**10/06/2014-Update on page 2, bare with me as well whilst I transfer these first photos which aren't showing up onto Armorama.**

**16/05/2014-Scroll down for update and photos!**


I recently reviewed Trumpeters new released T-72B Mod.1990 on the site:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/9919

Its time now to put glue to plastic and get building the thing.

The actual kit is intended to depict a T-72BA, which is basically a modernisation of the T-72B with new fire control system and cross-wind sensor, upgraded tracks and on some later versions an updated V-92S2 engine pack.

The box art inspiration:



I've decided however to backdate the kit to a T-72B Mod.1989; often mislabelled as a T-72BM, this version is effectively a T-72B with updated K-V ERA. I intend on relying primarily on whats included in the box, with the exception being the older style RMsh tracks and a few smaller AM upgrades.

The T-72B Mod.1989 saw some use in Chechnya and more recently the 2008 war against Georgia, however most seem to have now been upgraded to BA and B3 versions. Heres some reference photos to start with (for discussion only):

















Given that this version saw combat I generally find the modelling possibilities a lot more attractive, especially the bashed up heavily weathered examples from Chechnya.

Construction starts off with the lower hull and running gear:



Lots of wheels to tediously remove from sprues:



Theres a prominent mould line around the tires which needs to be sanded away. Admittedly the tires do have a seam on them in reality, however on a well used wheel this will be totally ground down:



Trumpeters plastic leaves some pretty horrendous dust when sanded:



All cleaned:



Nice detailing on both faces:



Done:



Sprockets, with troublesome sprue attachments:





Assembled:





I'd already decided that i'd be using MasterClub resin RMsh tracks for the earlier type (assembled and left over from an earlier build), so I test fitted these on the Trumpeter sprockets and discovered that they don't fit:



Luckily I had a pair of Friul metal sprockets left over from a previous build, onto which the MasterClub tracks fitted perfectly.



Just stick a rubber polycap inside so that the sprockets fit onto the Trumpeter kit:





Heres the front idler mounts:



Onto the main hull tub:



The various parts:



Be careful not to use the suggested front lower hull plate N79 as this doesn't have the correct number of KMT attachments for the T-72B. Thankfully Trumpeter have provided a plate with the correct 8x KMT attachments: use part C35.

Theres some mould stubs on the rear side which need to be carved away for a flush fit:





At this point I was intrigued to compare the hull to some scale plans. I've used the plans from WWP's T-72 book, which might not necessarily be accurate, but the Trumpeter kit seems to scale up well.



The back pate is a little off on the angle:







First step finished:






I'll carry on with the hull in the next instalment….

Moving on with the lower hull….

More details to add:





All T-72 models have some fire-resistant cladding fitted around the turret base of the hull. Its possible to just make it out on the photo below:



I'm not really happy with the totally smooth finish on the Trumpeter kit parts so decided to rough it up a bit. This cladding seems to be made from some sort of fabric implanted rubber or resin and is similar, if not identical, in composition to the anti-radiation cladding on the turret. The texturing here would be a bit of an experiment for what i'd try later on the roof.

First I mounted the parts on a piece of scrap sprue:





The after a coating of Mr Surfacer 500 with an old brush straight from the jar, I imprinted the fabric texture onto the surface with, well, a piece of old fabric:







Much better!



Mounted:







Despite what the instructions say DO NOT use photo-etch parts PE-A24 for the retaining screw discs. These are the 4 bolt style used on the turret cladding specific to T-72's (the T-90 uses a mix of these 4 and also 2 bolt screw discs). If you use these parts here then there aren't enough for the roof, instead just use PE-A2 as these are redundant. (Thanks to Azreal Raven for spotting this!)



Now for the Torsion bars and scraper blade:





Finally, it's possible to model a 72 with the scrapper blade in different positions.

There are some mold marks to remove from the inside face which obstruct the positioning:



The fit of one of the pieces A22 on the left side near the hinge is very right and as is causes the whole blade to warp slightly:



Just carve away some of the raised area to allow for a bigger gap into which A22 fits:



Theres some tiny plastic detailing:



Raised nibs on the hinge allow the blade to be movable if necessary:







Next I shall stick on the torsion bars…..

Hi Rob;

Your off too A great start, your attention too the extra details are Impressive.
I will be following your build with great interest !

CHEERS; MIKE.

The reason the tracks won't fit is that the newer style track has a 13 tooth sprocket vs the older 12 tooth one.

Ah yes, you are of course correct, I hadn't considered this.

Great WIP Rob,thanks for sharing!

I think later style sprocket wheel with 12 teeths was introduced together with UMSh tracks.
Older RMSh tracks use earlier T-72 sprocket wheel with 14 teeths

Time now to fit the torsion bars and wheels.

Thanks Dario.

Yes thats right, the UMsh tracks won't fit on the old style sprocket so looks like the T-90 sprocket was adopted.

Great Start Rob!

I really look forward to see this one finished. Makes me feel like I will start the same model soon

Thanks for sharing your amazing work,

Andreas

Great work Rob, thanks for sharing.


