Hello, I have found the T-80 w/ERA from Dragon on ebay for a very nice price. I think about to build the model with a small diorama, maybe a at a checkpoint, in service at chechnyan war by russian forces.

Now I am not very specialised to cold war armor and so I have some questions...

Is the kit a good base? Are there any parts or details that must be modified?
Are there AM sets for this kit available?
Does anyone have some links to pictures with T-80 in chechnya war?

This is photo of the kit box:




Thanks for your help in advance.

Hallo Thomas,
you'll get some trouble in front of you starting by the tracks being too wide to put the upper hull in place, the gun is too large (as with the whole T-72/80 Dragon family), the ERA blocks are a bit simplified due to the lack of available data and pictures at the release date of this kit.
I'm sure other posters could add more relevant points.

AM parts that I know of are/were SP Designs correct tracks and outer wheels, Eduard PE set (maybe out of production), multiple brands 2A46 gun.

Whatever you can use as AM parts, I believe you can't have an accurate T-80 from this kit so have fun with it.

Olivier

Thomas-
I built this kit about 12 years ago and it was a night mare! IT s been discussed here alot in the past; I would avoid it. Its not an accurate kit and the deails are a bit soft. If youre really wanting a a nice T-80 try the SkiF kit and SP Designs.

Chris

Olivier and Chris,
thank you very much for help. I thougt the kit was much better than Skif or Zvezda...
Ok, I have paid only 10 EUR for it. I will try to build it straight from the box...

And next time I will place my questions before buying!

Thomas,

I am in the same position as you, having recently picked up this kit cheaply (15 Euros including postage in my case, still not too bad). I did so in the knowledge that currently, there is no really good plastic kit of the T-80 to be had. So I figured why not just build the thing, chuck a bit of AM stuff at it to improve it, experiment and just have a little fun with it?

Jaques Duquette, who posts here often, wrote a very informative T-80 piece (including the pros and cons of the various T-80 kits in 1/35) that can be found at the link I've posted below, so FULL CREDIT AND MANY THANKS to Jaques for that (and I hope he won't mind me taking the liberty of linking to it for you):

http://mmfs0.tripod.com/reviews/t80/index.htm

Hope that helps.

- Steve

Thank you Steve, the informations from Jacques Duquette are very helpful.

Although there are mistakes and problems with the DML kit I will build it. And I hope that the result will be acceptable.

Thomas the Eduard Photo Etch set for the T-80 is still in production. I ordered one myself from Eduard just a few days ago along with my BMP-2 PE set from them.

I'm not sure but I think that the DML T-72/80's are the same as the Zvezda ones? The Zvezda are reboxed right? (I know thats the case for the BMP's at least)

I myself am looking to do a T-80 but I'm going the Skif SP Designs route also.

I also built this kit some years ago, and it was easy to build.
But... now I think, it´s not accurate as it could be.
Try the SP-Designs-conversion-sets as others said, that would be a good solution.

I'm not sure but I think that the DML T-72/80's are the same as the Zvezda ones? The Zvezda are reboxed right? (I know thats the case for the BMP's at least)
Yes, the Revell and Zvezda-kits are reboxed Dragon kits.

greetings...
Soeren

Glad to know all that work I did with Dirk C. has been helpfull.

The SP Designs conversions are the only way to get a accurate T-80U right now. I am VERY slowly working on a master for a T-80B, but that is still a ways off yet. Probably be done right before trumpy or Tamiya announce one...Ha!

The DML kit can be built ok, don't let it get you down at all. In fact, it is a good kit in that the more you put into it, the better it will look. But do not expect it to stand up to photos of the real tank at more than 1 meter.