Wow, Sprue, you are going to town on these babies! I applaud your dedication to these relatively unknown and obscure models. Great reasoning on why you're doing three of them together. I completely concur!

Thanks for checkin it out Doog.

The subject of the kits is what interested me the most 

The FAVORIT is at the skill level of my painting right now but I might need to go further with this. I've read that the Czech armor aren't all thrashed and so I thought this looks used but well maintained.

hmmm  

. . . 

The BUBLINA hull is assembled with kit supplied PE and other details.

The tow bar thing'a-ma'jig assembly instructions:

These parts needed cleanup before and after gluing together because of weird alignment issues. Part (3N) was molded solid in the two ends. I cut and sanded open these details with a razor saw and #600 sand paper 

The brass detail was some scrap PE frame from this kit, cut to size and glued there to represent detail that I sanded off during parts cleanup.

The fender fuel tanks and storage box , tow bar and engine deck are dry fit in place for the picture but will be painted separately.

The head light brush guard "bird cage" was assembled around the same wood form that I used for the FAVORIT.

This part (what is this part called?) was very thick and just didn't look right. I thinned it by filing it down on a sanding stick for grip. 
This was done for the FAVORIT and the SLA APC. The BUBLINA doesn't get one according to the SKIF instructions. 

Looks a little better but I accidentally dulled my nice file by sanding across the abrasive stick 

The SLA APC-55 was based on a hand me down Tiran T-55 tank from the IDF. A lot of the detail and other profiling comes from that.

The i-sheet for the head light brush guard PE assembly. I used the technique that I used for the 'bird cage' of the BUBLINA and FAVORIT by making a wooden form to bend the brass over.

The first bend was made in my bench vise.

Then another wooden form was made for the water bottle holder on the left fender.

Fording detail

The kit PE for the fording equipment has detail on one side and flat on the other. I searched ref photos and looks to me that this will be glued with the detail on the bottom and flat side up.

The hull and details are basically assembled and ready for primer and paint.

The SKIF hulls are about ready for primer. 

left - FAVORIT
middle - BUBLINA
right - SLA APC-55

 Next will be the turrets. Thanks for looking 

BUBLINA T-55C1 turret build is complete with some work required and some just added for interest.

The company sprues that were added to the FAVORIT, BUBLINA and SLAPC-55 kits are from Master 44 UA.

The casting is rough.

Removal of .5 mm of material from inside of the TC hatch opening is required to fit (part 3G) hatch ring into top of turret. I used a rat tail round file for this operation. I should have used a larger radius half round file or maybe a, sheet metal step drill, that has the perfect diameter cutting step 
https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/easystore.co/14425/images/products/1493877.jpeg

 The method I employed resulted in a very rough shape. Once the hatch ring part fit snugly but without distortion, I glued in place with liquid cement to give me time to position level and correct. After that set and cured over night, I filled with CA and let that run into the remaining space and gaps

 Front turret plugs were also kit supplied parts and were used as instructed and not puttied smooth because I saw reference pictures and those looked like roughly plugged cavities 

 Putty filled the gaps left over on the TC hatch ring now.

The 2 view scopes on the top of the turret were modified together from parts on the sprue of this kit that were designated as "not to use". I saw more reference pictures on line so I added these to my model for added detail interest

The kit provided plastic grab handles for the sides of the turret were used but are very fragile. The only way I could clean the seams off of these parts were to cradle them in a piece of neoprene tape while sanding and filing smooth.

The turret ring keys need to be filed down in width to fit into the hull key ways.

This turret is now ready for primer.

Thanks for looking  

Really nice FAVORIT my friend!

I enjoy seeing all three of these kits coming together!

I will have to bookmark this tread to make sure I can refer back to a few of your ideas.   

Very kind words  

Thanks for checkin in on this 

Nice progress there SprueOne! I love that creative use of extra flash on the kit sprues. Good to see it put to good use!

Thanks! 

yeah, the diameter of the hole puncher was perfect too  

The SLA APC-55turret is finished with a few things I want to share and point out.

Before glueing in part (1d) into turret part (1f), the front window part (7d) needs to be glued in before part (1d).

This part (7f) lower hatch ring must be glued on after slicing off the registration pegs. Position in this configuration but cut off pegs. I first used the pegs but they force the ring into an oval shape which will not accept the upper hatch ring part (9f). 

The picture is of me slicing it back off before removing the pegs. 

Part (9f) needs work too. File off some of the outside diameter of the lower flange so that it sits inside part (7f). My beautiful assistant saw this and thought I was making her a ring  Such an imagination in that pretty little head  

The TC scope has a sink hole in the cast. This is covered buy the PE part (38t).
 

