is this one of the worst kits ever produced

[Guest]

Whilst unpacking a box that has been in storage for years I came across this monstrosity I can't remember buying it. And judging by the amount of dust and it costing £ 6.00 it was along time ago.
The instructions are in Chinese,everything is over or under scale and the tracks wouldn't look out of place on a modern APC

I actually have a built one of those — note I didn’t say “I built one of those” because I was given a built and unpainted example of it a looooooong time ago, and it’s still sitting in a cupboard in my hobby room somewhere.

But for worst kit ever, I see your LVT and raise you an IS-3 I’ve owned for not quite as long as the Nichimo LVT, but still a fair while:

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[JR]

Jakko .

Think you should find it and show it. Would be interesting for all to see how it looks. :thumb2:
By the look of the instruction sheet paper alone, which looks as cheap as you can get , it should be worth it .
John .

[Guest]

Good idea! Here’s what you got for your rubles — well, mostly. The model is supposed to be motorised, but that whole part is missing in mine.

Here’s the box lid once again:

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The prices written on the lid are 45 and 25, the former crossed out, but I have no idea what currency this indicates — I suppose guilders, but it could be euros, though I think I’ve owned the kit for longer than we’ve had the latter. Even then, I’m not sure what I paid for it, if I paid anything at all, and who I bought/got the kit from

On one side of one of the long ends is some information about the kit:

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The text transliterates as:

EKSPORT
SDELANO W SSSR
Sbornaya model-kopiya tanka IS-3
Artikul MG 085-01-4326

I don’t speak Russian, but nearly all of this is easy enough to translate:

EXPORT
MADE IN USSR
<something> model-copy of IS-3 tank
Article MG 085-01-4326

So was this made for export only? If so, I suppose only to other Soviet-sphere countries, because even if this is a 1970s model (I’m not sure), who would have wanted one in a country where Tamiya and Italeri kits were available? OTOH, of course, those didn’t have IS-3 kits.

On the other long side is a short overview of the real tank:

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Unfortunately the box on mine is badly damaged, so it’s hard to read. Either way, though, I’m going to leave trying to decipher it as an exercise for the reader

Upper and lower hulls, the latter with a ruler for size:

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Note the lower hull has large cutouts for no real purpose, other than perhaps to save some plastic.

Several parts have come (or been cut) loose, but I put them back where I think they went for the following sprue shots:

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And the tracks:

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With a close-up to show their fine detail inside and out:

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The complete instructions, in the order you would leaf through them:

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The first page indicates the manufacturer at the very top: Modelskiy Opytno-Eksperimentalynyy Zavod “Ogonek”, which means something like Model Experimental Factory “Twinkle” (Google Translate to the rescue for the middle words and the actual name ).

The instructions certainly seem adequate. A bit wordy, but the exploded diagrams alone should be sufficient for anyone who doesn’t speak Russian. I like the parts list (step 4, on page 4) that tells you what each thing is and how many there are in the kit. Since there is one motor per track and the battery pack has three leads, I suppose this means the model can’t just go forward and back but can also turn.

Finally, the decals:

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Unlike most kit decals, these are “inside-out”: the side you can see if the one that goes against the model. Quite why they saw a need to print a green backing to the turret number, I’m not sure, though.

[JR]

Jakko .
I'm yet to master copy and pasting a page to Translate, but they seems very detailed. I wonder in the 1970's If you could get Tamiya or similar in Russia. Thanks for showing .
Are you going to build it !!! :flushed::smiling3:
John .

[rtfoe]

I actually have a built one of those — note I didn’t say “I built one of those” because I was given a built and unpainted example of it a looooooong time ago, and it’s still sitting in a cupboard in my hobby room somewhere.

But for worst kit ever, I see your LVT and raise you an IS-3 I’ve owned for not quite as long as the Nichimo LVT, but still a fair while:

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Hi Jakko, I did build that monstrosity of an LVT by Bluetank...I get nightmares but this will prove anything is possible. This is the finished kit with waders stuck onto existing track...

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Cheers,
Richard

[Dave Ward]

I can't imagine that many non-warsaw pact models were available in the 70's - here's a later boxing
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In 1/30! They still can be found on auction sites as 'rare' collectors items.
I used to have a Polish pen-friend in the 80's, and I used to send him one or two Hasegawa kits, and he would send me a big box of KP models - the exchange rate was pretty good! BUT there's only so many clunky, badly moulded, paper decalled, cloudy cockpits you could stand!
Dave

[Guest]

Hi Jakko, I did build that monstrosity of an LVT by Bluetank...

