Hello there!

Well, as promised some time ago, here is a build blog about my Ukrainian T-84 Oplot.
What has happened so far?
Not much but something I managed to place the new engine-deck onto the SKIF hull. I also finished the new front glacis armor. And right now I started the very first work on the new turret. It was necessary to redo the whole turret and all it´s angles as the Oplot turret is much larger as a "normal" T-80 turret. This is because of it´s new armor. The front of the turret still needs A LOT of work but slowly I´m getting there As you can see some parts from the turret front "melted" a bit, well I think I used too much glue. But anyway, Its not finished yet.

Well, here are the pics:



















Okay, guys. "Shoot"

Andreas,.....you've got my full attention !
This build is gonna be sweet.

Love to see your progress. Keep those pics comming. Looks great !

Frank.

Hi Andreas, my friend Wonderful progress, I like it.

Guido

Man you go for the best stuff with no fear!!!
Cannot wait to see next steps!
Dmitry

Hy guys!

Thanks a lot for your attention and your encouraging words
Well, as the T-84 is, in my eyes, the most "beautiful" tank, I decided to go through all the pain which is necessary for it. It´s my dream and I´m hanging on

Thanks again,

Best regards,

Andy T.

Right, so have a nice dream, the best you can.

Guido

Tou had me at T-84........... Andy, stunning work so far. I really like your job on the turret.
Good stuff.



What are you using for reference?

Chris

Hy Chris
Thanks alot for your nice words!

For references I use Concord´s T-80 book and various pictures and drawings I collected over the last months on the internet. Luckily I found some very good drawings of the tank/turret which are a great help. If anyone is interested, I would share those files with everyone of you.

Best regards,

Andy T.

Great start on T-84M, not another Pz something, Andeas. I hate to be party crasher, but what is up with bulges on the sides of the turret? Also glasics plate in Skif's kit is set at wrong angle it should be few degrees closer to the bottom hull.

Hy George

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. Because of the angle. I think I added the new armor in the right angle, as you can see it is a bit "thinner" on the bottom. I did this because the left and right side of the armor on the bottom half of the glacis won´t be visible once when all the details, fenders etc are attached. I did this because I knew that there are some issues with the SKIF front-angle, but thought that it would be easier to modify it with this "trick" instead of cutting it out and replace it.

Heres a picture to show what I mean:



Those bulges: The turret front is not finished so far, here a picture what should be done:



But thanks a lot for your feedback, it´s betther to point on mistakes as long as it´s a WIP ;-)

Best regards,

Amdy T.

Check minus for non ordinary solution, just kidding (now you know what it's like to make decent T-80 from Skif logs). But I think you will have to deal wit overly high lower plate this way, but then there is a dust skirt there. Here is the generalized view of T-80U/84 turret from Frontline Illustration "Kharkov's 80's." It's not 100% accurate, but captures most important features of front sections narrowing forward:

HY George!

Yes, you´re right, but as you mentioned, that won´t be visible UNDER the dustskirt.......luckily

For the turret-picture: THANKS A LOT man! That will help 1000 times when it´s about the bottom-form of the turret-front.

Yeah, those SKIF kits are

Best regards,

Andy T.

Now now guys, you could only have the DML kits and clones to work from...shudder.

Nice work Andreas, I too look forward to seeing how it finishes.

I also continue to prod Sergej to finish his T-80U upper hull conversion but in regards to the front glacis, he has decided to let that problem be. He said that if he corrected EVERY problem with the SKIF kit, then he might as well build a entire T-80U from scratch, and he does not want to do that. Oh well.

I will keep him "posted" on your prgress Andreas and I might even be able to get him interested in working on a conversion for the T-84. OF course, only after you have finished it!

Good work Andres. I am fighting with a Skif t-80 too. I really admire your results

Hi Andreas, i've found those pics surfing the net;here is the link:http://www.fotovalkirumodelism.com/page.php?page=55
you will find lots of Oplot pics;i dont know if you have it already, but when i saw that i've tinked at you...
Happy modelling!Marco

MARCO I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never saw those amazing pics before! NOW THAT WILL HELP A LOT! While it still has the "other" turret with the big basket (I think its the 120mm NATO version) it still features ALL the other details with the Oplot. Amazing detail-pics. You cannot even imagine how much I thank you for those pics. I was jumping :-)

Next update will be next week, so watch out ;-)

Thanks again,

Best regards,

Andreas T.

Dear Andreas,your answer is exactly what i've thinked when i discovered those pics.I'm also a russian stuff addicted, and an oplot is on my plans too(fuuuuture)i'm actually working on a T 90 S and i will post some pics here.Really glad that those pics are good for you; did you see that there are also couple of pics of the elongated T 72 ?And one of the tanks wear T 55 lookalike wheels?If you are interested,just go on the left side of the page and choose bce on tema ,do the same on the next row,then push on the grey button and a lot of russian stuff vill appear!!!Marco
On my plans:T 55 ABM,T62BM,T64BV,T 72 BM,T 80um
wip:ZSU 57/2,T 55 RECOVERY and T 90S

Hy Marco!

Yeah, that "T-55 lookalike" is actually a T-55 AGM. Its a beast of a machine! It also features new engine deck and I think an autoloader as well! I just love those "morozov-plant" tanks and projects. Awsome stuff!

Thanks again for taking your time to help me out. Next is for you.

Best regards,

Andy T.

T-55 AGM is the yellowish colored tank in three pics, correct? And is there a shot of a T-64U or BM2? Looks like it.

Ok Andrew, get cracking on that Oplot.

Hey Jacques!

Yeah, thats the T-55 AGM. And I think you´re right about the T-64. Good sideview of it.

Now, Im back to work;-) Hopefully the final parts from MINIARM will arrive next week......juhu!

Best regards,
Andy T.

Hello fellas!

Thank you all for your interest on this buildlog and sorry for the dissappointment of no regular update. I was confronted with some bad family issues and had no time and power to do modelling over the last months. I'm still in hungary (funeral organisation) and will be back on monday next week. All I can say is: I still haven't recieved the parts from Miniarm (SHTORA and other bits) but hopefully will recieve them soon. I have finished the basic turret layout and right now handling the ERA. All I can say: This tank has a lot ERA to scratch

Guys, I will update this post very soon, betther said, next week. Thanks all for your patience and interest.

Best regards from hungary (wished there would be an other reason for my "holidays")

Andreas

Hy guys!

Finally I´m back "on business" with the T-84. As the parts from MINIARM still aren´t here, I decided to finish the basic-appearance of the turret and go on with the hull. Here are shots of the finished turret, ONLY the turret itself. Right now I´m working on the ERA, but not in this pics





So, and now to the hull. I went on and did the sideskirts with the attached dustskirt. Here I used some left-over PE parts as well.







Hope you like what you see, comments welcome as always! Next update next week, promissed

Best regards,

Andy T.

Hey Andreas

Nice work on the Side skirts. Do you use some kind of detailed drawing of is t build on sight using reference pics?

Keep us updated I can't wait to see it finished

Grtz Roel

Hy Roel!

Thanks a lot for your kind and encouraging words. For the sideskirts I used drawings from "morozov-plant" (www.morozov.com.ua) and SP-Design skirts as 3D models. Also various pictures.

Now it´s up to make the skirts for the other side as well

Best regards,

Andreas