Vehicle History
The TOS-1 also known as Buratino is a multiple rocket launcher mounted on a T-72 chassis. It has been designed to fire the thermobaric rockets at a range of 400 to 3500m. It is also referred to as a heavy flame-thrower system. It entered service with the Soviet army in early 80’s and saw combat in Afghanistan. It has been upgraded as recently as 2001.
The conversion kit is issued by SP Designs of theUkraine. It represents the early variant and is recommended for the Dragon T-72 kit as the donor kit. It consists of the new turret and some modified parts in replacement of the kit ones, It comes in a cardboard box in which there are 31 parts cast in a soft pale yellow resin. The parts are protected by bubble plastic bag wrap however, my kit had two main parts broken. The casting is well done with little flash remaining. Some air bubbles will require minor filling and sanding. The detail is average, some parts being the wrong shape when compared to the real vehicle pics (I.E, rear stabilizers). The instructions comes in two A4 sheets with hand drawings. It is generally clear but lacks some accuracy as far as the location of the parts on the front plate are concerned. Good reference pics of the real vehicle will be very helpful to you, to aid in the building process. . The preparation consists in removing the cast “sprues”, the remaining flash and cutting the portions of the front sponson according to the instructions to fit new sponson boxes on both sides dry fitting shows some fit problems especially for the launcher pod. It comes as a hollow part with a “plug” at each end. My kit had 2 identical “plugs” whereas the rear one should be different. The 3 parts do not align properly and will need a lot of sanding to achieve a perfect fit and as a result some rivets will need to be replaced. The turret perfectly fit the Dragon turret race. To enable the rotation of the turret, a strip of plastic will be added under the turret ring (in the way the tabs work with the original kit turret). The rear stabilizers will be modified to have the correct shape. The connection with the round parts in contact with the ground (when in firing position) must be corrected as well, this is where your reference pics will come in handy. SP Designs gives a paint scheme in the 3-tone pattern of black, green and sand. No markings are issued but few are visible on the real vehicles. According to my references at times a 3 digit number is shown on the launcher sides.
Overall impressions
This kit will build up to an original and interesting variant of the T-72 tank. Some work is necessary to get a faithful representation of the early vehicle (and more for those willing to have the late variant). It can be recommended for those who like exotic kits in their collection. Despite some flaws, this kit is worth the money you’ll spend. As mentioned earlier good reference pics are a must and will only help you build this kit accurately and more smoothly.
