I was inspired by Apophenia's
Vickers Mark E 6-ton light tank with a VVSS suspension to try and make a 1/35 version. I have many Vickers 6T/7TP/T-26 kits lin my stash, since it's one of my favorite tanks.
This will be my
second build of a Vickers/7TP/T-26 tank inspired by Apophenia's artwork - 2 years to the month!
Here's his original artwork for the 'Siete Toneladas' (on the right):
I thought I had enough parts left over from the 8TP build, but I used all those special parts to build that version. So back to the stash, where I picked out the
HobbyBoss Soviet T-26 Light Infantry Tank Mod.1935
For the VVSS, Jeff sent me some spare bits that included most of the running gear from a Tamiya M5A1.
Shockingly, this HobbyBoss kit is a pretty straightforward build (except for the individual track links, which I won't be using) with modest use of PE. The first discrepancy I found between the 'Siete Toneladas' artwork and the parts I had on hand was with the running gear. Two suspension units easily fit where the original suspension would have gone. No need for the half VVSS:
I enlarged the mounting holes and connected the Tamiya parts with a plastic rod, for rigidity:
I used the kit's return rollers because the fit the Tamiya rubber tracks just fine. I have most of the hull built, but I have two issues to fix; first, the artwork shows the Vickers style uncovered rear air intake, while the T-26 kit uses the later curved intake cover. I may go with the curved one, but I built an uncovered version to compare.
The more serious problem is with the fenders. The M5 track is wider than the original T-26 track, so the track connectors and part of the tracks jut out past the fender. I may have to design and draw up wider fenders or figure out a way of spacing them away from the hull.
