Zvezda T-90 MBT

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So i decided to give it a try and join this buddy build
It means that this will be my 3rd modern tank at the same time but i have made this kit before and found that it is a rather good kit for the price

So this one will be build


Some sprue shots as there aren't that many sprues in the box
They are big though










And that is all there is in the box and the after market i will be using

Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark

[schweinhund227]

Get ready for the "200" pieces Turret ! Enjoy the kit and it turns out to be an awesome kit btw ! just take your time cleaning each parts... as their is a faint but noticeable mould line on all of them...

I found the kit tracks to be spot on... and easy to assemble. you are correct about the mesh thou ! I have 2 more in stash to build and looking forward to it !

Best of luck and happy modeling !

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you Norm
It is my second go at this kit so i have an idea what i am getting my self into
The first one i got just after they released it and at the time it really was dirt cheap for a 1/35 scale tank
I believe just under the 20 euro mark at the time
For the few parts i didn't like i ordered in some replacements
The kit on it's own is cheap so i have a little budget left for after market parts and those should arrive tomorrow
But for now i am building the turret wich is coming together nicely

[Andreas]

Thank you for your participation Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

You're welcome
I just would have liked it if i knew about it sooner
I onlh knew about this since yesterday evening when i commented on the FB post about this build
I'm not saying there wasn't an earlier anouncement ,most likely there was one or even more but i missed them
But it would have stopped me from building another kit at the same time
So hopefully i can get everything finished in time

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So the original deadline was yesterday and i didn't quite made it for that
But today i learned that Andreas decided to keep it open for another month so more models would make it to the finishline
And then i noticed i haven't done anything with the thread except fixing the original post with the unboxing
But now that i have a month left i will get this thread back up to speed and finish this build
So for now i will show the construction of the kit and then i can do the painting and weathering next time

So what happened so far

The build actually starts with the turret


It basicly begins with some sub assemblies on the turret roof


The interior detail of the hatches isn't bad
And even the commanders sights are there


Once the hatches are done the turret gets assembled
Because this kit isn't made with the slide molding technology used by many other brands it has to be build up from more parts then most other kits
It has a couple of little edges that you may want to remove but those will be hidden later on


A view from the back
Even with the older molding method it still looks pretty good



I then started to assemble the RB models gunbarrel wich took some time
And the rest of the turret was put together
Unfortunatly i lost some pics of the building proces or i didn't upload them
So i can show the entire construction of the turret


The turret was then finished along with the new gunbarrel


Because the T-90 is a modernised version of the T-72 i decided to put the 2 turrets togehter
They aren't copies but you can see some similarities between the two designs


So with the turret done it was time to start working on the hull
Starting with the upper hull plate and the engine deck


Once the basic stuff for the upper hull is done the rest of the hull was put together
The only real work on the upper plate was to add the photo etch screens and the drivers periscope


Then the front plate was next
You need to add the additional armor and a couple of smaller parts for now

Then the work moves to the lower portion of the tank
The suspension looks okay but i don't like the connecting point of the swingarms
These are very thin and i did break one during the build


Then the work shifts to the rear of the tank
Here i also added the Eureka xxl towcables


Then it is back to the front again to place stuff like the headlights and those tiny lights you see on russian and soviet vehicles



Once the front was done work goes back to the rear again
The fueldrums do fit but the part that connects to the fuel lines can be moved a bit so that is an area to pay attention to


Then the wheels where build up
Even though this kit comes with link and lenght tracks i want to keep the wheels seperate
This is the only point of the build where i didn't follow the instructions as those tell you to place the back half of each wheel ,idler and sprocket on first and then place the tracks
The front or outer wheels would be placed last
I didn't do that so iended up with this pile of wheels
The only thing that can be an issue is that the sprockets can't turn
So when i want to install the tracks i need to hang them over the sprocket and glue the sprocket in place
Then i can connect the track and it is finished

The side skirts and the additional armor plates


The tank is now ready for painting
I used a bit of liquid mask by Vallejo to mask of the lights and periscopes and placed all the seperate parts on sticks to paint them

By now the tank is painted in it's camo colors but i need to repaint one piece of the side aromr as i made a mistake there by switching up the colors on that part
When that is fixed i can do the detail painting and assembly of the friul tracks
So i hope to finish it soo

And that is all i have for now
I hooe to be back with the next update as soon as possible
Thanks for stopping by
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark

[schweinhund227]

looking at this... gives me will to set up time for my next one ! Keep up the good work !

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Norm
I hope ti get some more painting done tonight if i get back home bit early
And i still have to make the tracks for it but i will finish it before the end of the month

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So time for a new update
This time it is about painting this tank so it will be rather short
But i am still working on the weathering so i can't show that part yet


I started out with the base colors
I used H79 sandy brown as a base
The green is a mix but i can't remember wich number of paint i used


The log was basepainted it with Vallejo English uniform
Then by repeated dry brushing with vallejo black brown inmade the preserved wood color



The tracks are still the kit tracks
The friuls i had where rather bad
Some didn't have holes at all ,so in the end i used the kit ones
They where painted with Tamiya gunmetal


I then added the last sperate parts and gloss coated the tank
The decals where placed and it was gloss coated again

So at the moment i am working on the weathering and i hope to finish this build tomorrow just before i have another busy week at work
But i am pretty sure i can finish it in time
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care
Cheers
Mark

[schweinhund227]

Keep up the good work !

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Norm
I actually finished it last night but i didn't post the last update yet
I hope to do that sometime today as i also need to post the last update for my A-10 and final reveals for both of them

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So this will be the last update for this build
I finished it yesterday so it is about time i wrap this thread up



After the gloss coat i started out with the wash
I used the dark wash from Mig prod.
It was at that point i noticed i forgot about the chipping
So a quick chipping was done with the sponge method and some Vallejo german camo black brown
In the end i was happy that i forgot about because the gloss base makes it very easy to remove any unwanted chipping with a q-tip and a drop of Vallejo airbrush cleaner allthough a drop of thinner would work aswell
So once that was dry i added some streaking with the help of AK streaking grime for dark yellow vehicles
This has a dark brown color wich works on both the sand and green colors
Allthough it is harder to see on the green it was then matt coated using Vallejo UV resisant varnish
I'm not putting my models outside but this varnish dries much faster then most others and keaves a nice effect in my opinion so that is why i use it
Allthough i think it is cheaper as the normal Vallejo varnish aswell ,not sure though


The next step was to add some dirt and mud
To start off i sprayed some of the AK earth effect on the sides
Once that was dry (takes a couple of minutes) i mixed some of the earth effect with some of the dark mud pigment
This was scooped up with a brush and by using the airflow of the airbrush it was splattered on the sides,wheels and tracks
After about 15 minutes (this time i couldn't use the airbrush to speed up the drying as you blow the mix all over the tank if you try it) this was dry enough to add some of the european dirt pigments to replicate dry patches in the mud



I then removed the liquid mask from the lights and periscopes


And colored in these taillights with clear red
It is a bit hard to see though thanks to the lighting
And that is basicly all i did
I was happy with it at this point so i called it finished

I have a bunch of pics for the reveal section so i will post those there
Thanks for stopping by and having look
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark