sevoblast

Just finished talking to a USA tanker who has the Hooben T 55, actually more than one. Seems the kit is pretty good. He's an accomplished modeler and fabricator, and you would know him if his name was mentioned...which it won't be.

OK, assembly report. Fit and finish is good. Not Tamiya quality, but good. He states that many of the smaller parts need a little touching up with sand paper or minor filing from mold release lines. Slots in the hull for larger sub assemblies are marginally too small, so the tabs need a little dressing up, but his opinion is this is better than too big, as it makes for a good tight fit. Trick is to file a little, check, file more as needed, and when you have a snug but flush fit, glue and be done with it. He did state that filing was minimal, and I would believe him. He did say there were two small sink holes in the AA MG, but filled them with putty and no major work needed there.

Mechanics seem to be quite good. Elevation works well, although he recommended the DP21 aluminium elevation arm in place of the plastic one included in the kit. The elevation system does have limiter switches on it, so that's actually better than Tamiya. Recoil is a copy of Tamiya, again no problem so far. Rotation is also a virtual copy of Tamiya, but he has not disassembled it yet to see if it has the Tamiya type clutch or a simple gear. He has yet to mount the TU's, I'll report on that when he does.

Bottom line, his opinion, and I would respect said opinion, is the Hooben T 55 is a good kit, well worth the money. It is not a Tamiya, but fairly close and rather less expensive.

VCO has already salivated over the kit, so...looks like there will be a couple here in Krim. sigh.

Sev

wsn123

Thanks for opinions about the kit
Do You know any tanker who received sound unit for T55 ? Im interesting in sound quality - maybe any demos are possible?

HAL_HUSKER

i remember that there should be a commercial somewhere... about T55

Darryl Usher

I can not be so favorable. The turret drive ring screws run into the drive gearbox, fix is to counter bore screw holes. The three support bearings, one hits the side, fix grind a little on side.
Darryl Usher

WhiteWolf McBride

My Feedback: (3)

And there is lso the issue about timely shipment on ALL the parts that comprise a 'full' kit.

I won't be buying until they can ship the whole kit in one lot. Which will probably mean never, eh?

Thats the critical fail over Tamiya.

sevoblast

http://www.etoarmour.com/products.php?ViewCategory=51

Etoarmour will ship nothing but full kits, no exceptions.

googlydoogly

That's good news! My question is, is this something that you will carry for a limited time only, or do you think that you won't have problem getting these kits from Hooben in the future? Money's tight at the moment, but this is one tank that I definitely want, especially now that Tamiya is coming out with an Israeli Sherman.

pcomm1

My revised 2 cents:

Got his email earlier in the week from "DT";while email exchanging about my current build and a potential Tamiya KV hull improvement front metal brace part.

DT included a few of his opinions on the T-55 kit he is building right now.

"The T-55 from Hooben is a unique tank, really possible to make a nice model from it I think,. The Chinese mechanisms are similar copies of the Tamiya parts, but with some innovations like actual limit switches for the gun elevation (Tamiya has a clutch). The recoil isalmost an exact copy, far less quality though. Turret rotation mechanism is stronger than Tamiya, and is sealed so wires don't get jammed in it. That is probably the best feature and Tamiya's turret rotation system is too weak, no wonder nobody will copy it. Questionis, I don't know how long these mechanisms will last in an environment like Danville, but I guess I'll find out."Time to go, talk soon,DT.

Sign me up for your T-55 kit waiting list, no doubt for me, ETO can be trusted, so, finally, good news, "me thinks".

John

sevoblast

This is not a one shot deal, but an ongoing expansion. I expect Hooben to fulfill our contract with no problems. There will be the odd teething problem, but with ETO's support, all should work out in the end. What tipped the balance was the sudden and unannounced arrival of all the missing parts for most tankers who already had the kit, including my friend, who had no contact with Hooben since May. He received all the missing parts for the 3 kits he has, including one relatively small sprue that he reported as defective in early May.

Hooben is new at this, but they will have the full support of etoarmour in this project. If it fails, it fails, but I don't think it will, otherwise I would not have made the commitment. Most of you know me, and you know I don't play games. You also know I only go for quality, hence the selection of parts on my sight. After extensive contact with several tankers who have the kit, and intensive negotiations with Hooben over the last now 3 weeks, I made the plunge.

kclank

Hey Sevo. will ETO be able to sell components of the T-55 kit (tracks, sprockets, hull, etc)? I am thinking about a t-44 project.

Ex_Pat_Tanker

I also only need the chassis, wheels and tracks for an Achzarit conversion, pretty please...?

Panther G

I will be buying mine from ETO when everything is set and ready to go. also when funds allow. Work seems to be picking up so I'm hope full for late this year. If not, Income tax time. i will also be getting the El-mod electronics package for it from Bob.

bowlman

Wow Bob great move there man .
I'm in luck will have some cash in a couple weeks have to think about this .

Thanks
Jimmy

Panther G

My luck, I'll finally get the cash and Hobben will be out of stock and i'll have to wait for them too build another run. LOL

hatakashi

Here's a short video showing the Hooben T-55 running

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjEzMTczNzAw.html

bowlman

Ether way Panther G if you order it from Bob @ ETO you know you will get it or all your money back with no problems .

Jimmy

Panther G

Oh ,I have no doubts about that, no worries there.

kclank

looks really good to me. a bit fast maybe but not bad

HAL_HUSKER

how can I download it?

HAL_HUSKER

T55 is very fast tank!

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Go to http://keepvid.com/and type the link from youtube into the box and then save it to your computer.

sevoblast

Ken, Hooben has made it crystal clear that replacement parts will be available in December for stock, probably in stock in January. Now, that being said, any missing or defective parts from my kits will be addressed immediately. However, for off the shelf spares it will be some time yet. I do intend to stock items, and of course can special order parts for you, but it will be in December.

sevoblast

Ex Pat, see the reply I just made to Ken, aka Kclank.

sevoblast

Yes, he is a very fast tank. However, for scale operations, if needed, we will be working on a simple fix to make the model more manageable for scale driving.

Darryl Usher

Hooben T55
Well I had to file the mounting holes for the turret drive so I could get a little wink in the gears.
Next started to mount the gun, this is second gun because the hole in the center did not go through close to center line, I could get a 1/16 wire through that it. Then I screwed it to the plastic piece for recoil, well it is so crooked about 1/4" in 4". I have a extra as the first one I got was not threaded at all. Looks like a 14x2 tap any body know? Dropped a note to Hooben but do not expect answer till Monday.
Darryl Usher