by: Chuanren [ ]
I came across this fella after failing to find the Zvezda T-72 with ERA. The kit itself is from the mould of the Dragon t-72 and comes in 6 sprue trees The plastic are olive in colour and are tough and not crisp. At first look one can tell that the kits is capable for a motorized version( which happens to every chinese kits except trumpeter)with a hole under the hull for a switch Tracks are quite surprsingly detailed for such price and are soft and easily bendable The kit claims that the tracks are gluable by cement but i have yet to try it out.
The construction was not a smooth ride. I started with the barrel, and comes in 3 pieces. the two sides and a muzzle head. The fit was ok but require a little sanding & trimming. The main turret has one of the worst fittings in the kit. The two halves leave you some huge gaps to be filled with tons of putty, and some slicing away of excess plastic. Joining of barrel to the main turret also require filling up.
The hull and suspension was normal but the mounting for the drive sprocket lacked major detail. The instructions require you to insert a metal shaft(which is not provided in the kit) through the sprockets, ignore it unless you are buliding a motorizred version. Polycaps for the wheel are stiff and though unless many other brands. Attaching of headlights are in a wrong step. The instructions say to attach the metal framing on even before you have glued on the lights onto the hull itself.
Engine grille is depicted by a shiny sticker which showed no realism. And the kit provided some rubber tubing for hoses to the fuel drum. You will have a choice of either a closed infraed red lights or a opened one. The only highlight is probably the ERA blocks, although lacked detail, they add a little spice to the bad kit.
Decals are poor in quality and although you will have a choice of east german,czech, hungarian and soviet markings The instructions lacked decal and camoflauge instructions although through the process they will inform you of the colours of minor details such as the lights and guns etc A alien looking commander is provided but he deserved to be in the bin instead
Conclusion, the kit is basically a no no for most modellers and is recommended to avoid it. Although it is a cheap kit, it will not be worth the time mending the kit and getting aftermarket products. A better alternative is either the Zvezda T-72 or the Tamiya T-72M.
Copyright ©2021 text by Chuanren [ ]. All rights reserved.
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