[1/35 Russian MBT T-72AV, Full Interior w/Workable Tracks 25% Sale]

Amusing Hobby has a very attractive T-72AV kit with some of the nicest box art we have seen in a long while. Does the kit match the quality of the art? Paul Lee finds out in the only way possible in the first of two-part build review here on TMN...

Build review Pt I: T-72AV Full Interior

From Amusing Hobby

1/35th scale

Three marking choices are included.

Polystyrene, photo-etch and waterslide decals multimedia Kit

Price: $65 USD from Hobbylink Japan

Product Link on the Amusing Hobby Website

The Subject: The T-72AV

The T-72 was a much-feared opponent when it first appeared with its extremely low profile and being largely impenetrable to the 105mm AP shells of the time. However, this led to the development of the Rheinmetall 120mm, adopted on the Leopard 2 and later, the Abrams, which was used to devastating effect on all Iraqi vehicles in the First Gulf War and thus rendering the T-72 obsolete. Attempts have been made to keep the T-72 survivable on the modern battlefield through the application of various ERA and armour packages but the damage to the reputation of the T-72 had already been done.

A Syrian Republican Guard T-72AV, March 2013, lots of damage to the tank from urban fighting especially to the side skirts & ERA blocks. A note for this build is the mangled side skirts and damage to the tank from street fighting in cities.

Starting in the mid-1980s, the T-72AV was a designation used for the T-72A tank with Reactive Armor (ERA) attached to its hull. The V in "T-72AV" is taken from the Russian acronym "Vzryv," which means "explosion."

Out of the two dozen T-72 variants developed, the Russian Armed Forces presently use the T-72B, T-72AV, T-72B obr 1989, T-72B1, T-72B3 and the T-72B3 obr 2016. These tanks can be easily separated into two groups. The T-72B, T-72AV and T-72B1 all use the older Kontakt-1 ERA bricks that are not integrated into the tank like the never Kontakt-5 (or externally almost identical Relikt) ERA found on the other models.

A Sundanese T-72AV

Syria was only one state to receive the non-downgraded version of T-72A, also a soviet exclusive 3BM-44 APFSDS. In the early 90s it got fully upgraded with Kontakt-1 ERA, hence V abbreviation. ATGM launch ability and advanced Italian TURMS-T version were added later.

A Syrian Republican Guard T-72AV, March 2013.

The T-72AV has a more V-shaped ERA array on the turret than the T-72B1 and T-72B with ERA that have the same armour layout.

The Kit:

This is the latest version of Amusing Hobby’s T-72 kit, and is a modernised version of the T-72A which is covered in ERA and designated as the T-72AV. There are three marking schemes provided in the kit, one Russian in all green, two Syrian vehicles, one in green and dark yellow camouflage, and an all-yellow version.

All schemes feature only minimum decals, with only turret numbers or a Syrian flag, although some markings from other versions are also provided on the small decal sheet.

Constructing the Hull:

Construction starts with the lower hull which comes moulded in a single piece tub which simplifies that part of the construction. The various elements of the suspension attached to the outside go together without any problems as well as the dozer blade on the front of the hull. The rear hull plate has mounts moulded with the brackets for the fuel drums, but most pictures of Syrian vehicles rarely showed the fuel drums or their brackets so I removed the brackets, and likewise for the ditching log. The suspension arms are moulded with the torsion bars which is then threaded into the hull so the suspension will be fully workable.

Amusing chose to mould all exterior parts in dark green styrene and the majority of the interior in light grey which makes showing off the various elements of the kit easy to show off before painting. The fighting compartment comes in two sidewalls and the rear firewall, which sits perfectly within the lower hull tub. Being labelled a “full” interior kit, I can only assume that all interior components are provided, and it certainly felt like it during construction. Decals are provided for the driver instrument panels as well as some data placards. Some PE details are also provided, but it will pretty much only be you that will be aware of it once the paint goes on.

The ammunition carousel for the auto-loader is nicely moulded and has a lower layer for the ammunition type, and the propellant charge on the upper layer, which means the lower layer is invisible, but this is not Amusing’s fault, and as a full interior kit, it shows that Amusing is not taking shortcuts.

This is further emphasized when you sit the carousel in position in the lower hull.

