MiniArt 1/35 T-60 Early Production Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The T-60 light tank was an evolution from the T-40 series. Designed as a two-man combat vehicle, the T-60 was initially armed with a machine gun in the turret, but this was up-gunned to a 20mm weapon. The T-60 entered production shortly after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. While these light tanks were no match for the German armor flowing across the border, Soviet planners continued production of the T-60 as a support vehicle since the factory was not equipped to produce the larger/heavier T-34 medium tank. As production continued, efforts were made to further up-gun the main armament, first to 37mm and then 45mm and these design changes were incorporated into the next evolutionary step in the series, the T-70.

MiniArt continues to expand their kit development concept to satisfy a wider range of armor modelers. For each subject, MiniArt produces at least two kits - the standard kit that is similar to other kit manufacturers, and the interior kit. The interior kit has the same parts as the standard kit, but adds additional parts to render the fighting compartment interior, turret interior, and the engine compartment interior. This latter release provides some breathtaking details with display opportunities ranging from open hatches to cutaways to show off that interior detail.

The kit is molded in gray styrene and presented on 32 parts trees plus two trees of clear parts (duplicate trees not shown) and two frets of photo-etched parts. According to the manufacturer, there are 404 plastic parts and 78 photo-etched parts in this box.

Among the features and options in this kit:

• Detailed hull interior
• Detailed driver's station
• Detailed engine and transmission
• Detailed ammo stowage in hull
• Positionable crew hatches
• Positionable engine access panels
• Detailed turret interior
• Detailed 20mm main gun and coaxial machine gun
• Individual track links
• Detailed pioneering tool stowage on fenders

That's a lot of details for a small tank subject crewed by two men. The kit also provides decals for your choice of 12 subjects between 1941 and 1943 including several examples captured and operated by the Wehrmacht.

MiniArt provides color instructions with Ammo by Mig, Humbrol, Mr.Color, Testors, and Vallejo paints equivalents.

If you want a nice kit of a Soviet Army mobile assault gun, this T-60 is their nicest kit produced to date and as I mentioned above, they offer another version with the interior for those that prefer a more detailed build.

My sincere thanks to MiniArt for this review sample!