I did find mine, but I discovered it’s in pieces and has a number of “fantasy” modifications that date from a time when I decided to use it for other purposes than as a serious model.

I get nightmares but this will prove anything is possible.

I’ve also seen LVT(2)s and (4)s constructed on the basis of this kit, which is an even greater achievement if you ask me. Me, I kind of gave up on the Italeri LVT(4) because of the amount of work it needs to make a Second World War version (and have a AFV Club one in the stash as a replacement ).

This is the finished kit with waders stuck onto existing track...

That looks very good, but going by the detail on the figures and the style of the painting, it doesn’t give the impression you built this twenty or thirty years ago — so why didn’t you just take an Italeri LVT and convert that?

[Guest]

here's a later boxing

Ooh, the box definitely looks a lot better — not just than the old one, but also than the kit inside

In 1/30!

It also says that on my box: the МАСШТАБЕ 1:30 (transliterated: masshtabe) in the upper right corner means “SCALE 1:30” (compare the Russian to the German Maßstab, which means “scale”).

They still can be found on auction sites as 'rare' collectors items.

Yeah, probably sold by people who bought one by mistake.

I used to have a Polish pen-friend in the 80's, and I used to send him one or two Hasegawa kits, and he would send me a big box of KP models - the exchange rate was pretty good!

I have a similar experience, though trading 1/35th scale Italeri kits for some 7TP kits by Mirage (which were actually pretty good, except for the tracks) and a vacuum-formed and white metal Polish armoured car.

[JR]

Hi Jakko, I did build that monstrosity of an LVT by Bluetank...I get nightmares but this will prove anything is possible. This is the finished kit with waders stuck onto existing track...

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Cheers,
Richard

Well proves you can make something's look great Richard. I'd have most likely set fire to it !:hungry::hungry:
John

[rtfoe]

I did find mine, but I discovered it’s in pieces and has a number of “fantasy” modifications that date from a time when I decided to use it for other purposes than as a serious model.


I’ve also seen LVT(2)s and (4)s constructed on the basis of this kit, which is an even greater achievement if you ask me. Me, I kind of gave up on the Italeri LVT(4) because of the amount of work it needs to make a Second World War version (and have a AFV Club one in the stash as a replacement :smiling3.


That looks very good, but going by the detail on the figures and the style of the painting, it doesn’t give the impression you built this twenty or thirty years ago — so why didn’t you just take an Italeri LVT and convert that? :smiling3:

Hi Jakko, I had already built and spent time on modifying this horrible kit and by the time I was adding waders to the track Italeri had only produced the LVT-4 Buffalo troop carrier and not the LVT(A)-4. The dio is very recent although it was consieved around the time the Italeri LVT-4 came out.:smiling2:

Well proves you can make something's look great Richard. I'd have most likely set fire to it !:hungry::hungry:
John

Hi John, if I had the time I would have switched to the better Italeri kit as the dimensions were off that's why I buried most of the back end in the sand.

Cheers,
Richard

[col68]

After seeing your LTV I take my hat of to Richard . Mine will sit in the never to be built stash.

[rtfoe]

Hi Colin, thanks. At the time I had only the Tamiya M8 Howitzer turret as reference to improve the kit turret. Had I had more reference for the body I would have either attempted or abandoned it but seeing that it was the only game in town I accepted the discrepancies especally the hull hatches and that it was more leaning towards the later LVT5. After the next two years the tracks however had to be done and by this time Italeri had the Buffalo out but instead of replacing it I still tortured myself.:smiling6:
In my early teens when I couldn't afford kits I used to carve them from wood or discarded polysterene foam. I guess that why I find it very hard to abandon or bin a kit and rather save it.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

In my early teens when I couldn't afford kits I used to carve them from wood or discarded polysterene foam.

I used to know someone who built Warhammer 40,000 tanks from polystyrene foam, card, and assorted other bits he had at hand, because he found Games Workshop’s kits to be much too expensive (and I can’t blame him ). The best thing about this was when he took them to a game store whose owner was rather pro-GW, and who complimented him on building the kits (yes, he apparently said kits) so well. Then the builder told him, “Pick one up”