Komplekt Zip T-26 upgrade sets

[TRM]

Komplekt Zip T-26 upgrade sets

by

Dierk Schmidt

The Russian manufacturer of resin upgrades offers several sets to turn the Zvezda/Italeri T-26 into something that represents an actual version of this early-war tank, as opposed to the mongrel that would result in an OOB build.
I opted for sets 35038 Conical Turret with Cast Mantlet and 35040 Upper Hull Section with Sloping Armour (or, as Komplekt Zip quaintly put it: The top part of case T-26 with inclined boards) to turn my kit into a 1939 model.
Starting with the latter, here is what you get for just over 12 bucks:

And what it looks like compared to the Zvezda offering:

As you can see, the casting of the two parts is beautifully crisp, with no air-bubbles evident.
Moving on to the turret, which comes in at just under 15 bucks. This is hollow and is made up of two parts – both need very careful removal from the casting blocks: A razor saw is definitely recommended for this.


The welds are suitably “Russian”
There are another 14 parts to complete the turret:

Unfortunately, the barrel of the coaxial MG is broken on my example – probably caused by the somewhat lackadaisical packaging provided by Soga (an Earl Grey tea-carton with a few styro-flakes). The sets themselves come in the customary zip-lock bags.
And here’s a dry-fit of turret and hull section:


A marriage made in heaven.
Komplekt Zip also offers a set of rubber road-wheels and different engine grille to turn the kit into earlier versions – something I’ll probably invest in when I have a go at my Zvezda T-26A. There are also several different versions of the conical turret on offer – with and without AA gun, as well as with welded mantlets. One thing that doesn’t get addressed is the shortfall in hull-width that the Zvezda kit is blighted by.
And never mind thanking Soga for the review samples – thanks should go to my credit card instead.