate at greater ranges.
"To fire the 12.7 mm antiaircraft heavy machine gun, the loader must be partially exposed, making him vulnerable to suppressive fire, and he must leave his main gun loading duties unattended.
"According to military author Bryan Perrett, the T-62 never enjoyed the commercial success of the T-54/T-55 series for numerous reasons. First, the T-62 was more than twice as expensive as the T-55, and many Warsaw Pact nations passed on the new tank because they did not feel that the improvements inherent in it warranted the cost. Secondly, in 1968, a 100 mm HVAPDS tank shell capable of piercing Western armor was developed. Use of this shell made the T-55 gun almost as effective as the T-62s, undercutting the T-62's original selling point: a bigger, more powerful gun. Third, the T-62 was, according to Perrett, almost immediately surpassed upon its introduction by the new Western MBTs like the Chieftain and M60. However, the US Army considered the T-62 generally comparable to its M60 tanks. Finally, the T-62 could not keep up with the new Soviet BMP (Infantry Combat Vehicle) – the principal infantry fighting vehicle which the T-62 was supposed to accompany. All of these factors combined to ensure that long term investment in the T-62 was not viable and a new Soviet MBT had to be developed.
"In July 1961, Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil, Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine and Omsk Factory No. 183 replaced part of their T-55 production with the T-62. The original plans were that the T-62 would be produced until Morozov's Ob'yekt 432 tank was developed. T-62 production was maintained at Uralvagonzavod until 1973 when it was replaced on the production lines by the T-72. Until the end of production 20,000 T-62 main battle tanks were produced by Uralvagonzavod. Production in the Soviet Union was stopped in 1975.
"Czechoslovakia built more than 1,500 T-62 main battle tanks for export after production ceased in the Soviet Union in 1975, and it continued there until 1978.
"North Korea produced the T-62 under license until the 1980s. In the early 1990s the North Korean Second Machine Industry Bureau designed a lighter copy of the T-62 which is mass-produced and is known locally as the Ch'ŏnma-ho I (Ga)."
-Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-62
I'm planning on doing a Free Syrian Army T-62, participating in the current civil war in the region. The FSA is one of the 'rebel' (or however you see them) groups, and is mostly comprised of defectors from the Syrian Armed Forces.
Here are some photos of what I'm planning on doing:[/size]
- syaatx-102.jpg (129.88 KiB) Viewed 5551 times
- mderaa-130213-107 (800x549).jpg (251.76 KiB) Viewed 5551 times
Nice for painting!
On the plus side, though, there's minimal sprue gates and Trumpeter has put them in groups when they can. 
How do I cut them off without damaging them????
looks great!
Why the change? No idea. 
Thanks Norm 
it's great build logg. Thanks for taking the time and the tank looks badass! 
