New to tanks? My T-72 project.

[SoCalBobS]

I’ve been in various r/c hobbies for many years, including tanks, off and on. Many of my fellow r/c’ers had no knowledge of this tank hobby. For them, and anyone new here, I’m starting a thread about my experiences with a new Heng Long T-72. My posts are meant for a new modeler, not the veteran hobbyist. The forum sticky threads are extremely valuable, read them first.

So my T-72 arrived yesterday. Attached is a photo of the bare bones body as it comes out of the box. I did the 2-minute test as recommended by the forum moderators. Now I have to decide the steps and sequences to assemble, paint and weather it.

Each tank is unique, so Do I paint first, or assemble it? In this case, my first step is to attach the separate detail parts. I want to keep in mind the possibility that some parts might need painting first.

I’m not in a hurry to finish this project, so there may be intervals of no activity. Others are welcome to chime in any time!

[Rubicon99]

I know we all will be looking forward to following your build. The T-72 is a fairly forgiving tank with just a few quirks that can be easily adjusted for. It’s not fast out of the box, but can be made to achieve its “real world” scale speeds of 40mph.

My only suggestion at this stage, if you plan on using your T72 in IR battling is to install an upgraded IR receiver mount prior to painting because you will have to take the tank apart to do so and this can effect a paint job with all the touching involved.

If you have any questions along the way those of use that have been down the road a few times are here to help.

[SoCalBobS]

Rubicon, thanks! I'll definitely have questions for you as I progress. I will be getting the upgraded IR receiver, but not right away, so I'll just have to take the tank apart to do so. I'm going to have to take it apart during the paint sequence anyway. Which leads me to my first question: There is an IR emitter, a machine gun LED and in my case a small camera on the turret. How have you masked those tiny holes off for spray painting?

Ok, attaching the extra parts took a lot shorter time than I expected.Essentially all done except for the flexible tubing representing the external gas tank hoses, and the driver and idler wheel hubs since I'll have to remove those to paint the tracks.

Here is a big decision point will you be painting or leaving it as it comes out of the box? Some tanks are painted, some not, and some have smaller parts that have been painted. You'll be doing something different depending on your choice. You will be cutting off the parts from their sprue. I highly recommend a sprue cutter, I use Xuron's, but any will do. You'll get a cleaner cut than if you twist it off, not to mention the possibility of breakage. No matter how clean your cut, there will still be a mark. If you're painting, not a real problem. If not, you'll just have to accept it. The sprue cutter will minimize this. If you are going to paint, you can scrape it smooth, and also scrape the mold edges but if you aren't painting, scraping may reveal a different color of plastic under their paint. I'll be painting.

The other painting issue is what to attach permanently and what to dry press fit for now, so you can remove it during painting. In my case, the gas tanks and stowage bins are all dry fitted. Smaller parts, such as tow hooks and smoke generators I dabbed on some glue so they don't fall off in use.

[Rubicon99]

Rubicon, thanks! I'll definitely have questions for you as I progress. I will be getting the upgraded IR receiver, but not right away, so I'll just have to take the tank apart to do so. I'm going to have to take it apart during the paint sequence anyway. Which leads me to my first question: There is an IR emitter, a machine gun LED and in my case a small camera on the turret. How have you masked those tiny holes off for spray painting?

Ok, attaching the extra parts took a lot shorter time than I expected.Essentially all done except for the flexible tubing representing the external gas tank hoses, and the driver and idler wheel hubs since I'll have to remove those to paint the tracks.

Here is a big decision point will you be painting or leaving it as it comes out of the box? Some tanks are painted, some not, and some have smaller parts that have been painted. You'll be doing something different depending on your choice. You will be cutting off the parts from their sprue. I highly recommend a sprue cutter, I use Xuron's, but any will do. You'll get a cleaner cut than if you twist it off, not to mention the possibility of breakage. No matter how clean your cut, there will still be a mark. If you're painting, not a real problem. If not, you'll just have to accept it. The sprue cutter will minimize this. If you are going to paint, you can scrape it smooth, and also scrape the mold edges but if you aren't painting, scraping may reveal a different color of plastic under their paint. I'll be painting.

