My next project is an Indian T-72M1 "Ajeya" - off course in white paint - with KMT-6 Mine Plough.

This tank was part of an Indian contingent at the UNOSOM II mission in Somalia, 1993/94 (in Kismaayo).

Unfortunately I have only meager reference images found on the indian T-72 and these tanks used in Somalia in particular. Only defenseimagegalery.mil has an excellent picture on the white T-72 in Somalia. Sadly, the tanks are partially covered with canvas, so parts of the equipment are not visible. The configuration at the rear remains hidden. The good thing about that .. more room for possible variants;-)

If any of you have more information or pics about the indian T-72 UN tanks in Somalia I'd be very happy about your sharing the information.


In any case I prepared these goodies on my workbench:

- Tamiya T-72M1 No. 160
- Zvezda T-72A No. 3552
- Turetm Update T72A/M1 Resin Blast Models No. BL35046K
- Metal tracks Friulmodel ATL-11
- Roadwheels resin MR No. 35159
- KMT6 Mine plough SKIF No. 502
- PE-Stes Eduard T-72 No. 35434 and No. TP007
- Tow cable Karaya No. TCR3506
- Plenty of motivation, patience and perservance



KIT
The base of the T-72M1 comes from Tamiya - where only masochists would rather start with the Zvezda Kit ;-)

ROADWHEELS
For those used in Somalia T-72s the wheels from Tamiya dont't fit, because they are 8 sprocket. We need some replacement wheels with 6 sprockets - the newer type. I once - as a "great tip" - snapped in a forum one should use the Zvezda kit as a low-cost parts donor for the wheels. The hint was not that great - the wheels on the Zvezda kit show massive sinkholes (see picture) and should be used only if you actually can hide them with heavy mud weathering.
Alternatives for the rollers would be wheels from Miniarm - but I couldn't find an online shop which had these in stock. Ultimately, I ordered the MR roller set (made from Resin) from Germany - in 3 working days the set was on my workbench!



The suspension is glued in place and at the moment I'm cleaning up the resin-chunks on the roadwheels.



As far as the start of the project. I hope you are interested to see one more white battle tank used in UN service.

cheers
Walter

Hi Walter,

I have pretty much the same on my work bench but I'll skip the mine plow. Regarding the list:
T-72M1 UNOSOM II - check
- Turret Update T72A/M1 Resin Blast Models No. BL35046K - check
- Roadwheels resin Miniarm - check
- Tow cable Karaya No. TCR3506 - check
- Plenty of motivation, patience and perservance - maybe

I won't be useing any PE or link-by-link. I haven't finished anything the last few years and will try to not get stuck more than I have to (geting the 12 smoke launchers to sit straight is enough!). The side skirts will also cover the pretty decent Tamiya tracks.

I've sent you a PM.

If anybody have any photos of India army tank crews in the early 90's I've interested in that as well.

Cheers,
/E

Great project....I have had a UNOSOM T-72M1 planned for years...great to see both of you guys going to town with the best kits and parts. Now, if we could only get a proper set of aftermarket decals for the UNOSOM tanks.

What are you looking for in regards to the rear configuration? They did not have the external fuel tanks mounted....but the ditching logs were.

I'm on with this one. Esp if this build will be like your Leclerc. I also have a T-72 on the bench, but mine is an A model used by the Chechens. Good luck with this build and remember stay strong. You are still in my prayers for a swift and strong recovery

I'll be on this build like WHITE on rice! Your last build was great and this one will be too!
Dan

Hi all,
thanks for your interest on this build blog.

@Sean
Thanks for your kind words!

@Erik
I sent you an email.

@Jason
Thats a good information - I was not sure about the ditching logs. Maybe I also add the spare tracks.

I also wonder If the commanders windshield/anti-fragment-shield was monted when the tank was on patrol. Also if it was painted white? On some T-72s the mount for the shield is visible.

btw
new wonderful PE-Sets from Voyagermodel for the T-72 are available. But I go with the Blast turret, so half of the PE-parts are not necessary.

- Modern Russian T-72M1 MBT Basic PE35353
- Modern Russian T-72M1 MBT Side Skirt PEA201
- Modern Russian T-72 Anti-Fragment Shield w/NSVT 12.7mm Machine Gun PEA203


cheers
Walter

Walter,

E-mail on the way.

I guess my build won't be 100% PE free. I think I'll use some from the Eduard set for the fuel drum brackets and for the turret MG ammo can holders. These seem to have been empty on the UNOSOM vehicles (perhaps to prevent theft?).

