1:35 Soviet Object 268

A heavy tank destroyer that never got past the prototype

Object 268 was created in the mid-1950s at the Kirov Plant in Leningrad as a self-propelled gun on the chassis of the T-10 heavy tank. A 152 mm gun with a high muzzle velocity fitted into the roomy fixed superstructure; the machine was meant to destroy armored vehicles at long range and to break up fortified belts ahead of an advancing formation.

Trials took place in 1956 and ended without a sequel. A single vehicle was built, because the times were not kind to classic tank destroyers: their role was being taken over by anti-tank guided missiles, and heavy tracked chassis turned out to be a dead end in development. The surviving prototype stands today in the armor museum at Kubinka, and it was computer games rather than the technical literature that introduced it to a wider audience.

The shape of the subject is rewarding for a modeler: an angular superstructure with a pronounced slope, a long barrel with a muzzle brake and a hefty running gear. The parts come molded on sprues; they have to be cleaned up before gluing, and the finished machine is waiting for paint.

Why prototypes are rewarding to build

Models that never reached the troops have one great advantage: nobody knows them by heart. Almost the whole surface stayed in its factory finish and without markings, which leaves you free both in tuning the shade and in working with wear. At the same time it pays to stay restrained, because a test vehicle covered few kilometers and an overly battered surface would cost the result some credibility. The large area of the superstructure positively invites fine shading.