The package
Four sprues moulded in buff coloured plastic form the basis of the model, a set of instructions, and small decal sheet make up the package.
Initial impressions
Mould quality looks good as I’ve said and the level of detail is excellent given the small scale. The hull moulding and overall surface looks very slightly ‘soft’ to me around the edges but that may just be me and my lack of type-specific knowledge, so do check this out in any references that you can access; don’t be put off though, the look and feel of the model is superb.
Other highlights include
The detail on the hull top, track links and one-piece gun barrel – the latter being easy to drill out with a pin vice hand held drill and bit. The crew hatches are designed to be set open or closed and the external detail in exceptional for 1:72 scale – a real highlight for me.
Another strength is the way the rubberised side skirts are moulded in a slightly irregular way so that you can make them look much more realistic than pure flat surfaces – check out the attached video clips above and you’ll see how these side skirts move and sit on the real tank.
The tracks are broken down into small plastic sections that should allow you to pose them fairly naturally. In fact, if you add the side skirts them much of the track section along the upper run will be invisible, so what’s provided looks to be just fine in 1:72 scale.
Decals
There’s a small sheet with the respective number plates and unit badges for the options contained in the kit. Quality looks fine and colour definition also good.
Versions are:
- T-90SA, 8th Armoured Division, People’s National Army, Sisi BelAbbes, Algeria, 2013
- T-90SA, 4th Baku Army Corps, Azerbaijani Armed Forces, Absheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan, 2013
- T-90A, 5th Guards Tamansker, Independet Motorized Rifle Brigade, Kyakhta, Siberian Military District, Russia, 2009
- T-90A, 20th Guards Independet Motorized Rifle Brigade, Volgograd, North Caucasus Military District, Russia, 2010
Instructions
These follow the usual Revell format with Revel colour references, parts and sprue layout diagrams followed by a 46-Stage build (no less) and finishing sequence. The sequence looks to be logical to me but of course you will want to leave off all the small, delicate parts like the aerial until near the end of the build to avoid damage.
To sum up
Well, I really like this little kit, it is well detailed and when you open the box the parts say ‘build me!’ what more can I say?
SMN Quick Summary SMN Star Rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Level of details | **** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | *** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | **** |