Scale Plastic & Rail

1/35 T-90 Russian Main Battle Tank by Zvezda

1/35 T-90 Russian Main Battle Tank
Zvezda
Catalogue # 3572
Available from Creative Models for £24.99

 

Introduction
This is my first review of a Zvezda kit of any kind. I be honest and admit that as a 1/35 armour modeller I have in the past stuck strictly to the likes of Tamiya, DML and AFV Club. I avoided pretty much anyone else, fearing poor quality and a product that may be cheaper, but that was not really up to scratch. Some of Zezda's earlier offerings might well have fallen into this cheap but pretty average category, but since I had my "Tamiya blinkers" on, I wouldn't actually know.

I must say straight away that this T-90 kit is an absolute corker! Beyond the novel packaging, if you were just shown the parts on the sprues, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is one of DML's latest offerings, such is the finesse and complexity of the parts. It really does look that good. Anyway, before we take a look inside, just a brief overview of the tank itself...

T-90 put through its paces

Background to the T-90
The T-90 (or Obiekt 188 to use its original designation) Main Battle Tank  -or MBT - is the most modern tank currently in service with the Russian Army. Although a direct descendant of the T-72, the T-90 enjoys upgraded armament, armour, engine, optics and electronics. The initial T-90 went into production in 1993; in 1999 the new T-90A (or Ob.188A) saw a new engine fitted as well as a fully cast turret from the experimental Ob.187. As the original cast turret is no longer in production, the "A" tends to be dropped, and the tank is usually known as just T-90. The T-90 first saw operational use in 1999 against Chechens in Dagestan, and is also in service with the Indian Army.

The first of three shots of the T-90 at Moscow Victory Parades

The T-90 is not that large in the grand scheme of things, especially when compared to the heavier tanks of WWII, and comes in at about 47tons. Its main armament is the 125mm 2A46M-2 or 2A46M-5 smoothbore gun, which is also capable of firing ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles). It is also armed with a co-axial PKT 7.62mm machine gun, and a remotely-controlled Kord 12.7mm gun on the turret.

Most modern MBTs has multiple layers of 'armour', which include both the physical and the electronic, and the T-90 is no different. Protecting the 3 man crew is the cast steel turret, composite armour, and Kontakt-5 ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour), as well as various jamming systems.

Kit Contents
A word first about the packaging, which is a little different from what we usually see. The box top is actually very flimsy card, and sports some rather old-school box art reminiscent of Airfix armour kits of yesteryear. But remove the top and a much sturdier flip-top cardboard box is revealed, keeping everything very safe indeed.

Inside, the box is jam-packed with six large sprues of light grey plastic, one sprue of clear parts, coloured string (tow rope) and two gauges of plastic mesh for grills. There are no photo-etch parts, and a small decal sheet with markings for two vehicles, but options for more. The instructions are A4 booklet, with intricate but clear line drawings, showing construction in 35 steps. The tracks are are moulded in sections – some large, some only a couple of links – similar to some of the latest Tamiya offerings.

The glacis armour

From the time you first glance at the contents, through to when you start examining the sprues more closely, you can see that the quality of moulding is very high indeed. As I said earlier, these sprues could be from DML, Tamiya, AFV Club and so on. Sprue gates are reasonably small, with only the odd injector pin mark, and flash was pretty much non-existent bar literally one or two parts. Basically, this is high quality stuff from Zvezda.

Turret top – quite an intricately moulded part

The construction sequence is somewhat reversed from the norm - it begins with the turret and ends with the hull, but I suppose in the grand scheme of things, you could always work back to front if you wished?

The turret shell is formed of a top and bottom, and four side pieces. Without going on and on about it, the standard of moulding is excellent – where there are individual bolts visible (and there are quite a few of them), the detail is very sharp.

There is no turret interior proper, but both hatches have full detail on the insides, and there are also two instrument / gun optic panels which you will see if these hatches are open. There are two lantern style boxes either side of the main gun – part of the T-90's ECM package I believe – which have wonderful surface detail.

Hatch detail

The main gun is moulded in two halves. The detail is admirable on these two parts, but clean-up will be a Herculean task, simply because of the large number of grooves and raised rings along the length of the barrel. This is the one area where an after market upgrade would be most welcome, and I for one will probably wait for one to be released, just because I want to do justice to the rest of the kit.

Barrel moulded in two very detailed halves

Clean-up will be tricky though

Turret construction takes a whopping 18 stages – there really is a lot going on there. The 12.7mm Kord gun is perhaps a little disappointing in that it does not have a hollowed out muzzle; the end is just about wide enough to allow some delicate pin vice work, but again once someone puts these out in turned brass, I would prefer the upgrade.

The Kord heavy machine gun

The long radio antenna is provided as a plastic part; removing it from the sprues will be a bit tricky, but at least it is there, and there are plenty of aftermarket alternatives if you prefer.

Construction of the hull is pretty straight forward: the 'tub' comprises a base along with two sides, and is capped off by the upper surface of the hull, which is moulded as a single part. The stowage lockers which are affixed to either side have nicely detailed locks and tie downs for injection mould plastic.

The engine deck is where we get to use the plastic mesh. The first is used over the radiators, and is unusual in that the mesh / simulated grill actually sits underneath the main protective spars, rather than on top of them; I am used to WWII armour, so have never seen this before. The instructions provided a scale template for you to cut the mesh to size, which will be simple enough. The second mesh is will be partially covered by two flaps protecting the grilled area, and so less visible. Will it look convincing? Hmmm, not a massive fan of things like this, and I would prefer a photo-etch metal grills myself, but given the price of this kit is less than £25, I can't really complain.

Plastic mesh instead of PE metal? Not convinced myself.

At the rear of the engine deck are two auxiliary fuel tanks (the T-90 runs on diesel after less than successful results with gas turbine engines on the T-80). Just like the main gun barrel, the ridges and grooves in these are very nice, but getting spotless clean-up will be very challenging.

Auxiliary fuel drums – plumbing is provided in the kit

The armoured skirts that run down each side are moulded as one piece, but the bolt and hinge arrangement which joins the five simulated sections look pretty good. The three tiles of spaced armour that hang at the front of each shirt are even better.

Bar and hinge detail from which spaced armour hangs

The tracks are injection moulded rather than rubber band type, but come in six sections per side; two long ones for top and bottom, and two smaller ones at either end. The top run also has a gentle sag moulded into it. The guide teeth are moulded separately, and mirror the main parts in their coverage. This is quite a good approach and allows for maximum detail. Overall, the tracks are excellent in my opinion, and there will be no need for any aftermarket here.

Inside of tracks and guide teeth run

Nice surface detail

The road wheels on the T-90 are a bit bland, so not a lot to say here apart from that the bolt detail is there. The idlers and drive sprockets do look nice and are made of two and three parts respectively.

Markings for two tanks are indicated in the instructions: one is a Guards' Tank Division vehicle, as given away by the banner decal, in dark green; the other is in three-tone camouflage. Colours are only called out in what I presume are Zvezda paint numbers. The decals look ok, but the Guards banner is rather crude, and a bit of a let down given the quality of everything else. Lots of spare numbers are provided so you can make pretty much any vehicle you chose.

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So What Do We Think?
This is a high quality offering make no mistake. Whilst it is by no means perfect, its strengths far outweigh its relatively minor weaknesses (below par decals, the plastic mesh and string). The quality of moulding and sharpness of detail is excellent, and I have to emphasize that this kit retails at about half of what your high end DML armour kits cost in the UK. At £25 it is truly outstanding value. If Zvezda continue in this vein, then they can quite rightly be considered in the same breath as Tamiya and DML where 1/35 armour are concerned.

Highly recommended.

With thanks to Creative Models for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

Nicholas Mayhew