MODERN RUSSIAN ARMOUR - T-72B1 in Ukraine April 2022 (25th Dec update)

[Brokeneagle]

This 'bricked -up' toughie is already started and coming soon to a channel near you ........

I searched out as many shots of this tank as I could find - some have been taken at different times if you look at the slogans painted on the barrel and the side rubber sheet hanging out with the Kontakt brick barley attached. Also the last photo has no mud jammed in the tracks, which means it has travelled further on a hard surface.
This is an A in the same column...[which I may end up doing as well]

...and I think this is the same tank much later...

 

[Jeeves]

Looking forward to it Ian!

 

[moon puppy]

 

[Brokeneagle]

Here we go again, another version of the T-72, this time its an early B version, the B1.
The T-72B, which appeared in the mid-1980s, included a more advanced fire control system, the ability to launch anti-tank guided missiles [ATGMs] through its main gun and enhanced armor protection. The T-72B1 was a cost-reduced version lacking missile capability but retaining most other improvements.
The main changes are with the Kontakt armour bricks - they are smaller and cover the whole turret, as well as the front glacis plate and up to half way along the side skirts toward the rear. The rear of the tank has a few minor changes from the later models with some foldable armoured covers and rear louvre covers for the outlets. The right hand exhaust outlet is slightly different also. The spare track stowage configuration on the lower rear plate is also different.
This one is the Meng B1 kit, which is quite nice but has some painful aspects in and opposite way to the Trumpeter BA. I will get into that later.

This one is the Meng B1 kit, which is quite nice but has some painful aspects in and opposite way to the Trumpeter BA. I will get into that later.

 

[moon puppy]

They are getting their money's worth out of that design aren't they?

 

[Heavens Eagle]

What's with the green wheel? Just curious as it looks to be the same pattern as the others. Yeah, I know they mix and match patterns.

 

[Brokeneagle]

What's with the green wheel? Just curious as it looks to be the same pattern as the others. Yeah, I know they mix and match patterns.

No big secret or anything, I thought I had lost a wheel, so I retrieved a spare from the T-72B3M. I have since found the missing wheel.

 

[iambrb]

Looking nice! I have long has an appreciation for the Russkie designs. Am following!

 

[Brokeneagle]

I decided to show the rear external fuel tank mounts folded as I was not going to have the fuel tanks on this one. This would require modifying the kit parts from the molded form to fit the tanks to folded back to the rear hull.
Here the mounts are shown on thisT-72 in the Ukraine.

I needed to cut the arc shapes off the base and turn them, adding holes and securing nuts to the bases. I also needed to cut away some of the molded detail from the arc arms that was additional to allow them to match the feul tank mounting grooves.
Similar Trumpeter parts showing the original form.

MENG PARTS - AFTER MODIFICATION

I added bolts to only 2 of the four holes in each base plate as I had seen in ref pics.

The seam lines you can see in the photo are nearly impossible to see with the naked eye - macro photo's always show upthe rough parts. One of my bases had some wonky holes but the mounting arm hides it well enough.
I next cut the front mud guards off as per the photos using a Tamiya razor saw, cutting at the section join line. This would require some additional work on 'scratching' up a wire spring arm to replace the molded plastic detail removed.

Next was the turret. Meng provide vinyl panels for the Anti- Radiation layer over the top of the turret. This was very hard to set in place but super glue finally proved the answer. The Trumpter BA version had an even more pain with the many attachment points having to be seperately fitted as PE detail.
I am not sure which was more difficult.

 

[moon puppy]

Nice surgery Ian, those mounts could swing around either way on their pivots or were they just removed and reoriented?

 

[jknaus]

Fantastic work Ian. I dont recall ever seeing the mounts reoriented like that before, most seemed to have just been removed. Its a very eye catching detail though. Very nice.

 

[Rhino]

This will be bonzer as it motors along!

 

[Brokeneagle]

Nice surgery Ian, those mounts could swing around either way on their pivots or were they just removed and reoriented?

Thanks MP.
No they didn't swing , they had to be removed and rebolted in the new position. I have seen many variations including bolting them on to just 1 edge of the base plate as in one of the plates on the 'pristine' tank displayed.

 

[Brokeneagle]

Fantastic work Ian. I dont recall ever seeing the mounts reoriented like that before, most seemed to have just been removed. Its a very eye catching detail though. Very nice.

Thanks James. I have a number of photos showing different variations..... heres another which I also added to the main post..

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Interesting! Will have to remember this.

 

[Rhino]

Evidence before us suggests Russian armored units run out of fuel quite often in Ukraine. This could explain it.

 

[Brokeneagle]

Interesting! Will have to remember this.

glad to be of service!

 

[Brokeneagle]

ERA BRICKS - the next phase.
The ERA Bricks on the B1 are what really give it its unique look from the other versions and this particular tank has plenty of character with damaged bricks galore, as well as good ones too. The photos I have span a varying period that I would guess would be at least a month or 2.

The right hand side side panels are quite damaged in this photo, with what looks like the final rear angled rubber panel completely gone. I decided to set my model after the earlier photos [without the barrel markings but before the pic above], so I depicted that panel slightly damaged before it was completely torn away.
Another interesting point of damage is the front ERA brick strip which has come off at the left end and the last set of bricks have been crushed and bent. The PE ERA set from Voyager is perfect for recreating the damaged sections as they fold exactly like the real ERA brick form. I have tried to recreate it a little before the photo where it is not so bent over. Having finished and looking at the photo they look quite different in size, with the resin ones to large. However when looking at them with the naked eye they do not look THAT different , so I am in 2 minds as to whether to replace them or not !
.

I used a mix of Voyager PE and Royal Model set 2.
I then mixed it up between the PE and the Kit bricks. The kit bricks needed some more work on the grooves to make them more 3d so I used a triangular file between each brick. Some of the side panels still needed to be cut and taken away which exposed the 'hollowness' of the moldings so I had to fill those with clear glue or use plastic card to cover the gap.

At this point I started on the turned metal barrel from Aber. I did not nee to use the PE clamps and nuts on this one as the tank does not have a thermal cover on the barrel.

I then proceeded to add the other turret detals and finish the barrel. I also added a bullet hole in the left hand headlight as in the later photos and the standard weld seam to the tube at the rear of the turret.

The top and the chassis are not glued together yet so that I can attach the tracks.
So next up is the track build - a boring task for any tank modeller.

 

[Rhino]

Now I am well versed in ERA block configurations! Thanks Ian!

Happy Christmas!

 

[moon puppy]

What a mess! Looks great Ian. At this point we insert "Big Gun" jokes.