Tamiya’s 1/35 T-55 model kit is regarded as a staple model kit among model contest aficionados. Tamiya brings this fan favorite subject to a smaller scale with this 1/48 rendition. The T-55 medium tank not only provided a base for later T-62, T-72 and T-80 designs still in use today, it spurred Western rivals on and contributed to the great East-West arms race of the Cold War. Its 100mm gun compared favorably with the West’s 90mm counterpart, and with HEAT rounds could defeat up to 390mm of armor. The T-55 was produced in the USSR, and under license in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and supplied to Soviet countries and clients worldwide – it even faced off against U.S.-designed M48s and M60A1s in the Middle East.