This new Miniarm reference fills the gap in the range of replacement tracks for the family of the T-55/T-62s. In fact, until now with the exception of the hard to find WWII productions offering there were no tracks set of the RMSh type, commonly known as T-72 tracks, which included the sprockets specific to the T-55 / T-62.

The resin set comes in a large re-sealable bag. The latter contains two smaller bags, the first one with the 213 links and the second with the sprockets parts.

The detail is very good concerning the sprockets and the links as well. For example, the hex nuts at the ends of the links are well reproduced.
The whole set is very nicely cast. However a little flash should be removed from the sprockets parts. The links require nearly no cleaning.

The tracks are of the "workable" type. The links have two tiny pins to click in the following link to give a workable joint. The resin being quite stiff, it highly advised to soften the links by heating them to avoid breaking the pins. 

The sprockets come in three parts, the two teeth rings and the central track retaining ring. The shape is accurate for the T-55 and T-62. Miniarm molded a strip on the inner ring to ease the alignment of both rings. However the hub being too small, both rings cannot be properly fitted that way. We have to use some assembled links to align the rings.
Moreover, as seen on the picture #3, Miniarm molded a rib on the inner face of 6 teeth of the outer ring which prevent the fitting of the tracks. It is necessary to cut these ribs to get a perfect fit as shown in the last pictures.
To conclude one must say the fit to the Tamiya T-55 sprocket axis is perfect.

As I had the Trumpeter T-62 mod72 sprockets on hand I took this opportunity to make a comparison (last three pictures). If Trumpeter did a good job, Miniarm is superior detail wise. The diameter is the same for both sprockets (20 mm) but Trumpeter one is 1 mm larger (16.5 mm against 15.5 mm). Despite the difference, the Miniarm tracks fit without any problem over Trumpeter sprockets.

Click on a thumbnail to see the full sized picture

Index