As with most armor kits, assembly started with the chassis and the road wheels.  The road wheels consist of an inner wheel and an outer wheel.  A half moon shaped key on each wheel is there to facilitate alignment.  The drive wheel and the idler wheel also fit together in the same manner. 

    The suspension parts for the chassis are right and left side sensitive so care must be taken to get the exact parts in their proper place.  Also, the alignment of the suspension is crucial at this stage so that all wheels end up aligned and resting evenly.  If your tank is part of a diorama and is traveling over rough terrain, this is the time to make your adjustments to the suspension. 

    I moved on to the turret next.  This is where the difference between the two versions is visible.  The T-54 and the T-54A both had a 100mm main gun but the barrels are different for each version.   There are two hatches on top of the turret; a commander’s hatch and a machine gunner’s hatch.  The hole for the machine gunner’s hatch was way off center so I had to correct it by enlarging the hole so the hatch would fit evenly around the hole.

    The grab handles supplied by the kit were okay but I elected to make my own using thin copper wire.  I believe it makes a big difference in the overall appearance.

    From there I moved on to the top of the hull.  Everything goes together in a straight- forward manner but pay attention to the engine cover panel.  According to the instructions, shave 0.5mm from the right and left side of this panel to ensure a flush fit with the sides of the hull.  I did not catch this until after I had already glued it in place.  I was lucky though as I was able to sand off the excess before I had gone any further. 

    The only other potential difficulty was the tow cables.  The ends of the cables are supplied but the cables aren’t.  The kit instructions suggest using thread but I knew that I would not be happy with those results.  I used some .020 braided wire for model car detailing by Detail Master.  I drilled out the cable eyes with a .024 drill bit, inserted the braided wire and set it aside for painting.

    To the rear of the tank is where the auxiliary fuel drums are mounted.  These appear to be nothing more than 55 gallon drums (or their metric counterpart).  I added some tie- down straps to them from strip styrene for detail.

    One last item of caution.  There is a rod or bar of some kind (I really do not know what it is there for) that mounts on the rear of the tank.  Maybe it is a bumper of sorts.  Anyway DO NOT attach this piece (C-8) until after the hull is all together.  This means the top portion (hull) and the bottom portion (chassis).  If it is attached in step 6 as the instructions call for, then getting the top portion (hull) in place will be very difficult.  There isn’t enough room for the mud guards to get through.

     I found that painting this kit was about as easy as I have had in a long time.  For the base coat I mixed Humbrol topside green and lightened it 25% with Humbrol white.  I like to paint my armor kits in subassemblies.

     First to be painted was the chassis.  Then, all the road wheels were painted along with the drive and idler wheels.  After the wheels were dry (about a week) they were given an oil wash with a mixture of very dark green.  Then after that dried and the rubber rims were painted I highlighted the road wheels with a light green oil mix.  I also shaded and highlighted the chassis in the same manner.  After all these parts were dry they were then assembled, once again paying close attention to the alignment of the road wheels.

    The turret was real easy.  After assembly of everything except the machine gun, the turret was painted in the same manner as the wheels and chassis with the base coat, wash, and highlight. 

    The top of the hull was next.  All of the more permanent parts such as the hatches, tow hooks, and engine cover were glued into place before painting.  The other pieces were all painted separately using the technique mentioned above.  Next were the tow cables. They were done with a base coat of rust.  After drying I gave the cables a wash with a thin mixture of gunmetal and then highlighted with steel metalizer.   

    Sandwiched in between the above steps, while waiting for other things to dry is when I painted the tracks.  There are probably as many different techniques to paint AFV tracks as there are kits.  I used a mixture of rust, black, blue, and gunmetal as a basecoat.  After drying I gave the tracks a wash with a dark rust brown.  Finally, they received a fine dry brush of steel metalizer for the applicable surfaces.