I just wanted to post this for all to see.

I got a question about this kit and what it has for problems. Oh boy! Sorry, but I am not sure I have enough time to get into it.

Now, just to be fair, this conversion came out in the mid- 1990's. There was very little info getting out on a regular basis. It seemed you would just dig into a new "russian" tank project and a whole ream of info would come out the day after you were done showing how wrong you were. This is the case of the Kirin conversion.

First, it is a T-72BM, not a T-90 as labelled. The T-72BM was quickly renamed and slightly upgraded to the T-90 after Desert Storm and the apparent bad performance of the entire T-72 line of tanks. So while Kirin was probably trying to make a T-90, they got a T-72BM.

Second, this kit shows that it was based mainly off either satellite photos, or tourist photos. The K-5 ERA is very poorly done, being too small and too sharply angled. Fitting several of the DML parts to the conversion pieces is a night mare, like the plate for the smoke grenade launchers.

Overall, just putting the conversion on the DML T-72 will give you this:





I built this back in 1999 or so. Only added the piping for the fuel tanks. Back then, this was high speed all the way. Well before Miniarm items!

Is it worth building now? I would use it for a first resin conversion, or practice on building/painting, or practice on how to fix a conversion. Especially if you already have this kit on hand. But I would not seek one of these kits out even for practice...there are better places to start for the same money.

I grabbed one of these long ago (mid 90s?) and still have several of the various Dragon T-72 kits getting crushed at the bottom of piles. I definitely agree that it will not get a true T-90. I also agree that if you got the pieces and the time that it would be a great test of your resin conversion skills.

Definitely not worth searching out unless you are a collector of Cold War era models.

Thanks for posting this Jacques. The more I see of it the more It really displeases me and puts me off wasting any effort on it. I paid £9 for the conversion at a kit swap, and the same for DML T-72, since then Ive bought some masterclub tracks, metal smoke launchers, RB barrel and eduard etch, but im really questioning whether I want to waste it all on a poor model. The most obvious glaring error which really sticks out is the squashed K-5 era, which I thought I might replace with my own cast copies of the K-5 included in a miniarm T-90 turret I have.

I guess i'll give it some more thought, but might just shell out for the miniarm stuff. When I have planned a T-72A, T-72B, T-72BM and T-90S though it does become some what costly!

I found a shot which illustrates just how bad the K-5 is:



As you can see the angle is all wrong on the Kirin set, as well as having an added bit on the top of the K-5 in the Kirin set which shouldnt be there, the K-5 clearly attaches via pins or bolts on the turret. I really dont think I can be bothered with this set anymore........

Ah good to find this tread. I was just thinking I have this kit in my stash from years ago, and will still want to build it eventually.

Just out of curiosity, even for a T-72BM, what would some good references be?