The other painting issue is what to attach permanently and what to dry press fit for now, so you can remove it during painting. In my case, the gas tanks and stowage bins are all dry fitted. Smaller parts, such as tow hooks and smoke generators I dabbed on some glue so they don't fall off in use.

I mask the wholes with a small piece of tissue paper pushed into the wholes. It doesn’t take a lot to pack the wholes well enough to kept paint out. Don’t worry about the IR and MG bulb being moved when you insert the tissue, they are rather tightly installed in the mantle.

[SoCalBobS]

Ok, time for some basic painting tips. Remember I talked about cut marks? On this machine gun, you can see them. Smoothing them down and painting them helps. I will be doing a bunch more later on, but here I sprayed some gun metal, then some flat black over it.

[SoCalBobS]

Some more painting considerations. First, there is a great product, modeling masking tape by Tamiya. It's much, much better than blue painters tape for our purposes. It can be snugged into corners, cuts easily with a sharp hobby knife and doesn't leave residue. I taped the light lens and will pick it off in a few hours.


Also, since it's warm dry and sunny here today I painted some components, those I said not to glue.


Since I'm doing a desert scheme, I've dubbed my tank the "Li-ion of Babylon"!

[Prowler901]

Nice. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, experiences, and techniques as you progress.

[SoCalBobS]

Rubicon, I do have two questions for you. Simple first; the black painted on the searchlights in the kit, what do they represent? Second, my next step will involve opening up the tank to remove the tracks and paint the wheels. Any cautions specific to the T-72? Hidden screws, too short wires? Thanks!

[Rubicon99]

Rubicon, I do have two questions for you. Simple first; the black painted on the searchlights in the kit, what do they represent? Second, my next step will involve opening up the tank to remove the tracks and paint the wheels. Any cautions specific to the T-72? Hidden screws, too short wires? Thanks!

The black is just a short cut for HL to keep the factory painting simple. The only “spot light” that is close to black is the large one next to the cannon as this is the IR spot light used for enhancing the night vision optics performance.

There are no hidden screws and you should not have any issues removing the upper hull it is easy. There are wires that you will need to unplug if you want to fully separate the two halves. Before you unplug any take a bunch of photo to help you remember where and how they go back together.

[SoCalBobS]

I'm back! After Rubicon's kind advice, I've opened the case. This is for a couple of reasons. Today, I'm working on the tracks. To remove them from the T-72 the top has to come off because of the side skirts. Six screws and done. I'm not going to unplug wiring from the bottom for now. Move the top aside, unbolt the driver wheel, and the tracks are off. By the way, when I saw the black gears, I was concerned I'd gotten plastic! Not to worry, the magnet test showed them to be metal, unless there's such a thing as magnetic plastic. You never know these days.



I agree with Alpha's comments regarding plastic versus metal tracks. They are heavier, and in some of the earlier HL tanks they placed a strain on the idler wheels. On a KV-1, the wheels finally broke off due to the strain. Newer tanks with metal adjustable idler wheels probably won't see this that much.

I'm spraying the links with Tamiya's TS-42 Light Gun Metal spray, since that's what I had on hand! I'll let them dry for a few hours before dusting with ModelMasters Light Earth to give a rust effect.



While the tracks are off, I'll be spraying the road wheels and body sides. More on that later.

[UltraVargen]

Thanks for sharing this interactive "painting my tank 101".
I'm getting stuff together to start my own, at least partial, repaint on my King Tiger. I have scale model experience from years ago but never worked on anything RC.

[Rubicon99]

I'm back! After Rubicon's kind advice, I've opened the case. This is for a couple of reasons. Today, I'm working on the tracks. To remove them from the T-72 the top has to come off because of the side skirts. Six screws and done. I'm not going to unplug wiring from the bottom for now. Move the top aside, unbolt the driver wheel, and the tracks are off. By the way, when I saw the black gears, I was concerned I'd gotten plastic! Not to worry, the magnet test showed them to be metal, unless there's such a thing as magnetic plastic. You never know these days.