BTW: If I ever need another A/M1 turret I think I'll go for the Miniarm one. I'm done trying to align 12 smoke launchers resin-to-resin. Once I got it (sort of) right the first time I droped the turret and had glue 8 of them back again .Miniarm seem to have solved this much better with the mounting points casted to the turret. Anyway all Blast launchers had nasty mould lines so I cut them from their bases and glued on brass launchers insted (Modelpoint I think). And the bases and the mounting points... Better use the Mk1 eyeball and reference photos and forget about the instructions...

I also cut the forward stowage bin lid from a spare Tamiya front (I'll use a Miniarm B front on that build) and replaced the lid on my Somali project. I found this the easiest way to change the placement of the hinges. Replacing all hinges and latches with PE parts is another option.

I think that's all for now . Looking forward to follow your build here.

Edit: For defenseimages pictures:
http://www.defenseimagery.mil
Search for DF-ST-98-04790 and DF-ST-98-04781.

For gettyimages pictures:
www.gettyimages.com
Search for 742277, 742304 and 742292.

Cheers,

/E

This is some project. A very interesting tank and conflict, can't wait to see how this turns out and it should be awesome if the Leclerc is anything to go by!

Thanks Walter! I was looking for six-spoke road wheels for my T-72. Didn't know MR-Model got them in program. I've been planing to build a finnish tank. What are the specific parts for finnish T-72s included in the BlastModels kit? Would be nice if it includes the additional turret baskets used by the Fins. Otherwise i will have to order them separately in Finland (JS-Models). In this case i hope that they are still available.

By the way: does anybody know what makes the upper hull by Verlinden so special? I compared it with the Tamiya part and can't see some significant differences. Maybe the Verlinden part is for the Version A1 or B?

@Erik
Thanks a lot for the information and the pics - they are a great addition to the project!

I couldn´t find any retailer who had miniarm items in stock - so I ordered the Blast-turret ... but your experiences with the Blast turret makes me frighten.

@Leopard-2
In the Blast update set there are 3 additional "blobs" on the turret and an additional fire extinguisher for the finnish version - but no additional turrent baskets.
Take a look at this finnish website for a nice build of an finnish T72-M1.
http://www.pienoismallit.net/galleria/malli_225/kuva_4376/

cheers
Walter

Hi again.
As some of you know I´m fighting against cancer. Last christmas I got the best x-mas-present of all times. My chemotherapy was a full success, no mor cancer-cells can be found and I´m on my way to a full recovery. I´m so happy about this and wanted you to know that.

But right back to the T-72. What I did in the last few weeks.

The Tracks
I had three options for the tracks
1 = Zvezda injection moulded
2 = Friul white metal
3 = Tamiya vinyl



All these tracks don´t look bad, guess what? I picked the Friul tracks ;-) The assembling was quite easy and the result looks good. I´ll use the sprocket wheels from Friul, they fit fine.



Then I did some work on my Computer. I couldn´t find the right Aftermarket-Decals for this vehicle so I made them on my Desktop. First I construct them with a graphical software. Then I print them out on office paper and do a test fitting on the model. After some modifikations I found good dimension. I´ll print them out later on decal-paper.

The frontplate.
I could not find out the used identification numbers for the tanks equipped with the mine plows. I´ll use Number AC/25/III. I used the freeware-font MISO made by Marten Nettelbladt http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Miso .




The markings on the rear stowage baskets.



On the frontplate some holes must be filled. Some mounts can only be glued on after applying the big UN-Decal. It can be done easily with streched sprue.



Mineplow:
I used the small KMT-6 kit from SKIF. Despite some sinkholes assembling easy. I was surprised how fast I was ready with this part of the build.



But then ....
I found some good reference pictures of a real KMT-6 on this excellent website: http://mhrfweb.makett.org/
Short to say, I disassembled the Mineplow and started a modifikation with the help of Dremel, Scalpels and Evergreen sheets.



Now I realized, the Skif-KMT-6 is a simplified replication of this mineplow. I had to do a lot of corrections to make it look rougly like the real thing. But I like this challenges ;-)



Dispite it´s not 100% accurate, i like the result of my attempt to make the KMT-6 more like the real one.

Thats all for this time and cheers.
Walter

Glad to see this build back on track...(eh...I suppose thats a good pun...right....right?) .

Walter, have you got the photos from Somalia that you are basing this build on, I wouldn't mind a look at them?

Congratulations on your good news aswell Walter.

