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KNOCK, KNOCK - The Fall of Saigon-The Presidential Palace.

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  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
KNOCK, KNOCK - The Fall of Saigon-The Presidential Palace.
Posted by TigerII on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 12:41 AM

  I'm using Tamiya's 1/35 T-55A as one of the T-54's that entered the Presidential Palace grounds in Saigon on April 30, 1975. I'm almost done with the tank. I need to place the crew and it's web gear and weather it some more. As always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: USA
Posted by keavdog on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 1:12 AM

That looks fantastic!  Looking forward to the crew addition.

Thanks,

John

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 1:30 AM

Wow, that looks nice!

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 8:22 AM

Hello!

That's a very good looking T-55 you got there! And that 100mm cannon surely delivers a very hard KNOCK.

If I was to critique something, that would probably be the place where the front fenders were cut off. While in real life this probably wasn't a very neat cut on your model the fenders look like they are armored. In real life it's heavy gauge sheet, but it's like 2mm thick, that's paper thin in 1:35, so I would recommend putting a "false edge" there (chamfer it a little on the inside) to make the sheet metal appear thinner.

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    June 2014
Posted by BrandonK on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 9:16 AM

Wow, that looks amazing. Can't wait to see the rest.

BK

On the bench:

A lot !! And I mean A LOT!!

2024 Kits on deck / in process / completed   

                         14 / 5 / 2  

                              Tongue Tied

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Sunday, June 12, 2022 2:40 PM

Hey thanks fellas for the kind remarks and critique. I'm still debating on chamfering down the fenders. But I did add a fording log and wood beams to the rear. I will add some tiedowns shortly, but also weathered it some more and began on the crew. They are from Paracel Miniatures of Vietnam in resin and are very well made.There is still more weathering to be done. Enjoy.

 

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 8:23 PM

She looks fantastic! And yeah, those are great looking figures, looking forward to seeing you get them all painted up and attached. 

Pawel: Thanks, I'd not have thought about the fenders either. Hopefully next time I build something like that I can remember your advice. 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Orlando, Florida
Posted by ikar01 on Friday, June 24, 2022 9:40 PM

Good job on the tank.

I had just gotten back from my second tour in January.

There was a sory going aroung that a jeep of two had been roaming around teasting a new weapon called TOW on the North's tanks and had talen out several.  I never heard if the weapons were destroyed or brought back.

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Saturday, June 25, 2022 9:06 AM

Yup!

     That is a fair looking big Bang! Bang! Russian for sure, But where is it Russian to? LOL.With the weathering and fender mods Pawel recommended, that will be a great job for sure .Those figures look interesting. Are they very costly for what they are?

  • Member since
    July 2015
Posted by MR TOM SCHRY on Saturday, June 25, 2022 9:17 AM

Excellent job on the T-55!  Those crew figures look great and should really enhance the build.

tjs

TJS

  • Member since
    July 2019
  • From: Vancouver, British Columbia
Posted by Bobstamp on Monday, June 27, 2022 9:29 PM

Nice model, TigerII. Is a diorama in the works?

I thought that you and other Finescale members might appreciate seeing this stamp, commemorating the fall of Saigon in 1975.

It was issued by North Vietnam on December 14, 1976, and was one of six values in two different designs. It shows tanks of the Peoples’ Army of Viet Nam entering the grounds of the presidential "palace" in Saigon. The other stamps in the set commemorate the communist capture of Da Nang, where U.S. Marines landed in 1965, to begin what they were told would be a two-week engagment leading to the destruction of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, and of Buon Me Thuot in the Central Highlands.

Bob

On the bench: A diorama to illustrate the crash of a Beech T-34B Mentor which I survived in 1962 (I'm using Minicraft's 1/48 model of the Mentor), and a Pegasus model of the submarine Nautilus of 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas fame. 

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 10:16 PM

Hey ikar01, T.B., and TJS thank you for the comments. As for the figures, they are from Paracel Miniatures and they have a decent price. I've taken a slow approach on this project, but yes there will be a diorama coming soon. I'll get more progress pics up soon. Hey BobStamp, that is a great picture of the stamp.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 3:06 PM

It looks pretty damn good. I'd suggest to dust up the suspension areas a bit more.

I must admit to being curious as to why you went with a T-55 instead of one of the multiple T-54/Type 59 kits that are now widely available.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 4:23 PM

That is a great looking model. AFA a T55, I love that kit. I built a Tiran 5 version and the kit, with AM tracks, was really fun to build. A huge step from their old T-62.

Nice stamp, Bob!

 

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Thursday, June 30, 2022 11:23 PM

Thanks for the comments stik & GMorrison. As for the dust on the suspension, all things at their appropriate time. I have some more tweaking to do on the tank. Also I went with the Tamiya T-55A since when I searched for a T-54, they all came up T-55. I knew I couldn't go wrong with Tamiya and with the AM parts, I'm quite happy with it. BTW besides the three tank figures I also have 3 NVA Sappers from Dragon to add to the project.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Friday, July 1, 2022 1:40 PM

Well don't over populate the diorama. You want to stick to a single point of focus.

 

Bill

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Sunday, July 3, 2022 6:02 PM

Hey GM, I'm already on point on that.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 6:27 PM

Well I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. It could have been better. So I was able to get some work prior and after the holiday weekend. This is just preliminary; as the figures need their wash & drybrushing to be completed, then I move on. As always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

 

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 7:17 PM

I'm sorry to hear that Tiger, I had to work over the holiday but it went pretty well otherwise. I hope things get better for you. 

Nice work on the figures, they're coming along really well. And wouldn't consider three guys on the tank and three on the ground to be too many. I like guys on the ground, they give a nice impression of how big or small the vehicle is. 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Saturday, July 16, 2022 2:21 PM

Hey everyone! I've been taking my time with this diorama, only because it's summer and I've been indulging in outside activities. But the NVA tankers and soldiers are done. The tank has received some external gear along with some more weathering. It does need a couple of things that I need to do before the figures go on and then I can concentrate on the base. As always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Monday, July 18, 2022 7:56 PM

The tank and figures look great Tiger, looking forward to seeing everything come together! 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Friday, July 22, 2022 3:31 PM

Hi!

 Nice job so far. Now, question, Why is the guy on the left on the top photo looking so bored? It's funny sometimes that you don't have to try, that's just how the molding comes out!

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Saturday, July 23, 2022 11:55 PM

Well I can finally say that this T-54 is done. I added the foliage (vines & palm/fern leaves) and the VC flag after some more weathering and set the figures in place. Hey TB as for the bored figure, its just the way he came out. Now I'm off to doing the base and adding the additional figures to finish this vignette.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    August 2021
Posted by lurch on Monday, July 25, 2022 8:26 AM

That tank looks realy great. The foilage is the perfect touch.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Monday, July 25, 2022 7:48 PM

Yeah, she looks great! Figures, foliage, storage, the flag really push her over the line from good to fantastic! 

Looking forward to seeing her in the diorama. 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: East Stroudsburg, PA
Posted by TigerII on Monday, August 1, 2022 10:23 PM

I have to admit that my little vignette is a K.I.S.S. type of diorama. But like most dioramas it conveys a story. It's simple and basic yet I believe it still says April 30, 1975-The Fall of Saigon. As always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Monday, August 1, 2022 10:47 PM

Looks neat Tiger! Tank and crew look great and the infantry provide a sense of scale. I tend to keep adding stuff and overcomplicating dioramas. You did a cool job here! Heart

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

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