T28 Super Heavy - Ready for Paint!
The build for my 1/35 Takom T28 Super Heavy Tank is now complete! I think this is the longest 1/35 build I’ve done so far. It’s taken almost exactly a month to complete (I don’t get a huge amount of time to model, but most kits take 1-2 weeks start to finish for me). Big wall of text incoming with my comments and thoughts about the build, and some recommendations for others tackling this build.
The T28 is a monstrous US tank from WW2. It was designed to be assembled, roll up to dug in enemy positions and destroy them. Then it would be disassembled and transported away. With almost a foot of frontal armour and a massive 105 mm gun, it weighed almost 100 tons. To spread this weight it was fitted with 4 sets of tracks. The outer set were removable for transport. The war ended during US development. Only 2 were built, and one survives to this day in the US. This tank has never been properly produced in 1/35 before so when Takom released this a few months back I was very excited.
As I’ve mentioned a lot in my other progress posts, I absolutely love this kit. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed building a kit as much as this one. It’s only been out for a couple of months so it has Takom’s latest engineering. Everything has gone together so easily and precisely.
Despite being generally quite a simple tank in terms of details of (essentially a rolling bunker with a few tools on the sides), it is quite complex due to its four track system. Like the real thing, Takom designed this kit so the outer tracks are removable. When I saw it announced, I had concerns that the side sponsons wouldn’t line up very well with the hull, and things may look a little wonky. I was worried further when I saw that the retaining pins holding them in place are really all you have to line them up (they are the 6 lumps along the sides of the hull), and that these are separate parts you attach yourself. I felt that this may leave room for error if they aren’t fitted in perfectly, but I had absolutely no issues! I dry fit all the pins in their locating holes along the upper hull and between the running gear as I cemented them to make sure it all lined up. It’s designed so well that the outer tracks are not glued in place and can be removed, but with the pins dry fit they are firmly in place. This will make painting much easier.
I simulated the heavy cast texture of the hull with some light dremel work and Tamiya putty. The front of the real thing is a foot thick, so I wanted to make the cast armor look rough, but reference photos show it’s actually quite smooth so I refrained from going too aggressive. u/dr_robonator helped me by sending some beautiful reference photos of the real thing. We were both impressed by the fit and finish of this tank, especially for a prototype, so I tried to make my model as tidy as I could. The side sponsons are also extremely thick (same as a Tiger I’s front) but are perfectly smooth in real life so I kept them as they are. They contrast nicely with the cast hull.
But this kit is already infamous for its enormously part-heavy running gear. You have 16 suspension bogies, 64 road wheels, 4 idlers, 4 sprockets, and around two dozen return rollers. But this is nothing compared to the 400 track links - with each link made up of 6 parts. The suspension and wheels was a breeze and I completed all of that in an evening or so. But the tracks … well, I did at least attempt the ones that come with the kit. I aimed to build 10, time it, and extrapolate that out to predict how long all 400 would take. After spending 20 minutes and only completing 6 links I gave up. Problem was, there wasn’t any aftermarket tracks available in the UK at the time. The only ones were 3D prints from a US website at £75 for the set. So I continued on with the build, and was delighted when a UK site, DN Studios, released their own version for £35! So I snapped these up and they arrived yesterday. 2 hours later and all 4 tracks were built!! Of course I haven’t built the US ones, but looking at their photos I much preferred how the DN Studios versions were designed. They use a simple end connector system and center guide horn. The US version looks like a pin has to be inserted into each link. This looks more delicate and harder to build - and depending on whether the end connectors can rotate, might not look very good. Perhaps someone who built these versions could enlighten me. I’m not usually a fan of 3D tracks, but the ones I received are extremely tough and heavy so they sit very naturally. Somehow, I didn’t break a single part in all the 400 links, so I probably have enough spares to build another half of a track run. Unfortunately, these tracks are unique to the T28 🤣
My only “complaints” with the T28 kit, which are only small, is with the cranes. There are two, and they have a simulated gear and pulley system inside that requires you to loop a small length of thread into to replicate the cables. I don’t like using thread for cables as it looks fuzzy when painted, and the instructions weren’t clear on exactly how your meant to thread it. Instead, I opted for .4 mm wire. It is totally smooth and slightly out of scale, but it’s the smallest I had and is passable it in my opinion. Fortunately, the amazing reference photos of the real T28 showed me how to thread the wire.
In addition there are the photo etch light guards. This is a double edged sword, because as many Sherman builders will know, plastic light guards are too thick and usually look very bad. But with this tank, the PE guards sit right on the front corners of the tank and are super delicate. I’ve already knocked and reglued two. I just know this will give me a lot of grief when painting. (To be fair this is more of a me problem as I’m not very gentle 🤣).
The completed model just looks absolutely insane. The four tracks grab your attention, and I think once it’s painted it’ll be the most impressive kit on my shelf. Can’t recommend this kit enough. Perhaps I’m biased because it’s one of my favourite tanks, and one that hasn’t been made into a kit properly before, but I’ve loved it. The value for money is remarkable. I think I’ll buy a second one…
Next up is painting this thing. I’ll be depicting it during its trials phase, so a simple olive drab paint job. It wouldn’t have been beaten to too bad as it had very few miles put on it, so I’ll keep the weathering very light. I’ve left the cranes, tracks, and wheels, .50 cal, and side sponson’s removable to make painting easier.
Anyway that’s all for now. Next update will be in the spray booth!
Cheers for taking a look 👍