ASAD-BABIL "LION OF BABYLON" IRAQI ARMY FEB 1991

[Meter rat]

Coming along Mr Bix. Need to crack on with mine. But my motivation for my T72 seems to have gone.

[HERMAN BIX]

Coming along Mr Bix. Need to crack on with mine. But my motivation for my T72 seems to have gone.

Oh its there, just know there's not another one until this is done.
Get it done, find a way, or your out of the hobby and the Mrs is right, its a phase.................thats how I get thru times of a form slump.

[HERMAN BIX]

I love the smell of Mr Surfacer Primer in the morning
0630, a public holiday( Australia Day) and I cant sleep in
Outside with the turet & its bits to get the Mr 500 on it so the green can be spot sprayed, then the turret can be assembled.
After doing a couple of these later T-series MBTs I know to paint the backsides and turret faces of bins etc as its too hard to get good paint coverage in behind them otherwise.
Once the 500 goes over the putty blend it unifies the look and settles down any excessively rough areas. Plus it looks like progress

edit: I have noticed a couple of spots that need finessing post primer

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[Ecam]

Those modern turrets are busy compared to most of the WWII stuff. Looks great in one color. Primer does seem to point out fixes. I seem to primer several times (after repairs). I often paint with a brush to reach the hard to get at points. Then the spray blends it all in.

[HERMAN BIX]

Today has been a sluggish & dusty day for progress.
It was Australia Day yesterday, I had a full dance card of events beginning with a visit to the in-laws as the Wifes an Aussie(slash Kiwi) and the rest of her lot are all rabid Collingwood AFL hardliners from Melbourne.
I began in true form by popping the cork on a bottle of Prosecco at 0900. Now approximately 8 seconds after the pop I had my ear bent by the Wife and her Mother about the pro's & con's of getting into it that early..................to which I reminded them of their frequency of health issues/sickness/general frailty.............and that they were non-drinkers.
From there we had 2 hours at home(for me to recharge) then off to a friends house that are from the UK. It was as humid as hell & just awful outside, so very convivial for cooling libations ........que the bent ear again............
Got home at 23:10, watched the last of the Tennis, and all of a sudden woke up at 0645 rather lost & mildly sloppy
Still the first up and after a quiet coffee, went down the road for more eggs and a top up of Bacon.
Punched a breakfast into us, waved bye to the only sensible adult that was taking a kid to dance and got into the Gin & Tonics..... Tanqueray in fact.

Mr Surfacer 500 spray on the roadwheels, which showed up a bit of poor painting from the supplier(these were green out of the box) which had to be wire brushed off & reapplied as necessary in spots.
Mixing a bit of new paint into my Russian Tank Green blend to bulk it up and get it a bit lighter, spot sprayed the areas behind bins and the roadwheels so that I can assemble the turret & then I can focus solely on the hull. Gave the roadwheel inner faces a coat of matt sealant as I'm not going to put a desert sand coat over that inner surface. Tomorrows going to be a leap forward I reckon

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[HERMAN BIX]

And now the turret bins are on, " The Lion" is starting to roar.
Looking forward to getting the upper front glacis done then assembly & paint.

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

I see in your fine photos, Bix, that the turret has on it an antenna mount, the venerable antenna mount from the days of crystal TX/RX. What's the scoop on that? Is it in exactly the right spot for a new antenna installed by your expertise?

[HERMAN BIX]

I see in your fine photos, Bix, that the turret has on it an antenna mount, the venerable antenna mount from the days of crystal TX/RX. What's the scoop on that? Is it in exactly the right spot for a new antenna installed by your expertise?

Yes Sir, believe it or not, its in the right place!
Or at least as close to it so as not to matter.
Though the new H/Ls dont need one, I use their steel aerials cut down to represent the respective versions antennae, as they are durable, repeatable and free!

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[HERMAN BIX]

Work on the back end. ( Que Giselle Bundschen)

The ubiquitous 'Log of Unditching' is made from hardwood dowel, 12mm diameter to get the right look. Its actually under scale to what it should be, but any bigger & it would not look in proportion I reckon.
The HL method of holding this on is to use crossed over zip ties
I have removed the zip tie points & drilled screws into the wood thru the slots so I can easily remove it for painting. Plan to get some metallic strip wrapped around it to represent the strapping which holds it on in real life.
The screws which are visible if you get the right angle will be hidden by a bit of tube( thats tooobe to you left hand drivers!) that will mate up with the strip on the wood.
Another thing...........looking at one period picture of a captured Lion, there is an ammo crate on the right rear fuel tank side next to a crushed red-ish fuel tank on the left.
Looking at the picture it cannot be a crate for the 125mm T72 gun (too small/short) , rather a crate for the 100mm gun which I assume is for crew stowage & the D10S gun ammo requires a bigger space. It spans the full width of the missing drum position, and I have a beautiful 125mm crate to scale it off( Mr Raminators finest work) to check this theory.

https://picryl.com/media/american-servi ... red-749afb

I still have to 'crush' the fuel drum, and thats not going to be easy. But I just feel this model needs it.
These will need to be dry fitted, painted, then removed for the trans-Pacific freight trip so they are not broken off en transit.

Also got the splash/fording guard made for the glacis plate. Brass was cut to suit using the éyecrometer' to get the look. Its not set in position yet, but Im happy enough with it as a pass. Harder than it looks or needs to be, getting a genuine EARLY T72 is a great thing for versatility.
Still to make the anti spall bars for it. There should be 3 bars if the hull has the added plate over the glacis, or only 2 if the added plate was not fitted.
Thats according to the official records of this series of tank development. ( )
I gotta do 3 . But 3 there shall be.

Assorted welds, and towing cables of course to be sorted, along with the cupola M.G.

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

In case no one recognizes the reference, here's Gisele Bündchen:

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By Ninoprofotos - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p ... d=82938372