1/48 T-72 ideas

[SinUnNombre]

Hey 'yall. Sorry again for the absence, but I've had a rather busy past month. With a move, a change of school systems, a girlfriend picked up then dropped, and deciding to play football, I haven't put much thought into models. But now things are settling down. I've got an internet connection now, so I'll be on more, and I'm wanting to breath new life into some older stalled projects. One of these is an Academy 1/48th scale T-72. I've got it down into three subassemblies and its ready for primer and paint, but I have no idea on how to whiff it. Any suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks.

Jon

[philp]

Jon,
Couple oddball idea for you.
First, the site had a racing tank build a while ago.  Mark it in some high visibility colors with a racing number and some sponsors.  Maybe add a wing on the back for downdraft, etc.

Second, paint it pink.  Saw a lovely little dio the other day of a Chieftain done that way with an Amazonian crew doing a little sunbathing.  There have been a couple of others around the web.

Last would be pick a nation not known for its tanks and mark it that way.  Say, Jamaica, El Salvador, etc.  Or put it in that Swedish camoflage.  Everything looks good in that.

[gooberliberation]

Wings ^_^

with a couple above-wing high-bypass turbofans and a bolt-on tail

[Son of Damian]

A really cool camo scheme for use by OPFOR is always nice, for a little zazze you could do a Canadian or British OPFOR version.

Israel captured several hundered T-55/54s during the 56 & 68 wars, these were then modified and put into service by the Israelies in a reserve role. You could do something similar with your T-72.

If you want to do a whiff that could become reality do Venezuela.  

For something freaky you could do a Scottish or Welsh version, say they got independence or something.

Are you going to add some extra armor, cuz if you are I would skip the ERA since it looks ugly. Go with the V shaped armor that has been added to the turrets of some T-72s.

[Captain Canada]

Wow, great pic SoD ! Where'd you get that from ?

I like the idea of an Isreali variant, all modernized. Then again, you could do the same for any of the Balkan States. Even a Russian example would look good. How about a comand and control type ? Or an Urban Warfare variant ?

Tanks are cool.........

[Son of Damian]

Wow, great pic SoD ! Where'd you get that from?

From this thread at Militaryphotos.net, lots of really interesting pictures from Chechnya - including this T-72.

How about a comand and control type?

I have this book Dirty Little Secrets: Military Information You're not Supposed to Know which has a lot of facts and statistics about militaries all over the world. (The Swiss keep several hundred carrier pigeons incase there modern communitcations gear should fail ) In it there is a small passage about how the ability of shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles to knock-out MBTs has increased significantly over the last 30 years. Along with the ability of an enemy to detect a tank via thermal, infared, radar, seismic, and acustic gear. This has prompted some militaries (like the US) to study the idea of modifying a couple tanks for the surpression of enemy defenses, like a Wild Weasel aircraft but a tank. The book didn't include any pics/drawings of what a wild weasel tank might look like so my mind has been free to run wild.

To make room for extra electronics gear and such I would imagine that the large main gun would be removed, this would not only free up the space of the gun but also the space used to store it's ammo. An automatic cannon like the 25mm Bushmaster of the Bradley would probably replace the main gun for offensive punch, launchers for TOW or Javelin missiles might be mounted on top of or on the side of the turret to maintain anti-tank capability. Other than some extra smoke dispensers, bumps, and antenae I don't really know what changes would be made.

What do y'all think?
 

[rallymodeller]

Are you going to add some extra armor, cuz if you are I would skip the ERA since it looks ugly. Go with the V shaped armor that has been added to the turrets of some T-72s.

That "V" shaped stuff on there is ERA -- specifically Kontakt-5 reactive armour. It is being replaced by Kaktus ERA, as found on the Chiorny Oriol (Black Eagle) series of Russian/Ukranian MBT's:



Now that's a badass-looking tank!

The Black Eagle is the first tank to incorporate ERA in it's actual design, as opposed to going for more complex composite armour (which it also has, but not as much as a Challenger 2, Leopard 2 or Abrams), or simply adding ERA on top of the existing armour.

[Daryl J.]

Somehow, that turret just looks to me like a version of the old 60's and 70's UFO sightings.      Turn the gun into some large antenna or the like, add appropriate little round windows, have the turret sorta cattywompus, and one has The Real Roswell story complete with Removal Vehicle.


Ok....I'm no tank guy.     But, to echo others, the first thing that came to mind was a pink racing tank.   Perhaps you could add a touch of political insincerity to it by naming the tank Ooh-go and put Venezuealan markings somewhere........
(and no I don't mean this as a poly-sci debate!)


Daryl J.

[Radish]

There's always the T-72 crewed by Games Workshop Zombies.....use the cover of the new Iron Maiden CD.

Like the Israeli version too......thinking 1/35th though......

new turret armour is a must as well as thick side armour skirts and a new engine and deck.....turret basket and stowage galore and IDF guns, new crew.

How about replacing the 125mm gun with an Israeli 120mm from a Merkeva 3?
Even an Israeli 105mm gun (with the current armament) would be good.

[B777LR]

120 mm barrel, Parts from the M1 abrams tank and challenger and that french tank called the leclerc added.

[Radish]

Also, if you buy the Leopard 2A6, the kit (Revell and Italeri 1/35th) has two barrels for 120mm guns, one short from the A5 and the longer gun for the A6.

Of course, different diameters of tubing can give the same effect.  

[SinUnNombre]

Well, I've been thinking about this, and nothing's really catching my attention. Except maybe that Kaktus ERA on the Black Eagle. And the Slovakian AA upgrade shown in a thread in the Workbench section:

Hmmm, what about using both of those upgrades and maybe a different main gun? Rembering that this is a 1/48 kit not a 1/35. Thanks for all your help so far.

Jon

[rallymodeller]

Well, I've been thinking about this, and nothing's really catching my attention. Except maybe that Kaktus ERA on the Black Eagle. And the Slovakian AA upgrade shown in a thread in the Workbench section:

Hmmm, what about using both of those upgrades and maybe a different main gun? Rembering that this is a 1/48 kit not a 1/35. Thanks for all your help so far.

Jon

Put a 1/35 barrel on it (cut down to size). THat wouyld simulate the new 152mm Russian MBT gun...

[SinUnNombre]

There's always the T-72 crewed by Games Workshop Zombies.....use the cover of the new Iron Maiden CD.

You mean something like this?

Jon

[SinUnNombre]

Sorry for the triple-post, but I had some more inspiration on this subject and wanted some feedback. I was just digging through some old posts, and came across the "Comtemporary Crusades" post and remembered just how cool I had thought it was. So what do y'all think? What exactly would a Teutonic T-72 look like?

Jon