Fortunately there are more and more modern MBT kits on the market. I tried to capture the available options of barrel replacement. I am more a fan of the modern MBTs, not an expert.
Considering the price of the replacement barrels, would be nice sharing some experience with them.

Thanks for you sharing your experience with those barrels. It would be nice and certainly useful for a lot of modelers if you turned this into a feature with pictures of the actual guns and their 1/35 scale representation.
Not all of us (me included) are really acquainted with the visible differences bewteen the various versions of the 2A46 gun.

Olivier

Nice work. Thank you.

Hi Oliver,

Thank you for the feedback.
I am not knowledgeable enough /not having reference materials either/ to compare 1/35 barrels with the real thing.
I can make quick comparison of the kits and aftermarket barrels I have on hand.

Meng T-90A and VBS0174.
VBS0174 offering 2 options for assembly, with or without the thermal jacket. Barrel length seems to be identical, the muzzle break is nicer on the Voyager upgrade

As far as I know the visible difference of the 2A46M versions are the muzzle break, and thermal jacket.
Muzzle break of the T-90A

the next one is Xact T-80U and VBS0178, both shall replicate 2A46M-1. Meng's T-90A gun is on the pic as a reference. Theoretically barrel length is constant across the 2A46M family /6000mm/.

VBS0178 upgrade does not have thermal jacket as PE part included.
Xact T-80U barrel is different vs VBS0178 in terms of length, and segment sizes.

T-80U caparison #2
I could find a T-80UD drawing only to compare with /engine shall be the difference only vs T-80U/



Lenght: Xact barrel is closer to the reference
Segments: Voyager barrel is closer to the reference
None of them perfect

Summary
Meng`s T-90A: the kit barrel is accurate enough, upgrade is nice to have only.
Xact T-80U: need advice of some experts here. There is no clear winner of my quick comparison.

As soon as the VBS0181 available I will compare it to Trumpeter T-72B as well.

Hi Everybody;

JD has done a example of the different AM Barrels and is also a good guide too follow, the other AM that should be considered is Model Point as they give you different options also. The RB Item that seems Popular for some reason is not accurate, IMHO the kits Barrel in most cases are just fine unless you want too model it without the Thermo Sleeve.
CHEERS; MIKE.

Regarding the VBS0178 comparison with the plans, how did you line up the right side of the barrel? Looking at the plans, perhaps it should be moved right a few mm to line up with that line above it which would make it match the plans quite well. But, since the Xact stock barrel seems to be shorter, I guess you'd have to deepen the stock gun shroud part to make it fit the aftermarket barrel properly.

IIRC, the reviews pointed out that the Xact barrel is messed up.

Also, can you please comment on the thickness of the Meng and aftermarket barrels? The photos are confusing due to shadows so it appears that the Meng barrel is somewhat larger than the aftermarket one (e.g. the thermal sleeve). I assume they're the same since you didn't make any mention, but just checking. Thanks

ModelPoint, RB, Tetra barrels added based on item descriptions found on the web.
Note:
RB barrels description indicating L48 caliber length. This might be the reason why 35B128 disappeared from their site.
Tetra barrel marked as generic 2A46M barrel, tough muzzle break is like 2AM46-5 version.
Please fell free highlighting any inaccuracy, I will update the table accordingly

Thank you! They should make this a sticky post. Now all we need is a chart explaining what all the letters mean at the end of the tank name...ie T-80BV, T-72AV, etc

One of your wishes is granted.

Common items in MBT designation? Might be heavily simplified, but I would group them like this

Thanks you. I should have wished for a billion dollars, but this is nice.

Hi;

Another AM company has entered the arena with a 2A46, North Star from the RU. This Barrel is interesting in that its made in Four mediums, turned metal, resin and Plastic and PE.
The Construction is a bit strange in that the Thermo Sleeve is PE and you have too Wrap it around the Barrel and try too secure it in-place. When put together the Barrel looks impressive, they did not have a distributor for there product in there advertisement.

CHEERS; MIKE.

Hello,

They list distributors on their site:

http://northstarmodels.com/where-to-buy/

Link to barrel

http://northstarmodels.com/product/135-2a46m-barrel/

Best regards,
Andreas

You should search Magic Models barrels. They are the most accurate. Here is their web-site. http://magicmodels.ru/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=238&Itemid=4&lang=ru

Magic Model is a new player

2A46 barrel


2A26


2A46M -1 -2 /no thermal cover


2A46M -1 -2


2A46M -5

73mm looks nice and it's been pretty hard to find decent turned examples of those for a while.

Has anyone ordered from Magic Models to the US? Their T-80U barrel does look extremely nice.

Just as an update, I ended up ordering one for the T-80U from HobbyEasy. I'll review it for Armorama when it comes in.

I've ordered from Magicmodels to the UK with no problems.

The 2A26 without thermal jacket from magic model that stated used on t72 ural
Does anyone has a reference pic of it? I can only find picture of the ural with thermal jacket
Thanks in advance!

Hi Vincent

Kampfpanzer.de having some T-72 Ural pics.


http://www.kampfpanzer.de/site/subText/131

Just as an FYI for the guys using the Magic Model 125mm barrels with the Trumpeter T-64/72/80/90 series tanks...make sure you reinforce the rubberized plastic mantlet with some magic sculpt or some other modeling clay/putty because their brass barrels have considerably more heft to them then an aluminum barrel from Voyager does. You'll also need to drill out a slightly larger hole in the cover so the barrel fits.

I found this out the hard way with my T-64BV kit...it has a slight droop in the barrel because of the weight. Making the mantlet cover solid by adding putting/clay to it should take care of that problem.