The wookiees hole presents trumpeters T80 BV

[wookiee76]

I was looking around for inspiration for something to build for this gb and then something shiny caught my eye! Trumpeter's T80 BV MBT. Here are the obligatory box, sprue and instructions shots, on first inspection everything seems crisply moulded with minimal seams and almost no flash, two frets of etch and two sprues of soft vinyl parts including two mantlets with different angles of elevation built in, unfortunately also a two piece barrel but i will give it a go before looking for aftermarket.

[wookiee76]

More sprue shots, tracks look the same as the T90 which doesn't come as a surprise, separate guide horns and indi links, pretty sure enjoying these makes me some kind of nutter but hey ho.

[wookiee76]

Last few sprues, just realised i forgot to take a pic of the clear parts but its a tank so they wont be any surprise!

[Dunhill2005]

Nice to see the T-80BV!!!
I've build the Zvezda version of the same tank a while ago and now I can compare it with yours!!!
Have fun with it

[wookiee76]

Day one progress report, so far everything has fitted well and required almost no clean up, some of the etch is a bit fiddly and very similar to the T90 but i found it easier this time, my skills must be improving lol.
Also got the track parts removed from the sprues, the "mudflaps" at the front of the tank are in vinyl with an option for styrene versions.

[wookiee76]

Finally managed to get the lower hull and tracks complete, nothing much to report, fit and mouldings are superb so far and no confusion from the instructions. Only drag was the tracks but was expected and i don't mind it, sort of meditative.

[Smiffy]

Great looking build so far. All these Trumpeter builds on ISM are really tempting me to buy my first Trumpeter kit

[wookiee76]

Cheers, obviously check build reviews first but the newer releases in particular are superb kits if a little parts heavy for some, if you don't mind four digit parts counts then have fun!

[timtamtung]

This kit is boss. Trumpeter makes awesome Russian vehicles. Good work mate

[wookiee76]

Thanks tungy, i do enjoy a trump tank lol. Made some progress on the turret, once i get it done i think the only place i will be able to pick it up by is the barrel!

Some fiddly etch there on the turret baskety thing.

[wookiee76]

After a typically complex russian turret the build is complete, fit and finish remained great right through the kit, there was one mistake in the instructions but there was a sticker over the incorrect call out with the correct part number, good job trumpy. Barrel didnt turn out to bad either despite it being three parts.

[wookiee76]

After a coat of black primer down went the first camo colour, rapidly followed by second and third colours, the blue should have been lighter but i ran out of white, doh! Hopefully i can tone it down a little more with a pale filter, next up is gloss and decals.

[wookiee76]

Hmm, have done a bit of research (read as looking at pretty pictures of tanks online) it would appear that more by luck than judgement the blue is fairly correct so woohoo!! Onto some filtering next.

[wookiee76]

After a little head scratching and asking the question i finally settled on a greeny, browny, greyish filter which has had the desired effect, also got final assembly done, spot of advice on that, don't glues the side skirts on before you put the tracks and wheels on as it makes getting the tracks in damn near impossible but after a marathon swearing session they are on. Next up is a pinwash followed by a general dirtying up wash and chipping the skirts.

[JudgeDredd]

Nice looking model.

Can I ask - I've heard people talking about "pin washing"...what is the point of it? If you're going to weather anyway, what does pin washing bring to the model?

[wookiee76]

In this case i have used it to add shadows and depth to make the detail "pop", purposely kept fairly subtle and i may take it back a bit more yet.

[schweinhund227]

WOW !!! Awesome looking machine ! Thanks for sharing !

[wookiee76]

Thanks Norm, got the chipping done yesterday on the rubber skirts and and a little to show some wear on the main paintwork.

[wookiee76]

Oil dot filter done which has further tied the scheme together and some rust pigmentation added to the spare tracks and tow cables, next up is some exhaust soot, dust pigments on the running gear and select areas on the upper hull/turret and we should be about done.

[rodrant]

Looks very nice ! You did a great build on this one !

Like very much the color scheme chosen !

[Dunhill2005]

Wow!!! Your tank look awesome