so im planning to convert this...

into this...

the lower hull had motorization holes so i used putty and sanded them out... i also sanded and flattened on the front part of the hull which is flat on the Type 99.. the type 98 carries a dozer blade type thing on the front hull.. same as the T-72.. but the 99 didnt have it so i sanded then out...

then i "widened" the sprocket wheels to fit the newer tracks... the ones supplied in the kit were a horrendous copy of the T-72 tracks..

i used old plastic cards on the front glacis to lift it a bit.. the armor tiles have not yet been put in...

the hardest part on this conversion is the turret... it has wedged shaped armor on the front (kinda like a leo2) and armor tiles on the turret sides (which i havent finished putting in).. i just used old plastic cards and putty.. i also put inserts inside to help support the card and make it last...

another tough part here is getting the measurements right for the "hole" on the other side of the turret... i believe its for the coaxial machine gun... i also sourced out the main gun from a T-72 kit as the trump one looks like a toy... the tamiya one has heavier detail into it, including the thermal wrap of the gun..

the project isnt done yet and i havent put on the road wheels so this is how the tank looks like when the turret is put on...


im still in the process of detailing turret parts such as the laser dazzler, radar, the AA machine gun and the scratchbuilding a wind sensor that doesnt come with the kit.. like i said, the kit has soft details so giving the turret parts some life would greatly help...

references on this tank is quite hard to come by... their abundance on the net isnt like the M1 so its pretty tough to work with what i have... i have to source out a lot of stuff from the spares box, including the fuel barrels on the rear and some PE parts from a T-72 since both share some similarities, but the Type 99 is 15% bigger than a T-72 in real life...
will post more pics as i progress on this...
