Have seen a photo of what looks like a Russian T-80 MBT with the main turret removed and replaced with a smaller turret and a 30mm(?) cannon. I think the photo was taken in Grozny and that the vehicle was used in the counter-sniper role. Any thoughts? It would certainly make an interesting conversion.

It was probably the T-55 based BTR-T, maybe the T-72 version (cannot remember the designation)

It seems, you are talking about the BMPT tank support combat vehicle. It has a 30mm gun and is based on a T- 90 chassis (updated T- 72)

Give me a private reply with your email and I will send you scans.

Violetrock

There are THREE Urban assault tanks the russians are working on right now.

BMP-4 This is the T-72 derived version w/30mm chain gun, AT-4/5 launcher, AGS-17 AGL.

BTR-T This is the T-55 version, with the T-72 tracks, and has the same armament as above.

DPM scout version of the BTR-T with a 7.62 Remote controlled MG instead of the 30mm gun

Thanks guys. Now for the $64,000 question - is there any AM conversion kits out for any of these vehicles? How about scale plans? Any idea of what vehicles/kits could be used as a base for a conversion?

SP Designs offers kits of both the DPM and the BTR-T.

For pictures, Full Metal Jacket has a series of the BMP-T (which is the BMP-4 above), but they listed it as the T-72TSV , as does this Russian site.



Cheers,
Linz

This vehicle is described and pictured in the Concord T-72/T-90 book (good reference for you modern post-Soviet Russian fans). If someone does a conversion, it would most likely be AEF Designs (I don't know if they do, I haven't checked).

The only company that does the BTR-T is SP Designs. AEF Designs does not have a kit of either variant at this moment. Panzershop does not either.

The SP Designs kit is a complete kit, and will be getting better roadwheels in Setgej's next moldings of it. I have looked at the conversion and it would be quite hard to convert it to the Tamiya lower hull, and it is not like the lower hull is visible once the kit is together.

Thanks to all. And here I was thinking it was an obscure local mod. The photos on the Full Metal Jacket site show the BTR-T with large grills around the sides and rear of the vehicle. I assume these would be for protection against RPG rounds. It doesn't look like the kit on the SP Designs site has these included. Be quite a job to scratchbuild those suckers.

Yes, the Anti-RPG screens were added to the vehicle later on AND to be honest, to make those parts for the kit would be a MAJOR pain. They need to be PE and Sergej has been unable to get a PE producer to make parts for him, at least cheap enough. This might explain why the Panzershop kits can get to be $$$$$.

I think that it would be ok to make them with some Evergreen stock, just tedious.