Hi all,
I'm currently building this for the resin campaign but I thought I could also share it with this forum.

The donor kit is the Skif T-80 UDK from which you just need to keep the lower hull and the suspension.
The running gear is a mix of SP Design sprockets and idlers and MasterClub roadwheels and tracks.

The SP conversion includes the upper hull, the side skirts and a complete turret.

The build is over and I started the painting of the camo sported during an arms exhibition in Russia.

Here are some pictures








The kit ready for the paint booth.







The first painting step is done.









There still are some green spots to modify and some green over spray to fix.
Olivier

Something out of a postapcalyptic/zombie movie. Do the Russians still use this tank?

Oliver, what color did you use for the yellow? Really like the cammo so far.

Really coming along Oliver!

Hi;

"Ah--Chocolate Brown & Mustard Yellow"--My two Favorite Colors !!!! Really nice Olivier ! But Don't Stop There,--Keep it Going.

CHEERS; MIKE.

Olivier

Nice work. I guess you must have purchased the SP Design set BEFORE Sergei modified his molds for the Xact Models kit?

Tony

Thank you guys!

Some answers : the yellow is a mix of Tamiya Dark Yellow with Flat Yellow.

Yes Tony, I purchased the original conversion which is now out of production.

Olivier

Nice work Olivier. Looking forward to the finish.

Great subject Olivier!!! I likes this tank and your model.

BTW It seems Trumpeter announced one is the future so... i'm waiting.

Stephane,
this could be another evidence that Murphy's law also applies to modeling. Whenever I finish a resin kit, a plastic one pops up.

BTW Armorsmith I made a mistake for my yellow mixture, the right reference is XF-59 Desert Yellow and not XF-60 Dark Yellow.

Olivier

Thanks for the clarification Oliver. I had a similar scheme in mind but did not know what color would be appropriate. Yours looks good to my eye and with a bit of weathering will be spot on I think. Anxiously awaiting your next progress report.

Here are more pics of the paint in progress. Still need to apply some pinwashes and highlight the details of the OD spots.














Olivier

Looking good Oliver, nice work!

Hi;

"Superb work Olivier"-- It will add greatly to your collection,


CHEERS; MIKE.

Looks great. The yellow camouflage color looks very yellow in the shots. Was it really this strong yellow color in reality?

I guess I'm not too far from the reality.



Olivier

I was considering doing that color scheme you just posted Oliver, but it just looks so WRONG!

John,
what do you mean by wrong?

Olivier

Just very out of place Oliver, to me that brown has an almost purple tint to it, and with the yellow, it looks very bizarre to me. In the desert it could be very effective, but in that setting (and on my shelf) again, to me at least, it looks very out of place. It reminds me of the camo schemes of the French tanks in WW2, hmmm...I think it's starting to grow on me a little...

I don't think this camo scheme was ever designed to be in an operational environment. The Russians also painted a "plain" T-80U in the same camo.
About the purple hint, you're right. Depending of the timeframe (exhibitions), this tank has been painted with some OD like mine (as seen in S.Zaloga T-80U book) or some purple brown like on the ref picture I posted.

Olivier

I agree, I'm mostly thinking how it will look in my collection, and the more I think about it, the more I think that's the one I'll choose. Matching that brown is going to be tricky, of course it's a ways down the road, I've got a lot of other kits on deck, and I haven't even got this conversion yet.

For your information, the conversion currently available only gives you the turret as it is intended for the Xact Models T-80U. So you won't have to struggle to match the upper hull parts to the Skif lower hull and poor running gear.
Here is what you'll get in the conversion.



Olivier

I have the Xact kit Oliver, and with Trumpeter coming out with theirs, it's reserved for this conversion. I never noticed that they give you interior bits, did you use them?

Olivier, thanks for sharing the picture. Seems like you are spot on. Interesting color to use for camouflage.

Hi;

Vehicles that were presented at RAE events and other trade shows were always in very Brite Colors so they would attract more attention. The T-80 that Olivier presents for us was used at A Number of shows for atleast four years in A row, and was always given A new coat of paint for each show. The Last event that this T-80 was seen it had been painted over so many times that it started to look very Sloppy, and did not Draw much attention, and was never seen again. This T-80 used the Arena Defense System with Mast mounted Warning receivers !

CHEERS; MIKE.