Object 279 was a Soviet prototype of a heavy tank designed in the late 1950s. Armed with a 130mm rifled gun, it used four sets of tracks to allow the vehicle to run over soft and uneven ground. The heavy hull armor was encased in a thin sheet-metal shell to protect against HEAT and shaped-charge ammunition as well as, some believe, a nuclear blast.
The only one ever built is displayed at the Kubinka tank museum, near Moscow. Yet three manufacturers have announced kits; Amusing Hobby is the second one out (the others are Panda and Takom).
The kit comprises more than 1,500 parts (most for the running gear), perhaps based on the belief that if two parts is good, four or six is better. Two small photoetched-metal sheets provide details for the hull and turret along with straps for the external fuel tanks. Individual-link plastic tracks are joined with pins inserted in both sides, similar to Modelkasten tracks. Neither decals (none are needed) nor figures are included. The kit provides two sets of cable ends, but no cable.
The hull surfaces show excellent detail with fine, raised weld lines. The instructions would have you mount all the small bits on the hull halves before gluing them, but it makes more sense to glue the hull, then add the stuff. My hull halves were slightly warped.
While the hull was drying, I assembled the two suspension pods; I left the running gear off until after painting. The suspension arms lock in place, but it would not be difficult to articulate them.
The tracks went together quickly, with a handy assembly jig and only one sprue-attachment point per link to clean up. (There is one faint ejector-pin mark on the inside of each link that you may want to remove.) There are only a few extra track links (I didn’t need any), but a whole tree of extra pins. The suggested 80 links per track fit fine. The assembled tracks stand up to fairly rough handling.
Once the hull was dry, I added the suspension pods and details to it. Some of the parts diagrams are vague on parts placement. I found helpful photo walkarounds at pikucha.ru/a3p5 and www.dishmodels.ru.
I couldn’t tell for sure which way the exhaust (Part C21) went on — angled out, or more vertical? I chose angled, per the instructions. The support rods for the turret rails (parts C11 and C12) were a little too long for the rails to fit properly. Rather than trim the rods, I marked their location and drilled holes so they could be adjusted and make a stronger join.
I twisted thin, lead wire to make a tow cable. Photos show only one cable, on the left side, so I filled the locating holes for the cable ends on the right side.
Make sure you have a left and a right external fuel tank by adding the hose connectors (D14 and D15) to opposite sides. Adding the photoetched-metal straps to the tanks is a challenge: Not shown in the instructions, the tension adjusters (parts E7) go through the oval hole in the straps. The strap must be just the correct length to reach the fasteners on the hull.
The long main-gun barrel comprises several parts; there were no warps and they fit well. The lower piece of the turret front (part B12) needed seam work. I ground the area down with a motor tool and restored cast texture with Mr. Surfacer 500.
Somewhere between Amusing Hobby and my workbench, the turret ventilator cover (part C38) went missing. I made a replacement from sheet styrene, using my motor tool like a lathe.
If you’re careful, both hatches can operate. Again, there are lots of tiny parts for the turret. I challenge anyone to remove Part C51 from the sprue intact. Photos of the real thing showed how to fold Part Y6; the instructions did not.
I was a little disappointed that the lens for the infrared spotlight was molded solid, but it looked better after a coat of Tamiya gloss black.
I painted the tracks dark gray and dry-brushed them with Vallejo steel. After gluing the road wheels and idlers, I had some trouble installing the inner track runs. Now I know why the directions are to build the suspension complete with the tracks before adding them to the hull. If you still want to hold tracks until the end, I suggest not installing the tow hooks on the lower front until after the tracks are on.
Object 279 took 27 hours, surprising considering it’s one color with no decals. The only dimensions I found were on Wikipedia: The model matched in length and height, but it’s about ½" too wide. Nevertheless, it looks like the photos.
With all the tiny and photoetched-metal parts, I would only recommend this kit to an experienced builder. But if you are up to it, the finished model makes an interesting addition to any postwar Soviet armor collection.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the March 2014 FineScale Modeler.