Heng Long T90

[zooma]

I am also guessing that if the Russian T90 tanks were actually painted in this scheme, then it would be reasonable to assume that some of them could have been sold to the Ukrainian Army in the same colours.....and would be the inspiration for Heng Long to produce this Ukrainian version of it ?

T-90s were never sold to Ukraine, the handful they have in active service are captured Russian ones. Ukraine inherited a large number of tanks following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and didn't have the need (or budget) to buy more modern Russian designs. The Malyshev plant (which produced T-64s and T-80s for the Soviet army) is in Kharkiv; the increase in Ukrainian defence spending between the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion in 2022 was directed at modernising those designs, like the T-64BV and T-84.

Thanks for the info Raminator..

I would guess that any captured Russian T90 tanks would be in an all over green colour and that they are probably looking a bit 'worse for wear" by now and that the camouflage scheme supplied on the Heng Long T90 would not have been used in the Ukrainian "operation".

....... but maybe the Russians used whatever they had available and weren't too bothered about repainting any of them (?) so if this camouflage scheme actually existed (other than on the gymkhana tank) perhaps some could have been involved?

Although the decals supplied are for a "promotional" tank, I hope that the camouflage scheme is authentic as it would make a nice change to all my green tanks.

Bob.

[tankme]

I think technically the T80 is a more advanced tank than the T90. It's a different branch. The T90 is a direct descendant of the T72, but the T80 isn't. From what I remember the T80 was cancelled in favor of the T90 as the T90 was cheaper and easier to maintain than the T80. The plant that made T80s was in Ukraine when Ukraine broke away from the USSR which is why the T80 was still produced in Ukraine. There are tons of different camo patterns for T72 tanks, but I don't think I've done much research into the T90 patterns...yet.

[zooma]

The wires on the Li-ion battery that came with my T90 were a bit too long and they made a tight fit inside the small battery space under the tank.

The XT60 plug socket that came on the battery was also a VERY tight fit on the XT60 plug on the tank, so with the tight fitting plug and the over-long wires they combined to make battery changing more hassle than it should be.

I bought a spare Li-ion battery from HAYA as the T90 only takes a small size battery and so I wanted a spare, but it came with even longer leads .....and had a Tamiya plug fitted!

Both batteries have now had their wires shortened and both have new XT60 plug sockets fitted, and happily the batteries now fit inside the T90 much better and the new XT60 sockets also fit the tanks XT60 plug much better too.

[Redballrunner73]

Hi Zooma from newbie Redballrunner73.. I ordered my Heng Long/Torro T-90 (6.0s) just as the Ukraine conflict was getting more media coverage, have grown to really like this tank after fixing (i think) the issues with the right track not staying on by using the Haya T-72/T-90 metal 2 pin tracks with Heng Long metal sprockets/idler with bearings, and made the tank look truer to original. I jumped the gun and started to add detailing/t-90 stickers/eagle stickers etc before proper research and have since removed these, added the cope cage and front skirt but am now thining do I keep the camo' paint scheme which I do like, or strip back and go green? as this looks good also.. ah decisions decisions

before..

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..After (for now??)

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

"[D]o I keep the camo' paint scheme which I do like, or strip back and go green?" Good grief! This is false dilemma. Egad! You keep this one and start on another one in the green scheme. Jeepers, I almost had a heart attack when I read above. Phew!

[zooma]

Hi Zooma from newbie Redballrunner73.. I ordered my Heng Long/Torro T-90 (6.0s) just as the Ukraine conflict was getting more media coverage, have grown to really like this tank after fixing (i think) the issues with the right track not staying on by using the Haya T-72/T-90 metal 2 pin tracks with Heng Long metal sprockets/idler with bearings, and made the tank look truer to original. I jumped the gun and started to add detailing/t-90 stickers/eagle stickers etc before proper research and have since removed these, added the cope cage and front skirt but am now thining do I keep the camo' paint scheme which I do like, or strip back and go green? as this looks good also.. ah decisions decisions



I think your T90 looks really good, and I too like the colour, although I have since learnt that the large side decals only relate to one tank that was used in some sort of tank competition. I will keep the colour scheme on my T90 and try to find out if it was actually used in combat - or if it was only a "promotional" paint job used on a "one-off" competition tank, but (sadly) I will not be fitting the (very attractive) "eagle and flag" side decal.

The "dessert" type colour scheme really does look good and I am hoping that it was not just an imaginary one that Heng Long dreamt-up. If it is a non-authentic colour scheme I would still be tempted to keep it as every other tank that I have to date is GREEN - and this one makes a nice change!

My T90 was a basic budget version and I have not even upgraded the plastic drive sprockets yet, but I did buy a pair of alloy sprockets at the time from forgebear that I intend to fit along with an extra outer bearing to the drive axle for reliability.

The alloy sprockets that I bought do not have the additional "guide rings" to help keep the metal tracks on. I am not sure how important these guide rings are. I have some large steel washers that I can modify to fit the metal sprockets to act as 'guides" if I feel the need - but I will be running my tank without them to start with using the basic plastic tracks. If/when I fit metal tracks I will see how they perform and make some guide rings to add to the metal sprockets if they are needed.

I really like your extra detailing. I have not seen any pictures of a turret "cage" fitted to a T90 (I would like to copy one and add it to my T90), but yours looks good and when I have finished building my HAYA Centurion kit I will return to my T90 as I need an "opposing forces" tank - and I really do like the look of the T90.

My own future research will include trying to find some pictures of T90 tanks with a turret cage. These turret cages (like you have fitted to your T90) are now in common use in the current conflict in Ukraine and I would like to make something similar to fit my model

Your tank looks far too good to strip it back for a repaint. If your tank were mine I would NOT strip it back - if you really fancy a GREEN T90 I would buy another one and paint that one green instead.........

Stay in touch!

Bob.