looking to pick up a 35th scale T-72 on ebay in the near future. Seems 2 brands are available...the Tamiya and the AMT. Best kit? Fair bid price I think anything over $25 is unacceptable. Or are they both dogs...just looking for something that to the "non-professional eye" looks reasonably accurate. PLan to build pretty much OOB maybe add a metal tube and a little Pe but don't want to buy new resin turrets or have to cut it all up to make it right.

Tamiya's is pretty good. It has issues with the turret shape, but does look like a T-72 when done.

The AMT kit is really bad. It is mostly fictional since it was done from blurry pics and drawings when the T-72 was still a top-secret, front-line Soviet tank.

There's also the Dragon T-72. They released 3-4 different variants (I have them all) and Kirin added some bits and reboxed a pair of them. Zvezda and Revell of Germany have both reboxed the Dragon kit as well.

Tamiya is best of the bunch, but in 1990-91, the Dragon kit was a decent model kit.

The Esci/AMT/Ertl T-72 and T-74 are best left on the shelf unless you get a really good deal (say $5) and just want a Soviet-looking tank to display.

I concur as well. For a decent T-72, the Tamiya one is the best. If you want one with ERA, go with Dragon's T-72 w/ERA and add a Edaurd Barrel and the Eduard PE set. It will build up nice enough. Beyond that, better to add aftermarket to the Tamiya kit.

I've also seen Hobbycraft kits, are those Tamiya rips or did they use another source.

Hobbycraft's T-72 are Trumpeter T-72s which in turn are nasty motorized knock-offs of Tamiya's T-72.

I have the hobbycraft one in the stash. Its got all those nasty holes and metal axil for modernizing it.
If you would like to see the kit feel free to PM me your email and I can send you pictures of it.

OK thanks ever so much fellas. I guess the only way to do this is the Tamiya. Got a major regional hobby show coming up in a couple of weeks, that and Keith does his big "show" discount...if he even has one of these. So I'll look to pick one up at a discount then.

Dear Steve,
In reply to your Question,i hav`nt seen either of these but i would like to warn you about the the Hobbycraft/Trumpeter version of this kit. DONT TOUCH IT WITH A BARGEPOLE !!!!.This is one of the worst kits i have ever tried in my life and have just put mine in the bin.The turret owes more to a childs toy and the tracks stick out from the upper hull plate by three mil making it impossible to put the side skirts on.
Please be warned fellow modellers

You are correct about the Trumpeter/ Hobbycraft kits except...

The turret, wetehr Tamiya or T/H, needs t be replaced to be accurate. Also, the tracks in the T/H need to be replaced as well. The base upper/lower hull, running gear, and details are just copied versions of the Tamiya kit, but a bit cheaper. They are a good base for conversions, but as said, they make for a horrible build out of box.

After cursing the manufacturers for not coming out with a decent T72, I finally bit the bullet and ordered T-72 M1 Tamiya and Blast models Turret.
I am looking out for the correct Tracks and I hear the road wheels may not be correct



End of the day I feel guilty sinking so much of hard earned money in after market products. I can not accept the argument that the market share is less for T72, T80s and T90s. For example the KVs must have made a bundle for Trumpeter.
I dont understand why the manufacturers keep making more and more Germen vehicles when the market is flooded with them already. But one thing is for sure, any company who comes out with fairly accurate T72, T80s and T90s is going to make a killing.
I dont know who it is going to be or when.

At the rate DML and Trumpeter are going, they must inevitably run out of German subjects to produce. Maybe now that Trumpeter has announced a new-tool T-62, we can take it as a sign of things to come.

Plastic kit companies run out of german WWII things to mold...???!!!

They will NEVER do such a thing. They will resort to remanufacturing the same kits over and over or producing minor variants, or even doing nothing but "paper panzers" before they would ever stop. I think that if all companies stopped producing kits now that somehow new plastic German WWII kits would still come out...it is like a natural law or something.

Here is hoping that the T-62 and the BMP-3 (And the MAZ) do so well that trumpy and DML have a "production" war for Warsaw Pact kits.

Is the Revell kit the same as the AMT?

Hy Maurice!

No, as far as I know it´s a copy of the ZVEZDA T-72B with reactive armor.

After checking Revells HP it seems that they are going to re-release a BMP-2 and a SU-100 in 1/35 as well. My bet is again that we will see older ZVEZDA kits in new Revell boxes.

Best regards,

Andy T.

These "older" Zvezda kits are reboxed Dragon kits.

Hy!

Yep, I forgot about that fact. You´re right, but in my eyes they are still "old".

Best regards,

Andy T.