No, just the result of very aggressive tank driving in the “tank biathlon” I believe.
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Nearly time for some primer; a few details will have to be painted separately, and I’m still awaiting a new station-keeping light for the turret rear. The Driver’s hatch has also to be fitted, as has the Driver prior to the hull being mated to the top. Antenna and MG Blu-tak’d in position for the picture:
I had plans to depict this with Dragon’s excellent Motor Rifle figures, but having decided that I’d use Dragon’s tank crew as well, now find that there is quite a noticeable size discrepancy; the MR Troops could be Potsdam Grenadiers given their height. That’s not to say they’re over-scale, more that the tank crew are decidedly diminutive. The answer is to get a new tank crew but I’ve decided to go with the Dragon ones, as, well, I feel it’s appropriate for this era of kit; after all, Dragon was on a roll back in the 90s and must have produced the crew kit for these very tanks (the T-72 range and even their T-80, that is).
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Weren’t the Soviets known for selecting soldiers in training to be tankers of shorter stature due to the cramped interiors of their tank designs. That was always something I vaguely remember reading/hearing back in those days.
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Yes, I believe that given the vast population (and conscription) they had that luxury; whether or not it’s true I have no idea but we were also told that; the thing is, even if I pursued that, the proportions would still be all wrong. I’ve stowed the MR troop set back in the stash otherwise I’d show a picture.
I think with just the crew it will still look OK. I can’t use the commander figure I had worked on, but am now trying to utilise the guy with the flag as the tank commander.
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Can you please tell us which barrel you use? I want to make the same kit and I want to change the barrel. Thank you.
I used the Accurate Armour one in resin (with a metal rod in the core) but Accurate Armour are no more, though I have a few in the stash.
Aber do a metal one:
which I have attempted to use in the past but found a pain to put together to be honest, and ham-fisted I may well be, ended up with glue smears where I really didn’t want any; a more dextreous modeller could probably do a much better job than I!
More recently, as I’m re-working an ancient Skif T-64 (I know the Trumpeter ones are better but I have a perverse nature), I’ve gone for one of these, on eBay and am awaiting its arrival, so cannot comment on it just yet; however, I suspect as a 3D print it will be more user friendly than the Aber version:
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Nobody tell the Scots! They’ll want to dip it in batter and fry it…
I had one of these dragon T-72’s in my stash way back when and ran out of steam building it. Threw it away when moving house. Picked up a few “better” T-72’s over the years from more modern moldings, but for some reason I just can’t seem to bring one to the finish line. Even though I like the looks of these tanks. So I’m looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
Yeah, I mean a Mars bar is pretty sickly stuff to start with; a fried one - I’m not even sure on the physics of that(!) - eurgh!
The Dragon kit requires a bit of TLC such as a bit of detailing on the MG, and I’m not sure regarding accuracy of dimensions etc (I’m sure others are) but, well, it’s looking like a T-72, which I know full well is not measure of quality, but so far, so good I feel.
I’m still undecided about crew figures and/or accompanying MR Troops; I might have to revisit the whole thing(!) However, that shouldn’t involve too much of a delay, so I should manage to get it in primer today, I hope.
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