Does anybody have any thoughts on the Tamiya T-72 kit #35160 or can they direct me to a review.I am thinking of giving it a shot.

thanks

Lots of reviews and comments out on the web for this kit, just google Tamiya T-72 Review and it should get you more than you need.

Highlights:

- Best T-72 kit on the market.

- Front Glacis depicts a export model, not a Russian beastie. (There is evidence that the Russians absorbed a fallen through deal for 50+ T-72M1's with this frontal armor, but rumors abound that when they did they added better turrets and other hull features to bring them up the "soviet" T-72B standard. Just rumors though.)

- Turret shape is...problematic. It generally looks like a -M1 export version, but some of the shaped and angles are incorrect. Built OOB, it just gives off the feel of something being wrong without being able to put your finger on it, like a piece of popcorn stuck in your gumline. Eeww.

Otherwise it is a pretty good kit and goes together very well. IF you are going to do a conversion and want the hassle, the Trumpeter/Hobbycraft kits use the entire hull/suspension of the Tamiya kit with their own VERY BAD turrets. But since the glacis and turrets need to be replaced anyhow, and if you can get ahold of a T/H kit for the $10 or so they run for...

Advice beyond this would be determined by what you want to model...Iraqi tank circa 1991, DDR tank circa 1984, Russian tank circa 2005...etc?

vey good,thanks for th help

Hi Jacques,

very helpful info..as always!

but isn't there a problem with the placement of the rear engine deck?

I wish a comprehensive tweaks list could be made of all the proper hull/ turret variants.

I was planning to build one in the future and redo the turret but i'm finding, even with the WWP book as reference...it can get confusing!

Thanks,
Nick Cortese

I am certainly no knocking anybody and the extent that one goes to build an accurate kit,but for me if the kit builds easily,looks good,and looks like a T-72 thats good enough for me.For my part I will use all my skill to work with what I got and finish and weather the kit to the best of my ability,and to the people I show it to(my friends and family)they wiil say it looks good.Even on the various sites I might post it on I am sure I will get some compliments,but I am not an accuracy bug and this might be pointed by some in their critiques ,but I don't sweat the historical accuracy issue,just my techniques and improving them.Do others feel this way ??

There are times when it's nice just to build out of the box. I built the Tamiya 1/35 M5A1 Stuart and it was a very nice kit. I know it has problems but it looks like an M5A1 to me! If there are small things I can do to accurize a kit, I might do it but otherwise I'm an OOTB builder (er, when I build).

The main issue with the Tamiya kit is:

1. They could have done it a bit better. Considering when they produced it, ealry 1990's and NOT the early 1970's, the turret shape could have been done better and the front glacis should have been bare with the option to add the armor. Small but significant screw-ups in my book that make it hard for me to build it OOB. Like I said, to me it is like a piece of popcorn in the gumline.

2. Nick, many aspects of the T-72 are still fluid. There is a current rumor that T-72's manufactured by the Poles and Czech's actually had SHORTER barrels than the Russian equivalent, which BTW would make the Tamiya and Eduard barrel length correct. And as stated, the engine deck has issues, but they are not nearly as bad as something like the turret. Also, Russian, Czech, and Pole made tanks had slightly different engine decks, and it depended on the model being produced.

3. Very basically, the Russians made the T-72, then when they went to the T-72A they started making the T-72G/M and letting the Poles/Czechs make the indiginous/export T-72M, each of which has slight differences from the Russian version. Then, when the Russians went to the T-72B they started to also make the T-72M1 for export, and the Poles/Czechs went to the -M1 version. Then, as the Russians were gearing up for T-72BM/T-90 construction, they started doing -M2's...along with the Poles/Czech's. So there are, roughly, 4 versions of each variant of a T-72...The initial Russian version, the Russian Export Version, the Polish manufactured version, and the Czech manufactured version. And a Finnish T-72 tanker who has served on 3 versions of the -M1 (Russian Export, Polish, and Czech) says that each one is significantly different that a tanker has to pay attention to which one he is on. And the Russian manufactured version is significantly better than the Pole/Czech ones, and the Polish manufactured version was the least well made. Take it for what it is worth.

But do not get me wrong on this, the Tamiya kit is 95% accurate. That last 5% matters to those of us who really focus on this stuff, but to 99.9% of the rest of the world it does not matter at all. And I would certainly not "look down my nose" at anyone who took the kit and just had fun building it OOB. It is a good kit to build, well engineered, with no construction issues I have ever run across and it does look like a T-72 and not, say, a T-55, a flying saucer, or a lump of dirt!

Anthony,

I built this kit last year for the greatest modern tanks campaign. If you are looking for a nice OOB build this kit will suit you fine. The only thing I added was am Eduard ZOOM PE set. Once its done it looks like a T-72 and that was good enough for me.

The only spots that were a bit of a pain was the smoke dischargers which require a bit of patience to get all lined up straight. Tamiya doesn't provide much more then a small indention on the turret to mount them. Also the fuel lines from the rear mounted fuel tanks were a bit of problem for a ham fisted person like me. But again it was a case of some patience and taking my time.

Here are some pics of mine.





Good luck!

Jeff

This review of the correct but now oop JS models T-72M1 turret should give you some ideas of the probs with the Tamiy turret:
http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k628
You can corect the Tamiya kit accordingly.
If you google: t-72 walkaround, you'll get plenty of pics.

Hope this helps.

Jeff,that is one mean looking machine,I love the look of that tank like it means business just like the T-34/85 hopefully I can do justice to mine,thanks all for the advice

also Jacques your last post was exactly what I wanted to hear about the kit,and you captured my feelings exactly about building

thaks all

Jeff-- beautiful job!
Thanks for sharing....Wow! NICE....
DJ

Jeff,as I said I love your T-72,mine is moving along nicely,how did you handle your tracks painting ?I have friuls, I was thinking flat-black-various wahes and pigments,and then sanding to expose the metal in places ?? any advice thanks

Jacques, I thought you said on another T-72 thread that the Tamiya kit was not so much inaccurate as an extremely rare East German Army variant?

If so, the kit would successfully represent an actual though very unusual T-72 variant, unique to the NVA. Or did I misunderstand?