Trumpeter T-72B1 with Kontakt ERA

[tankme]

So as many of you may have read in another thread I ended up getting like a $30 discount on this Trumpeter T-72B1 1/16 kit due to a crushed box. No pieces have been damaged that I can see in the kit from the box crushing. The kit was already on the way to me before finding out I wouldn't have a job in a month.

I do really hate my tank ADHD though at times. I told myself that it was going to go on the shelf as a future project since I have an entire Heng Long T-72 lower with metal tracks and running gear to mate it to. Then I started my work on call rotation which totaled 20hrs of Microsoft Teams meetings in the past week. As it stands I am required to be in these meetings, but in some case have very little input. Not wanting to completely waste my time sitting in my home office...out came the new kit. I told myself I would just cut and clean some parts...but then...

I started another project.

Holy hell there are a lot of little ERA blocks to place on this kit and 98% of them are single blocks. I can say that this upper is much more detailed than the Heng Long upper of the regular T-72. It wasn't without issues though. Some of the instructions on which direction the blocks are supposed to face are contradictory so I just said screw it and placed them how I thought they were supposed to be in some cases. Also, some of the mounting points for the blocks are literally missing and you have to guess exactly how the block is supposed to mount. Then there are about a half dozen blocks that have to be modified in some way (usually remove the mounting bracket on one end) to get them to fit in the spot the instructions tells you to put them. Overall the effect is quite nice. I also haven't figured out why Trumpeter couldn't have molded the hatches so that they could open and close. They are all static in the close position. That will be something I will have to modify because I want them to work. Test fitting to the lower is not shown, but initial assessment of the fit to the lower is quite promising. Anyway...here is how it sits at the moment.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"The kit was already on the way to me before finding out I wouldn't have a job in a month." Whoa! There's good and bad in one sentence! O.K. so you will have a project in hand. But no job is bad news, and I am sorry to learn of it.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"The kit was already on the way to me before finding out I wouldn't have a job in a month." Whoa! There's good and bad in one sentence! O.K. so you will have a project in hand. But no job is bad news, and I am sorry to learn of it.

[tankme]

I'm not really worried about the job thing since I've got plenty of savings. I planned for the end of the contract even though they said it would be rebid and we would win it. As it turns out the government said they missed the deadline to submit paperwork for the rebid. I think that answer is a load of crap, but oh well. I will probably qualify for some unemployment and our prime contractor is diligently looking to place us on new contracts since we all have current government background checks. It will all work out. My conservative guess is that I can survive on my savings alone for a least 6 months and my optimistic guess would be closer to a year.

Back to the tank stuff...

The sides of the plastic HL hull needs to have approximately 1/8" removed from the top at this point in order for the Trumpeter upper to fit. The width is spot on and so far the length looks good also. I have removed the HL rear plate and will be replacing it with the one supplied with the Trumpeter kit. It glues to the outside of the hull tub so it won't affect rigidity of the hull at all. I will also be replacing the front add on plate with the Trumpeter plate since it is an add on to the hull also. Plan is to also fill the bottom of the tub with resin and add some internal bracing. I will need to add either a Henntec or a RC Tank Legion idler brace to it. I'll also be planning to use the Attracks RMSH type tracks (the earlier T-72 tracks).

[Raminator]

You're off to a great start tankme, I'll be following this build closely. The T-72's my favourite tank by a long shot, and the long and low silhouette looks great when it's bulked out with Kontakt-1, stowage lockers and NSVT ammo boxes. The individual ERA tiles give a bit more texture to the model too, since they're not all perfectly aligned. At least you only have to put them on once!

All the best with the job hunt, but I'm sure if you have any time free you'll make the most of it!

[Shootermcgraw]

Tank me,
I would consider that a paid vacation! Always a need for an IT guy....now look at the extra time you have to get busy on that build. I can't wait for a paid vacation to start on my similar T-90 version. Have fun

Sent from my ONA19TB003 using Tapatalk

[tankme]

Already on a new contract that started Monday so I think I only took about 11 hours of vacation time between contracts. I'm currently waiting for a front brace/adjustable idler for the chassis. Want to get that installed before finishing the work of modifying the upper to fit the HL lower.

[tomhugill]

So as many of you may have read in another thread I ended up getting like a $30 discount on this Trumpeter T-72B1 1/16 kit due to a crushed box. No pieces have been damaged that I can see in the kit from the box crushing. The kit was already on the way to me before finding out I wouldn't have a job in a month.

I do really hate my tank ADHD though at times. I told myself that it was going to go on the shelf as a future project since I have an entire Heng Long T-72 lower with metal tracks and running gear to mate it to. Then I started my work on call rotation which totaled 20hrs of Microsoft Teams meetings in the past week. As it stands I am required to be in these meetings, but in some case have very little input. Not wanting to completely waste my time sitting in my home office...out came the new kit. I told myself I would just cut and clean some parts...but then...

I started another project.

Holy hell there are a lot of little ERA blocks to place on this kit and 98% of them are single blocks. I can say that this upper is much more detailed than the Heng Long upper of the regular T-72. It wasn't without issues though. Some of the instructions on which direction the blocks are supposed to face are contradictory so I just said screw it and placed them how I thought they were supposed to be in some cases. Also, some of the mounting points for the blocks are literally missing and you have to guess exactly how the block is supposed to mount. Then there are about a half dozen blocks that have to be modified in some way (usually remove the mounting bracket on one end) to get them to fit in the spot the instructions tells you to put them. Overall the effect is quite nice. I also haven't figured out why Trumpeter couldn't have molded the hatches so that they could open and close. They are all static in the close position. That will be something I will have to modify because I want them to work. Test fitting to the lower is not shown, but initial assessment of the fit to the lower is quite promising. Anyway...here is how it sits at the moment.

Looking forward to your reliability mods on this, I have the same build to do (only have the trumpeter kit so far) so this should be good!

[General Jumbo01]

That's good news on the job front. The down side is work interfering with the hobby

Another Russian gem, not sexy like a T34 or IS2 but a silly long barrel on a low slung hull with loads of add on debris to fit! I built the T90 with the same jumble sale of bits all over it. It really is a pity we're spread out across the globe - l'd love to check out your collection in person. Good luck with the build.

Sent from my ASUS_X00TDB using Tapatalk

[tankme]

I do have quite the collection forming, but now I just need the time to finish them all...