Hey Dave,

Sorry I haven't responded here in a while. I spent the last week on a business trip with no net access. But it was a fun trip; I was crawling all over an M936 wrecker, taking digital photos.

In a previous post, you asked: "Does anyone know if the Ti-67 kit is still in production? Can't seem to find it nowadays."

Squadron Mail Order has the TRUMPETER Ti-67 in their October sales flyer for US $16.96. Their stock number is TR-35339. I know you're in Singapore, but AFAIK Squadron will ship anywhere in the world fairly reasonably. Their website is at http://www.squadron.com


You also asked if I had "amassed almost the whole set of Chicom T-series tanks." Not really. I was very lucky at one swap meet. A fellow had a bunch of T-55 variants and was selling them off very cheap. A hobby shop in my neighborhood also discounted them for a while. I can't afford all of them, either! And I don't have much interest in the very late stuff, like the Type 98.

Good luck!

Mike Smith
msmith@netwood.net

Hiya Mike,
How on earth did you manage to morph a - ahem - "business trip" into a show-and-tell session with a wrecker??? Sounds mighty interesting.

Am waiting for first shots of Tamiya's much-hyped T-55A. Their model show opens this week, so I guess we don't have long to wait before something appears on the net.

I'm not much into "new" Chinese armor either - they don't turn me on the way a T-54/55 does.

r u going to try your hand at Trumpeter's new S-tank? Older modellers might remember the 1/48 scale Swedish S Tank sold by Tamiya in the 1970s.

David
(from Singapore)

Hi David,

I know it's hard to believe, but taking pix of that M936 wrecker was the whole purpose of the trip! My "real job" is helping create interactive tech manuals for military vehicles.

Pretty soon we'll be doing the same with the M984A1 (HEMTT) wrecker. But they're bringing that one to us.
Just as well. Those are built at Oshkosh in Wisconsin, where it gets very cold during the winter.

Oh yes, I'm really looking forward to the S-Tank. The pictures in here are just whetting my appetite. I never built the TAMIYA kit, but I remember building the ancient 1/48 scale AURORA S-Tank...complete with a vacuform display base!

I'm also eagerly anticipating the T-55. Of all the companies who've tried to do this tank, I'm hoping TAMIYA finally gets it right! But I'm sure we'll see it nitpicked to death by the rivet-counters and left-handed-shovel experts...

See you later!

Mike Smith
msmith@netwood.net