Moving on, the engine compartment is equally well represented but the majority will once again be impossible to see. The instructions have some of the rear transmission components ordered slightly illogically with some lower parts attached after some upper parts are installed so studying the instructions and planning ahead will alleviate this. I found the rear driveshaft to be a bit too long and wasn’t able to fit it in place even with a bit of flexing. I also had issues with the sit of the engine which was a tad high and meant the rear cover wouldn’t sit properly. Identifying the source of the problem is pretty much impossible, although I would guess it might be one of the engine mounts which sits at an angle.

However, the cover for the engine compartment actually comes in front and rear halves with the hinge in-between so you can only have one area displayed if you choose to glue the cover in place. This is not a design issue by Amusing Hobby, but that is how the cover actually operates on the actual vehicle. PE grills are provided for the covers.

The hull roof and glacis also feature details which are there but will be invisible courtesy of the fact that they are interior roof surfaces. While the general fit of the kit is great, it was a bit strange that the drilling guides in the glacis weren’t that great a match for the locating pins on the ERA, but since the ERA goes over the top of these holes, they will be largely hidden. Take care with the individual ERA bricks though, their placement on the sprues leaves some room for interpretation on what part number it actually is, and while this is step 28, it is not until step 39 that a visual explanation is provided on the three different types which would have been very handy at the earlier stage.

As you can see, the fit of the hull roof panels is great, but unfortunately, once the roof plates are put on, all the effort you’ve put into the interior has now gone to waste. The driver’s hatch is the only way to see into the driver’s position, but with the hatch being so small, what you will see will be extremely limited. Of course, you do have the option of leaving the roof panels unglued so you can remove and replace them at your leisure.

Early versions of the T-72 had eight-spoked road wheels which were later replaced with six spoked wheels. The kit comes with both options, and after seeing some pictures of vehicles with a mixture of both, I decided to use a random assortment on both sides. The tracks are individual links with link pins to put the links together just like the real thing, and are fully workable. A jig is provided, although the instructions don’t mention this, but you will not miss them on the sprues with the track pins, and figuring out how to use them won’t take a genius. I sprayed the tracks with AK’s polymer Track Primer in preparation for when they will be attached.

The side skirts are a difficult proposition because pictures usually show these bowing in towards the hull due to the weight of the ERA hanging on them, however, these are moulded completely straight with ERA in perfect rank and file. While correcting that would really make the model pop, getting everything at the right angles would be too big a task for me so I left it as is. The locating holes on the side skirts have a similar issue to the ones on the glacis and aren’t a great match for the relevant locating pin for the ERA. I want to build a slightly used looking vehicle, so I removed some sections of the side skirts, fenders, and one of the storage boxes that sit on top of the fenders. It will be an almost impossible task to install the tracks after you have glued on the side skirts and front fender section so I started the painting process with Tamiya’s XF-74 as the Russian Green base colour and sprayed XF-59 over the top.

The Turret:

Construction then moves onto the base of the turret including the gunsight and various details. I did have some problems with the seats because the instructions are a bit vague and had to use a bit of trial and error, and they are quite fiddly to put together.

The upper turret shell comes in a single piece, while earlier versions had a separate roof section looking at parts on the sprue that aren’t used. An inner shell is also provided with the main details being the gun breech and the auto-loader and this inner shell sits perfectly inside the outer turret shell.

The fit of the turret base to the turret shell is once again almost perfect, although that was only after having to wiggle around the gunner’s sight to get it to sit properly into the turret roof, but as you can see, that is a very busy and cramped turret interior.

Unfortunately, once you turn the turret the right way up, this is all you will be able to see of that interior which is a real shame, and that is before you install the cupolas' which will reduce the visibility even more. The turret exterior also has the anti-radiation coating moulded on which is a nice addition.

Unfortunately, the ERA bricks will hide almost all of that. I couldn’t quite get the frontal section of the ERA to sit quite right, but that could be due to me not using the correct bricks, however, photos also showed that these sections aren’t necessarily straight on used vehicles either. The gun barrel comes in upper and lower halves so it will have that pesky seam to deal with, but the fit was very good so it wasn’t the chore it could have been. I also drilled out a few of the smoke grenade launchers to show used grenades.

The final construction sub-assembly is the turret floor which is subsequently placed on top of the auto-loader carousel.

Now the tank construction is complete, we move on to the paint, weathering and finishing, but that is in part II to follow next week...

Paul Lee

Thanks to Amusing Hobby for sending Paul this kit to make and review. You can see more about their models on the Amusing Hobby Website...