Anyone build an Eastern Express BT-7?

Nope, but I have in the stash, and it looks extremely similar to my Zvezda/Italeri BT-5, which I did build when newly released nearly 20 years ago. Not top of the line, but not horrible.

I've never built any of the Eastern Europe offerings. I did work on a Maquette POS though. I can't really find any build-ups and reviews of these kits.

tigerman

Just checking. The Tamiya kit is so expensive, so I'm looking at alternatives.

                        Like this?

Here's where you can take it......

Go here for more.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/3/t/104546.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=1

Yes, I remember that build. Superb. The two that I'm eye-balling are an early and a late version, a bit different then your kit. I'll read your info.

Yep, I built the one with the oval hatches a few years back.  I can't recall any fit issues.  I built it OTB, as I just wanted one and really didn't have the desire to do anything else to it.  I built a few Eastern Express kits and still have some.  I replaced the tracks on a SU-152 and a KV1 with some Kasten and Fruil tracks, but the BT-7 tracks were good enough.  It will be good enough in the collection until the Tamiya kit goes on sale somewhere.  All those BT's are rather ugly little things.  I know Eastern Express gets a bad rap, but they are good enough if you have your skill set in place.

Doug

Thanks Doug, I'll take that review to heart.

I have built a couple or three Eastern Express kits. Definitely better than the sole Maquette T-34 that I built. That was a true test of willpower. But if the BT-5 is as closely related to that BT-7 as I suspect, I doubt that you will be seriously challenged Tigerman. Not  Tamiya ' shake n bake', but not very difficult. Think of some of the older Italeri kits for comparison.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Stik. 

I'm considering it, though I really want a Tamiya kit, but that price......... Even on ebay it fetches a pretty sum.

Eric,

The 1935 model is available at Lucky Model for $43 while the 1937 model is at $40.99. Not sure how that fits into your price range as the top line prices seem to be running at around $55-$60 depending...which is steep IMHO considering the size of the vehicle.

Agree Bill. I'm not ready to drop that much on a kit. I spent just $25 to get a Dragon Hummel smart kit shipped to me recently. That price on the BT-7 is ahem...too much.

.

Thanks Rob. I have been checking other sites that buy and sell. I even offered up a few kits for trade for one.

I think I have 5-6 of these in the stash. They actually build up nicely-far better in most respects to the Zvezda version which is too 'thick' and with incorrect fenders. The Eduard PE set is a big help and although I've got a few Tamiya kits in the stash too, I enjoyed the EE kit a lot and will build more happily. I've built the Tamiya one and its a very fast build, but frankly, the EE kit with the Eduard set looks great sitting next to it.

Thanks for the info F Matthews. Do you have the number to the Eduard set?

I built the Italeri Zvezda BT-5.Not a bad kit but you will need to do a little filling and sanding.Nothing major.The indy links won't fit together UNLESS you use a good liquid cement to soften them up.Then they are a breeze.

Eric-I tried to shoot you an email through the site-let me know if it came through...

Here is the Italeri/Zvezda BT-5.  Not as nice of a kit IMHO as the Eastern Express, but it looks good built up.  Dimensions are wrong, but it's a quick build.

The Eastern Express BT-7A in the background (still not completed) with the Tamiya offering in the front.

Here's an earlier shot showing how much improved the EE kit becomes with the Eduard PE set.

Those look very nice F Matthews.

Finally got this one finished up.  Took a number of years, but the initial build was great-just got sidetracked a lot. I'll be starting a new Eastern Express BT-7 from the stash shortly-maybe do a side-by-side build with one of the Tamiya kits.

Nice of you to find this old thread and share your finished build. It turned out very well. I still haven't bought one. I'm kind on hold for new kits right now.

FM, nicely done  I keep eyeballing the one in my stash. I hope that I dan make it turn out as nice as yours. I really like it. What paint did you use for the 4BO Green?

Selections and mixes from the Lifecolor Soviet Armor set.  4BO and other greens.