I agree with Alpha's comments regarding plastic versus metal tracks. They are heavier, and in some of the earlier HL tanks they placed a strain on the idler wheels. On a KV-1, the wheels finally broke off due to the strain. Newer tanks with metal adjustable idler wheels probably won't see this that much.

I'm spraying the links with Tamiya's TS-42 Light Gun Metal spray, since that's what I had on hand! I'll let them dry for a few hours before dusting with ModelMasters Light Earth to give a rust effect.



While the tracks are off, I'll be spraying the road wheels and body sides. More on that later.

A couple of things. One you have the black gears👍👍! Those IMO are better then the newer silver steel colored gears because they are MUCH quieter. Second you have the new improved forward hull with added internal bracing on the front hull glances👍👍👍! These were recently added because the front hull would crack and the hull around the idler mount would start to rip off. Two of mine did not have these braces and both have cracked hulls(I since added metal reinforcements to fix the issues). My third T72 (green uparmed one) has the new forward hull braces!!!!

Keep up the build report. Excited to see your T72 taking shape.

vvvvv Below is a photo of the new froward support brace/gusset.

[SoCalBobS]

Rubicon, good to know!

I've commenced my paint job. As I'd noted before, the hull top has to be removed to access the hull sides. Here it's done, and the side is masked off and the wheels painted. The tires will have to be re-painted with a brush later on.



Once this is done I can put the hull top back on. Also, I've used the Tamiya tape to cover the side skirts. They represent rubber I think, and the model has them painted a dark brown and I want to retain that. That tape will have to stay on until after the airbrushed camo phase.



Taking Rubicon's advice, I plugged the IR &MG holes and the FPV camera lens using the Tamiya tape. See the mold separation marks on the smoke generators?



First coat of paint. We'll see if blondes really do have more fun. The color is NOT pink! You'll see. It's ModelMasters Modern Desert Sand. See the first photo in this post.

[Beeg]

Just a tip. Try Frog Tape (Yellow). Probably cheaper than Tamiya products. Designed for painters and gives a very sharp line with low tack. Available at your big box hardware stores in various widths. Frog Tape (Green) is a little thicker depending on application. I use (Yellow) for most of my modeling needs.

[Sappo]

When it comes to painting roadwheels I have found the circle templates you get from art shops do a hell of a good job of masking the wheels. And they are nice and cheap.

[SoCalBobS]

Quiz time!
Name the tank.

Bonus:
Name the movie.

[Rubicon99]

Quiz time!
Name the tank.

Bonus:
Name the movie.

That is an IDF T55 “Tiran” with 105mm L7 (M68) cannon.

Israel captured A LOT of them from Syria and Egypt during the 67 and 73 wars. Then modified them with better guns and optics.

I believe the move was “The Beast”.

[SoCalBobS]

Movie; correct! I’ll be watching it today. Tank; blurb calls it a T-62, I’m guessing you’re more accurate.

Project update: track is rusted up, light earth paint dusted over light gun metal spray. Tires painted, not black! Vallejo dark panzer gray.

[SoCalBobS]

Some painting and weathering questions; To Rubicon, is there an "official" camo pattern on your yellow/brown T-72? Or is it a field modification, i.e. do what you want? Second, has anybody used silver "Rub & Buff" paste? Rub some on, buff it. I'm thinking of using it on spots that get wear and tear, such as grab irons and gear teeth. I've got plenty of rust and grime washes, and an airbrush for overall dust, but not this.

[Rubicon99]

Some painting and weathering questions; To Rubicon, is there an "official" camo pattern on your yellow/brown T-72? Or is it a field modification, i.e. do what you want? Second, has anybody used silver "Rub & Buff" paste? Rub some on, buff it. I'm thinking of using it on spots that get wear and tear, such as grab irons and gear teeth. I've got plenty of rust and grime washes, and an airbrush for overall dust, but not this.

My paint “theme” was inspired by a captured T72 on display at one of the US Army’s training bases. Don’t remember what base but there are photos of it and many other T72 desert paint scheme on google images. I chose the desert theme to match the local environments of the SouthWest US were I tend to drive and fight it.

The scheme and coupled with the T72s low profile has been credited for hiding the tank well enough to be able to kill other tanks without the operators even knowing where he/she was being shot at from.