There are no position marks to set the side window vision blocks onto the turret. I saw reference photos and then settled on "right about there" and "right about there".

After setting the window glass at 90 degrees angle to surface of bench top (top of hull), huge gaps need putty fill. 

The reference photos I reviewed looked as if the left side window was slightly further back than 90 degrees of the front window. This is why I glued mine there. 

These flat parts are suppose to be glass so I polished them smooth. 

 Continuing with the spare tracks mounted to the sides of the turret:

Trimming the width of the PE hook parts (4t) down to about half will fit into the tracks better. I glued the tracks on first then glued the PE hooks parts into it later.

Stretched sprue was used to make the left side turret grab handle. The instructions indicate 24mm but mine was formed over a piece of 1 inch (25.5mm +/-) square. Close enough 
 

The i-sheets describe PE parts (22t) for both but for the water bottle rack attached to PE part (2t) on the RH rear side, use part (31t) instead.

The water bottle racks were bent over a wooden form made to the correct inside dimensions.

thanks for looking  

The KMT-6 Mine Plow on the T-55C1 BUBLINA assembly.

Some guess work and preliminary dry-fitting is required to assemble the mine plow mechanism assembly.

I should have used parts (19 and 20) instead of parts (9N and 14N) as instructed.

(19 and 20) are cleaner casts and I wouldn't have had to shave off the mounts on the front of the lower hull.

Clean-up of the new parts from the Master44 sprue is difficult. Good news is that they won't be clearly seen.

The 'string' which is to be cut to 40mm in length is not included in my kit. I used sewing thread on this build. 

The holes were drilled in the appropriately suggested places and the thread was threaded through.

The bottom of the plow arm assemblies have a sink mark in exactly the right place. I used them to guide my drill for a through hole. This is where I glued one end of the (cable) 

The detail on the cylinder is pretty plain. I assume this activates some sort of unlocking device which then allows the plow to drop into the dirt . . . ? . . . 

inside view of LEFT plow arm 

Outside view of RIGHT plow arm

 I searched the web for as much ref pictures showing the function and route of the cable. The thread (cable) was guess guided through the mechanism and glued in place. 

thanks for looking ...

Making some great progress there!

Thanks for looking in  

BUBLINA T-55C1 is ready for primer. I still need to acquire a set of SKIF vinyl tracks for it   

The crooked and misaligned, fender fuel tanks and storage boxes are just set up there for the picture.

South Lebanon APC-55 also ready for primer 

The crooked and misaligned, fender fuel tanks and storage boxes are just set up there for the picture.

soon…  

Coming along great Sprue One!

Got a little work done on my Trumpeteer Type-59 this weekend- the Chinese version of the T-54. Looks like a slightly better version of the SKIF kit though I'm building mine right outta the box.

Thanks  

I'm very confident that it's a better representation than the SKIF design. Where's your build thread? 

Lol, as I said I'm building her right out of the box- not much of interest there! If I were detailing her out like you are I'd take a shot at it.

That's cool. I just like seeing in progress threads to see the quality of the kit parts and the builder's solutions and stuff. These 3 kits are all pure OOB builds.

The BUBLINA T-55C1 under UN White base coat and subtle weathering underway. This is my first white military vehicle model so I'm learning along the way.

So-far Rust-Oleum gloss white sprayed out of the can. Then light gray pin acrylic washes followed by about 10 sable brush filters so subtle that I couldn't even see the effects each time. I just had to trust that they were working. 

A little more grime under the fenders behind the wheels. This was ground down chalks mixed with hobby acrylics wash.

This model needs a set of SKIF vinyl tracks (T-72 style) because my kit which I bought at a show opened, did not include them.

Thanks for looking...

Very cool! As I told SP on his white UN APC white always gives me fits- I love how the Bublina is coming along so far.

 That's the model I patterned the approach to the BUBLINA. I like how he didn't totally thrash (battle damage) it.

I web searched as many pictures I could find of UN T-55s and they all look well, dusty and dirty but no major rust streaks and chipped paint.

I found one (with the gray fenders and green mix matched wheels) that looked weather beaten but it looked as though it was sitting around in neglect for a while 

I'm liking it Sprue, that UN white is pretty cool!  Not something I would tackle myself for sure!

Thanks! I'll be finishing these two guys this week. More pictures to follow

Cool, looking forward to those finished photos!

Making some good progress here SprueOne! Nice trio.

Thanks for looking in fellas.

The BUBLINA T-55C1 is done. Paint and markings are UN (UNMEE) but I haven't found any ref photos of this exact configuration in 1/1.

Ohhhhhh, really cool, love how she turned out!