Those are the best news !!! I'm glad you won the fight against cancer !!!
Keep up that great work with the T-72.

Check the references in the russian-soviet forum on this thread:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/167913&page=1

Nice update Walter. Keep up the excellent work. It is too bad there is not a decal set available for these unique looking T-72M1s.

Hi guys, my apologies to not having released the decals after so long... The artwork is actually done... but the right opportunity didn't come last year as I wanted to (economies of scales in printing, etc)... I hope this year to make things right. as well as Danish white leo 1s so that Walter can finish his build...

First UN set to be released this year is Belgium AIFVs in Lebanon (it is at the printers)... Hopefully the Indian T-72M1s and Leo1s will follow shortly. I'm still keeping myself abreast of UN subjects to do...

Last but most importantly, congratulations to Walter for winning the epic battle of his life!

Hello my friends,
thanks a lot for all your kind words.

@Karl187:
My picture refereces are:
www.defenseimagery.mil picture by G.D. Robinson
http://defenseimagery.mil/imagery.html#a=search&s=J3302-94-045GR&guid=77de93080602f14800ed2093dba29691cb81c442

www.gettyimages.com pictures by Scott Peterson

http://www.gettyimages.at/detail/742277/Getty-Images-News
http://www.gettyimages.at/detail/742292/Getty-Images-News
http://www.gettyimages.at/detail/742304/Getty-Images-News

@Lawrence
That are really good news. I like the Echelon decals - they are are great product. Thanks for your great work!

cheers
Walter

Some minor updates.
On the frontplate I installed the cables for the mineplow. This is Lead-wire from Plusmodel. I like it beacause you can bend it easily into shape.



Then I did some modifications on the rear side. Mesh is from Eduard PE-Set for the T-72. The tow cable comes from karaya - but was very stubborn an the PE-fastener popped away several times when I bent the cable into shape.



The "golden" PE-parts are from the Voyager PE Set for the T-72M1 - for example the exhaust cover looks better than the kite ones.
The trunk and the PE-mounts for the fueldrums will be mountend shortly before painting.



Next stage will be the build of the BLAST resin turret ... frightening when I look into this big box ;-)

cheers
Walter

Now on the workbench - the blast turret:
I ordered this resin kit from blast-models.com from france. It is not cheap (€ 46,00) but you get a lot of resin for your money ;-)



Assembly instructions are a little bit confusing and not always clear. The photos are black/white and do not always show how the parts must be glued together. If you build this resin set make sure you have good reference pictures from books or from the web.



Most resin parts are well casted, crisp detailled and without bubbles or holes. Some small details are really breathtaking!



But some things in the box are really disappointing:
- NSVT 12,7 mm maching gun - the barrel was broken and the rest was distorted.
- Toolboxes mount joints were broken
- hinge joint commanders hatch broken
- Bubbles in the smokedischargers and some other parts
- 2part barrel cast was really desastrous!!!!!

The "bad" thing:



For the indian version of the t-72 some turret details must be sanded away and some mountig holes must be filled with putty.

On this picture you can see a bubble-hole in the hatch. In this case I used stretched sprue, sticked it into the hole and cut away both ends.



The mounting joints of both tool-boxes (stowage-boxes) were broken. I replaced them with parts from the voyager pe-set and brass hollow pipe.



The snorkel war sanded and glued to the turret. Some hooks were casted imperfect but there were additional spare parts in the box so they can be sanded away and replaced with faultless resin parts. The searchlight nearby the auxiliary sight was glued in place and some lead-wire was used.



Disaster with the smoke dischargers:
The casting was very bad. A lot of bubbles and holes brings you a lot of filling and sanding. I advice to use some better replacement parts. You could use the dischargers from the voyager pe set.
Instructions also caused problems. For me it was not always clear how to fit the parts and how to set the correct angle. I also broke some of them while glueing in place. Believe me, to go with this resin parts is not an easy task.



But with some cups of coffee I finally finished this step. I´m not very pleased with the result, but I dont want to replace them after all the work.
Also here I used 0.3 mm lead wire from plus-model. I also replaced the broken coaxial turret machinegun with a small brass hollow pipe.



Other turret details:
The wellknown infrared light is very fragile and holds only with one glue-joint on the turret ...



Rear turret searchlight:
Blast did a little mistake here. The two openings of the light are 90 degrees wrong rotated. I sanded them away and replaced them with a pe part from the voyager pe-set.



