Have been asking about Russian Equipment, which was used in Iraq and the quality of available Kits . I know i can depend on you guys to give me the low down on theses two Tamiya Kits.
The first on is available here in th UK for about £10 and the second for about £20, i don't know if this reflects the quality or the popularity of the kits
Anyway here they are- TA35108 - Russian T-62A tank &
TA 35257 Russian Medium Tank T55A
Thanks in advance

COOKIE

Nice...

From what I can gather the Tamiya T-55 is the best on the market. Depending on how far you want to go with the T55, check out Osprey Modelling 20 - Modelling the T-55 MBT

I build the t-62 and... wait for the trumpeter one...it will be better for sure !!
The t-55 is the best around !! Get the BigED from Eduard or the Aber sets...

I will have a search on this site for referances on these kits. So there is a T-62 on its way from Trumpeter, i missed that. It could be next year before that arrives.
Jim I'm not a rivet counter but do you mean, It is the best of a bad bunch or that it is a reasonably kit .

Cookie

The Tamiya T-62 kit is weak, even OOb it will take some work to bring it up to moderate standards. I would wait for the Trumpeter kit, even if it takes some time.

The Tamiya T-55 is probably the best OOB kit to look at. It would build into a fairly decent Iraqi Tank OOB, and with some research, like the Osprey book on building the T-55, you could add enough detail to make you happy. Also, if you want unique, you can add the Iraqi "enigma" conversion to it, there are two different manufacturer's of the conversion...it makes for a cool looking Iraqi tank.

The Tamiya T-72 could also be used for Iraqi forces, but the turret would need work to make it look better.

Now, how far do you want to go with the kit?

there is a kit from KIRN T-72 Lyon of Babalyon that was a good kit. But not sure if it's still available. I was thinking about getting one but can't find one as of yet.

Happy Modeling
Tom

Wanted to build either, an Arab tank converted into an Israeli vehicles or an Iraq tank captured by US special forces. I had been at my local model club this week and one of the guys had built the Trumpeter Israeli Ti 67(so called) looked good. Although I'm not an expert on Soviet equipment. He did mention that it was meant to be battery powered and needed work to lower the vehicle. i have the Tamiya T72 maybe i should stick with this until the New Trumpeter arrives.
Cookie

Trumpeter's kits are good to either add bits to a Tamiya T-55 for a specific version or else they are good to use as patterns for scratchbuilding new parts to go on a Tamiya T-55. I have been struggling with a Trumpeter T-55 (Specifically the Finnish one with the dozer blade) for years...my heart just does not get into it with all of the problem associated with just making it look good, let alone accurizing it. I have looked over the Tamiya kit too much I suppose...

The Tamiya T-72, especially if you have it on hand, would be excellent OOB for a Iraqi tank. There is even NEW evidence to suggest that Tamiya did not make a mistake with this tank at all, but that it represents a very low production version made by Czechoslovakia, so it would represent a very specific number of tanks...like 1 of ~50 or so. Talk about rare... it definately does NOT represent a common use version of the T-72M1...but again, good enough for what you want.

The T-72 Lion of Babylon is just DML's T-72G/M kit with some Kirin resin pieces...and it is not that great. If you can get it for under $20 and you want a bit of a challenge, then it might be what you want.

And Gary is right about looking through the threads...scroll through 2-3 pages and see what has been discussed...not only may it be quicker (as he noted) but you may find other info that is just as interesting.

A lot of the Saddam-era Iraqi T-55s had the Enigma armor, which you should be able to find aftermarket stuff for. I was thinking about building a post-Saddam Iraqi T-55 (never having seen anyone do a model of one) and even got hold of some little Iraqi flags for the sides of the turret. But it turns out the new ones have a turret basket, unfortunately; scratchbuilding it would be beyond my modest skill. But good luck to you, in any case.

The Kirin T-72 Lion of Bablylon is the DML kit, but does not contain any resin. The Kirin M-84 (Yugoslav built T-72 variant) is the one that came with the resin turret.

Asa side note, Iraq didn't use the T62. They used lots of T-55s and T72M1s, BMP-1, BMP2, UAZ-469 staff cars, Ural trucks, Zil-151/157 trucks, 2S1, D-30, etc.

As a side note, Iraq didn't use the T62. They used lots of T-55s and T72M1s, BMP-1, BMP2, UAZ-469 staff cars, Ural trucks, Zil-151/157 trucks, 2S1, D-30, etc.

Gino, I have pictures of T-62's from both ODS and OIF. They used them, just not as heavily as the T-55/Cinese T-55 Copies.

Good catch Rob, you are correct, the M-84 kit has the new turret. My bad.

You ought to create a few sticky posts at the top of the Soviet armor forum. One titled "Best Modern Soviet Armor (i.e. Best T-55, Best T-62, 64, 72...) Kit", another titled "Kirin T-72/M-84 Kits", etc. These exact same questions come up on a monthly basis.

Maybe so, I just have never seen any T62s in my travels around the countryside or when I was invading in '03. I've seen lots of T-54/55s and T-72s. Maybe we destroyed the '62s early or something.

I hear you Rob, I hear you. I will think about some sticky topics for this forum.

Gino, I do not think that they committed the T-62's piecemeal, but with specific units. And I think the bulk of them perished in ODS. I KNOW there were at least a handfull left in '03, but probably very few.