Kind regards.

Thanks for stopping by guys, good to have you along!

Andreas: I'd love to see what you can do with this, your Syrian T-72 was stunning!

Please forgive me guys for the lack of photos showing, photobucket is being lame and seems to have a severely limited bandwidth. I've switched to Flickr for the time being.

Focus shifts now to the upper hull, with the first requirement being some location holes to drill on the hull plate:







The whole front hull piece is really beautifully moulded and was totally free from warping, nice work Trumpeter!

Now, the instructions suggest adding all of the fittings to the hull plate and then fitting the hull later on. This really isn't wise as its much easier to stick the hull together now, fill the gaps and then add the fittings.

Some gaps:



Pretty awkward to fill on the hull front:



Add some Mr Surfacer White Putty:



And then sand the hell out of it until the gap is filled and clean, unfortunately I forgot to photograph the finished result.

Time to add some glacis detailing:





First thing to tackle is the rather poor looking moulded on electrical conduit for the convoy marker lights:





The locating holes on the drivers roof plate need to be filled as well (probably best to not drill them in the first place!).

Its best to then fit the marker light mounts, this was the conduit can be lined up properly:



I've used simple solder wire to replicate the electrical conduits, note as well that the length extends much further on the drivers roof plate, these will of course be cut down:



The patches of putty below the marker light mounts is to cover the recessed locating rings for the KMT attachment points. These are incorrectly positioned on the Trumpeter kit so the locaters need filling.



The marker lights are incredibly fiddly, so its best not to try and clean them up as they are, but instead stick them onto their mounts with the sprue stub left on, this way it will be far easier to remove the stub and clean the mould seams.





There are some armoured covers for the electrical wiring on the hull roof:



The small stub of the conduit for the marker lights needs to be removed:





These rods are installed next:



Moving now onto the second step:



The anti-radiation cladding for the drivers roof needs some attention.

First up the part doesn't really fit:



So cut off the locating stubs from the rear side:



Once again the distinctive texturing needs to be added as well:







Thats more like it.....



Heres the front glacis so far:



Notice the relocation of the KMT attachment points, the filled in recessed rings illustrate how Trumpeter has them positioned too low. Check out the real thing:




Until next time......

clean work, texture of anti-radiation cladding is very realistic

Excellent work Rob.
Neat trick with the fabric to create the anti rad. cladding ... like that!

Keep on the good work.
cheers
Walter

Nice job so far. I liked the way you handled the anti-radiation texturing. Thanks for the tip. I'm following your build with great interest as you will be saving me some headache in a close future

Thanks guys, i'm pleased you're finding it useful!

More progress on the glacis, time now to add the K-V glacis integrated reactive armour:



Installed:



Make sure you don't fit parts G15 and E11 to the armour plate as this isn't appropriate for a T-72B of any version (its T-90 specific)



Notice its absence:



As a result of not fitting G15, part E11 should be swapped instead for part E12 (these are the front cover plates for the K-V ERA):



Hatch and headlights next:



The drivers hatch comes as two pieces, with an insert for the inside face complete with the anti-radiation cladding:



The interior detail, whilst nice, isn't really necessary and I found that it actually didn't fit anyway. The fit is so tight that the periscopes do not protrude enough through the openings on the main hatch.





I chose to do away with the interior piece and just slice off the periscope stubs:



The hatch surface is also totally flat, which isn't correct for a T-72B:



Notice in this reference photo the slight ridge near to the left periscope and raised section where the swing arm is:



Only early model T-72A's and M's appear to have a totally flat hatch. So with some sanding sticks I carefully sanded away some of the right side to leave the raised section, its not perfect but looks ok:



You'll notice from my photos above that I have filled in the locating holes for the headlight guards. Unfortunately the kit items are totally rubbish, being far too over scaled and with some rough moulding.







Yup, going to have to replace those. I really couldn't face fabricating the new guards now, so have placed these to one side for the moment. Next up work will start on the rear deck.....

Time for an update on this one.

The hull is starting to come together now, with the next steps focusing on the engine deck assemblies. Trumpeter have done a sterling job here, with some incredible detailing and fine parts, albeit a little fiddly in places.

Work starts with the engine access hatch and radiator and intake cover.



Here the hatch:



With the parts fitted:



The intake hatch has some tiny etch parts to add, which, whilst fiddly, are a vast improvement over chunky moulded on plastic.



For the rear intake vent I decided to leave off the covers which are fitted to the later T-72BAs, most earlier T-72B's don't have these fitted. Thankfully Trumpeter provide two photo-etch mesh screen options, one with the mounting plate for the covers (part 20) and one without (part 19):



I used parts 19 thus:





Up next the lower hull back plate:



The arrangement found on the T-72BA differ's somewhat from earlier T-72Bs:



And the basic T-72:



The main difference being the ice-cleats mounted on the T-72BA with the 2 spare tracks mounted vertically on the sides. Therefore I had to begin by filling in all of the mounting holes on the Trumpeter kit part:



There's some great photo-etch mounts for the unhitching beam:









I choose to leave off the unhitching beam however, so the retaining straps are not required.