12,7mm NSVT machinegun:
As I mentioned before - the resin barrel was broken and the mg distored. I used the plastic mg from the tamiya kit and mixed it with parts from blast and from voyager.



Commanders cupola:
Due to reference pictures I don´t use the dirt-cover for the commanders shield. I only use brass wire in the right shape for the mounting.



Most of the turret is finished now - the blast resik kit is not an easy task, but is definitely worth the additional work.

cheers
Walter

Thats a real monster of a turret kit. I don't know why you are not pleased with the smoke launchers, they look spot-on. The build is really something Walter, keep it going, although after that turret session I wouldn't blame you for taking a week (or several) off !!

Karl, thanks for your comment but you don´t need to blame me for a break - I was quite busy the last days;-)

I added last details an the front plate:
The lever for the mud guards was sanded off and replaced with thin wire.
The headlights were moved outside the guards - as seen on some reference pics. Could not identify the correct mounting method so I improvised something plausible. Parts frome the mienplow were testfitted with blue tac.



Next challenge - barbwire.
On the reference pictures of the t-72s in Kismayoo/Somalia we can see them fitted with barbwire on both sideskirts. An interesting and uncommon detail - maybe it can be done in 1/35 as well.

I used the thinnest wire I found - 0,08mm from an old electrical inductor. The main problem with this thin wire - it disrupts permanently while handling. But thicker sized wire would not look correct in scale.
I carefully twisted the wire with a dremel. It gave the wire a little bit more rigidity.



Then I fixed one twisted wire and looped around with another twisted wire. I looped 2 times what looked ok for me. But the single barbes did not stay in place - so I fixed them in place with a small dot of gunze hobby color clear.



All the ends were trimmed with scissors.



Hmmm, I´m not sure - but in this picture the barbwire looks oversized to me.
Till I have to do the painting I don´t know If it is a good idea to fit it on the model. What do you think?



Now the model is temporary assembled with help of blue tac.
Im not really sure about my tank commander. The head is from a "TANK" figure and the body from an old Academy figure.
I don´t know the right equipment, also the right color pattern for the uniform is not clear.
Maybe a kind user of this forum can give me some idea or input how to solve this problem.





On the rear the mountings for the external fuel tanks are still missing - they are pe-parts and I will glue them on after the paintjob is done (to prevent breaking them several times ;-)



Some parts of the KMT-6 mineplow - they also will be mounted after painting and weathering.



After the "fotoshooting" the model was dismantled and prepared for painting.
For easier handling while painting I fix the parts on things like cocktailsticks, ice-sticks, clips and so on.
Then I clean the entire model by brushing on isopropylic alcohol with my airbrush - be sure you do this in a well ventilated area.



Then I always prime my models.
First I can easily identify mistakes or errors which occured while building. Second I have a smooth and good basecoat for the following colours and techniques.

This time I tried the Grey Primer 73.601 from AV Vallejo.
I used it undeluted with my airbrush. With the airbrush I had good control and it was easy to access some problematic areas. Cleaning was easily done with the Airbrush Cleaner 099 also from AV Vallejo.



The result is a smooth, thin and even surface - I´m really pleased. But If the basecoat colludes with other colours and painting techniques will show the next days.

Thanks for watching.
Cheers
Walter

Splendid work Walter, the barb wire is really effective. I have the Verlinden old barb wire set, but it's a bit 1 dimensional.

Ryan

Well done Walter.

I like a lot your clean method

Now I'm waiting for your paint stage

Walter, I reckon that barbed wire looks to be in scale. The assembly is going very well.

As for Indian tankers, I believe their regular uniform is a black shirt (like a dress shirt) with black beret and a white or yellow writing and border with black background name-tape on the right side of the chest:



I reckon if they were UNOSOM they would definetly have worn a blue beret or turban with the black shirt. If they were wearing fatigues they would likely be a pattern close to either the British DPM or something like US Woodland BDU's.



They could also have been wearing body armor in UN color:



Indian troops were also known to wear a US WW2 style helmet in UN color in Somalia (not sure about tankers though):



Through looking at a good few pictures of Indian tanks with tankers I haven't seen one without the black shirt and beret. However, most of the pictures of Indian tanks are of them on parade or exercise when that uniform would be suitable. As part of UNOSOM I reckon they would have the DPM/Woodland camo with blue armor vest and blue beret. Thats just my two cents. There are a lot of options open to you as the Indian Army has used and uses quite a few different uniforms, camouflages and styles of uniform.

Anyway, keep up the great work Walter.