T-72
Early production
(Early version of the T-72 at Victory parade in Moscou. )
When it was released in the mid-1960s as a replacement for the failed T62, the T64 was considered the best main battle tank of its generation. However, this analysis was very theoretical and the T64 quickly showed its shortcomings, mainly due to technological advances that had not yet been mastered. The newly designed engine from the L-60 had many problems, the main armament proved to lack precision and the suspension system was expensive to produce. It is also said that the machine was equipped with a new type of armor, the secret of which the Soviets did not want to be revealed, which would have allegedly hampered its export. . All these elements combined with the high cost of the machine subsequently difficult to export led to the development of a new battle tank, the futur T-72
(At the left an early T-72 in Iraki service. The luna infra red light is already at the right side of the gun, but it still have the the coincidence rangefinderthat innfront of the turret right hatch which allows to immediatly identify early version)
The engineering team of the Uralvagonzavod factory, designated for the development of this new tank, used elements taken from project 167 (object 167), a rival project to the T64 that had been discarded, to develop this new tank. For this new project, called project 172 (object 172), the technical advances that had characterized the T64 were sacrificed to gain in reliability and production cost. Externally, the new vehicle resembles the T64 with a classic architecture for a Soviet battle tank: the engine is installed at the rear of the body, the turret is in a central position and the cockpit at the front protected by 200mm laminar armour.
(At the right, an Early T-72 with the infamous Gill flip panels)
The T72 also has the new system of lateral armor of the undercarriage called by NATO "Gill flip out panel". These are flip out steel panels designed to detonate anti-tank missiles prematurely, which were very fashionable on both sides at the time. These panels, which are most often absent and were given up in the upgraded versions, as too Week, give the machine a very distinctive silhouette. The classic suspension, inherited from the 167 project, has 6 rollers, a sprocket at the rear, the tensioning wheel at the front and three return rollers. The engine of nearly 800 hp, a distant derivative of the 12-cylinder V engine Hispano-Suiza equipping the T34, does not comprise, him either of great innovations
(An interesting picture of an early T-72, before the Luna IR light was moves to the other side of the main gun)
In terms of armament, the 172 project is equipped with a 125mm smoothbore gun with an automatic loading system, a co-axial machine gun and a 12.7 anti-aircraft machine gun installed on the turret of the tank commander. The automatic gun loading system makes it possible to eliminate the loader's position and therefore the 172 project, like its predecessor, has only three crew members: pilot, gunner and tank commander. This configuration reduces the size of the machine, making it a difficult target to apprehend. This element will characterize all Soviet or Russian tanks produced thereafter compared to Western machines of a much larger size and weight.
The first prototypes, now called "Project 172M", were tested in units from 1971 to 1973, when they were officially approved for active service. Production of the T55 and T62 then ceased and the assembly lines were modified to mass produce the T 72. Some modifications were made afterwards: the coincidence rangefinder was considered unreliable after a distance of 1000m and difficult to use in case of low light intensity. It will be replaced by a laser pointer TPDK-1.
At the same time, the infrared headlight is moved from the left to the right of the gun.
Thus, the T72 began to equip the Red Army en masse but also the forces of the Warsaw Pact. Thereafter, the T72 will undergo many modifications, constantly evolving in view of the new threats of the battlefield and will even change designation to become the T90, but this is another story ....
The assembly will start with thelower hull and suspensions system. Before any assembly, the anchoring plots on the lower part of the front hull are removed : Indeed, they are insufficient in number to characterize a Soviet-made tank and will be redone afterwards. For more realism, the undercarriage will be represented in a "dynamic situation", the suspension arms are cut with a scalpel and replaced so that the wheels are not all on the same level, which occurs when the vehicle evolves on an uneven ground. The tracks are then slightly deformed to adapt to the position of the road rollers. This is done by heating the track sections with a desk lamp. Once the tracks have been installed, the device for "wiping" the mud from the tracks, which is supposed to prevent an accumulation of mud between the tracks and the underside of the side mudguards, will have to be redone in plastic card.
The upper part of the hull will have to be modified before assembly with the lower part. First, the lower part of the mudguards will be sanded in order to have a round and not angular aspect. As the T -72 don't have the later type of side skirts, the lower part of the fuel tanks and storage boxes is visible and presents this round aspect. . The glacis will also have to be transformed as it pictures a glacis of later type (T72 A end of series or T72 M1). This provision will facilitate the transformation envisaged in T72 of beginning of production. The new gmacis will be made in a piece of plastic card of such a thickness that it does not exceed the rest of the front plate. The Revell piece will be used as a template, remembering to transfer the location of the various elements such as the headlights and the anchoring plots onto the plastic card piece.
The lower part of the glacis will be finalized by adding the 8 inking points typical of the Soviet-made T72. They are made with thin strips of plastic card with rounded edges on which will be glued 4 bolts in stretched plastic. Two "cleats" used to maintain the spade will also be added, as well as a brass wire handle.
But most of the detailing work will be concentrated on the upper part of the glacis. its replacment with a piece of plastic card and the sanding operations that followed had the side effect of erasing details that will have to be recreated from scratch. The repair hooks and the headlights, coming from the Revell kit, are first put in place. Then, the headlight protections are redone in brass wire and stretched plastic. The training lights are also redone in drawn plastic. The electric supply sheaths are in brass wire. The blade guard is as for him, resulting from a set of photo cutting, as the hooks maintaining the cable of towing. This one will not be installed in order not to "crush" the numerous details present on the glaze. The inking points, 12 in number, are made with stretched plastic sections of two different diameters.
The sides will be improved by the addition of metallic straps for the fixing of the different boxes and fuel tanks. The fastening systems are made of stretched sprue. These straps are not visible on the photographs of the assembly because they were made after the shooting. On the left side, the exhaust system provided by Revell is replaced by a part coming from a T72 Ace model chassis, which is engraved in hollow. On the right side, the piping system connecting the auxiliary fuel tanks is made with brass wire and stretched sprue sections of a slightly larger diameter to simulate the hoses.
The front fenders are made from Revell parts that are modified by sanding to have the required curve. The rear mudguards are also completely redone. Those of the kit are cut and replaced by plastic card parts. The rubber part of the mudguard is made of aluminum foil and shaped on the original part. Finally, the side mudguards are made of aluminum foil. The bolts holding them to the body are printed in the aluminum foil with a needle, taking care not to pierce the sheet.
The rear part of the chassis will be slightly modified. Photoetched grills will improve the radiator air intakes. The rear trunk is from the Ace kit and its engraving is improved with a scalpel. The straps to fix the trunk to the body are made of aluminum foil. Finally, the supports of the auxiliary tanks are drilled with a fine drill.
The Revell turret is actually quite enigmatic and really doesn't quite fit an early production turret. The front faces, on both sides of the gun will be modified by sanding to present a flatter profile and therefore more consistent with reality. It will be necessary to act with care, because the plastic at this place being not very thick the margin of maneuver is limited. The inner face of the turret will be reinforced with thick plastic card. The second important modification to back-date the turret will be the addition of the coincidence rangefinder that equipped the first T72. This rangefinder and its armor form a kind of excrescence located at the front of the turret of the tank commander. It will be sculpted in a piece of thick plastic card and the details completing it are in aluminum foil. The power supply is simulated by a very thin brass wire. The tank commander's turret will be replaced by the Ace Model part completed with photoetch parts (Episcope Armor) and improved by adding various missing bolts. The other improvements made to the turret are very classical: brass handles (typical of the first T72), lights supply, hooks etc....