The retaining mounts of the spare tracks will be added later, once I can sours some P.E. parts.



I fitted the engine decking next.





Unfortunately the engine access hatch didn't fit very well:



Some plastic had to be shaved off the force this to fit down flat, unfortunately it has buckled slightly as evidenced by the slightly buckled hinge bar:



None the less it looks pretty good:



The plumbing line it also provided for the front fuel cells:



Thats all for now folks, more soon....

There is a fit issue with the rear hull plate...I didn't have any issues with my engine deck parts not fitting right on my T-72AV conversion I did with this kit once I shaved the one part on it.

Looks great Rob.Are you going to Mafva at Duxford on 15th June?
Cheers mate from Richard.

Thanks guys!

Yes you are correct Scott, the problem lies in the radiator cover which doesn't fit properly, thus causing the whole deck to be out by a few mm.

Richard: Its unlikely i'll make Duxford this year, i'm based down in Brighton now so the journey is a bit of a headache!

More work done on the hull in the past couple of days...

The exhaust outlet is up next, and unfortunately Trumpeter fouled up the instructions and failed to number any of the parts:



The actual exhaust outlet is very nice:





Although difficult to achieve in plastic, Trumpeter has captured the appearance of the layered pressed metal exhaust shroud, heres the real thing:



This part is set aside for the moment whilst attention shifts to the fenders, which Trumpeter has done a fantastic job on. Like Meng's T-90, these are complete fenders with separate ZIP boxes and fuel cell's and are far better than any previous rendition. Trumpeter's offering is incredibly well detailed, with complete photo-etch retaining straps for the ZIP boxes and cells, that are far better than any moulded on example.



Initial work was to fill some mould recesses on the underside:



The front mud flaps get some detailing:



Some may wish to replace the spring bar but I found the kit items quite acceptable:



The bare fenders:



The real deal:



The fuel cells up next, the separate rear part has a substantial gap to fill:





With the cells fitted onto the fenders some attention was focused on the rear part of the cells. The kit comes with the adaptor for the auxiliary fuel drums:





If you choose to omit the drums then the parts need modifying, which consist of removing the piping.





I added the bolts from some spare PE parts, and also fitted the rear marker light; Its much easier to stick the rear marker light parts together with the sprue points still attached:







Notice the electrical conduit added, as seen on the real vehicle:



Here's the P.E. retaining straps:



These are quote difficult to work with and bend in the correct place, so I can up with a simple enough solution for folding the strap around the plastic mount:

I glued some wire to a piece of perspex enabling the etch strap to slip under, thus allowing me to fold the front part.





Keep the small plastic part on the sprue as its much easier to manhandle:





Once you get the swing of it they are fairly easy to put together:



The etch may cause a headache for some but it really is the best way to represent these:



Heres you can see the tightening screw's on the real thing, fairly well presented in plastic by Trumpeter:



The fender so far:



And the left side:





Once again you'll need to add the electrical conduit:





The side skirts are also added to both fenders with relative ease, although I did encounter some problems with the K-V ERA mountings. Notice below the mountings don't quite fit very well:



I chopped off the locating pins from the back:



And carved away some of the side-skirt:



The fit is a little better:



With the plates fitted:









Some useful reference for locating; generally Trumpeter has done a pretty good job hear, although the mounting bars are a little chunky and quite flimsy.



The completed fenders with skirts fitted:

The hull is starting to come together now, with the final few steps before tackling the turret.

The previous step which I have omitted just consists of sticking the fenders on, as well as fuel drums which have been left off on my build. The actual fenders slot into the hull with small tabs, the fit is sufficiently tight to allow one to fit these without glue, which I choose to do for the moment as i'll need to remove these when painting.



As I will leave the fenders off, the photo-etch mudflap mounts for the front hull where stuck in place and will be glued to the flaps later on. As it happens after I photographed this the PE parts broke off, so I just left them until later.



There are two of the large pressed aluminium radiator fording cover plates provided in the kit, with the instructions indicating the use of part F5. I found that actually part A2 is a better option as this has the correct cutouts on the sides:



F5 is at the bottom, A2 above. Notice that A2 has the cutout on the left side:



In place:



Notice on the above photo the radiator cover opening mechanism fitted on the left side of the hull (the plastic rod).

Unfortunately the Trumpeter kit doesn't provide the plumbing line for the rear fuel cell's, which can be observed on these reference photos:







So I had to fabricate this from metal rod with some plastic tubing simulating the insulated joints:



This tubing joins into the plug on the rear most fuel cell:



Above the tube isn't yet glued in place as the fenders are loose. Here's a reference photo illustrating the real thing:



And the finished hull so far:














Up next I will start work on the turret.....

Really well done Rob!
I'm impressed from details level of Trumpy kit and from your ability to scratch built and improve wrong or missing parts

hello
the model is nice