Hi;

Really nice Work, and Attention to detail's !!!! But some of it is A Bit Overkill; There is really nothing wrong with the kit's exhaust details that A Pin-vise can't cure ! Yes Miniarm makes some Superb detail sets, and I have Purchased quite A few, esp; there Turret's ! But again there exhaust set was not that much better than the kit's part to make it worth it. Now some parts, I will agree that they can be improved, but some are not, For example; On the Tamiya T-72 which lacked A lot of details, which I built A Total of fifteen different versions, one of the added improvement was Drilling out the Exhaust to give it extra depth. I have all of the trumpy, T-72 version's as well as Meng's and there Finder details are Superb, and it makes for A added Build feature for Modeling missing fuel pannier's or zip boxes, which IMHO makes for A more interesting vehicle.

CHEERS; MIKE.

Hi;

My Commit was Not ment to be A Slight on your Modeling skills our your subject; And I am A Poor excuse for trying to add that extra touch that really is not necessary. Myself as A Modeler; I like to see just How far that I can go to improve A kit just by Scratch building extra detail's ! And I am Not your typical normal modeler, I Build Models on A Collector mentality, that's why I have Soo many T-72s in my collection ! But that's just Me, and I really Enjoy looking at individuals like yourself who can Work Magic on A Model !!!!!!!!

CHEERS; MIKE.

Thanks for posting that info about the barrel Randall, I have a couple, but have not started them. It is very helpful to know some of the pitfalls beforehand.

I really wish Live Resin would get into the 125mm barrel game. An all resin barrel with clamps molded on would be worth whatever they charged.

Hi;

As for Metal Barrels there is only Two that I use, Model Point, and Magic Models !!!! And they both make metal barrels for 2a46m 125mm ! with & without the Thermo Sleeve.
IMHO the kit's barrel in most cases is fine, unless you want to use A 125mm without the sleeve. At one time, I was crazy about metal barrels, and everything I built had to have A metal barrel, but after many build's of T-72s,80s &90s the kits barrels are just fine. There have been many post's and Argument's about the search for A Accurate 125mm Barrel ! There are around Ten Different AM company's that offer AM Barrels for modern Russian tank's !! Reading the Post on the 2a46 is A Must Read !!

CHEERS; MIKE.

Hi;

There have great debates on the 2a46 125mm Gun, as it has many different features. The Thermo, Sleeve after repeated discharge's tend to come Loose, and that's one reason why you can find pictures of T-72s,80s,&90s with either the sleeve missing or only half of it on the barrel, and at Different angle's on the barrel, even upside down !! Later Mks; of the 2a46 appear on vehicles of Newer types like the T-90ms, T-14, so you have to build accordingly The 2a46m6 will be hard to source, as you will have to mail order it or use the kit's Barrel !!

CHEERS; MIKE.

Hi; Randall;

"Yes" The Shroud as you call it was easy to remove, and became loose very easily, and was one reason why Tank crews Hated it so much as they were required to secure it after each time the Gun was fired. It was also very easy to replace the entire sleeve in A very short time. When looking at 2a46s the one thing that they don't show is the drain Holes in the Bottom of the sleeve that helps displace moisture inside the sleeve. I have A Miniarm T-72 Ural turret in my collection which I also used A Magic Model Barrel without the sleeve and used A Tamiya T-72 as the doner kit which I added extra details and I also replased the glassis plate also from Miniarm to make it accurate for A early T-72 which was even earlier than the A model which has the Luna search lite on the Port side. Its A Mk; of the T-72 that you very seldom ever See !

CHEERS; MIKE.

I still need a solution to the gap around the gun mantlet cover. So far no one has answered my pleas for an AM cover.

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I still need a solution to the gap around the gun mantlet cover. So far no one has answered my pleas for an AM cover.

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Hear hear! brass replacement fenders also please!

John and Randy,
an option for fenders would be thin copper sheet, good sized rolls of .0035" thick can be found in any of the big box craft stores. Its advantage over, say, aluminum is that creases and wrinkles can be worked out completely. Press a piece down over the kit fender and work into the details with a sharpened wood dowel or the like.

Sean