BallsBuster

BMPT - production version

A bit more info on the upcoming kits: These are three original boxings. Reportedly, some extra AM stuff will come up later and will be available separately and also packaged in an upgraded boxing. I know for sure that Mel and S&M had nothing to do with this kit except helping with research and considering buying a few hundred to repack and sell in his line. There is a small chance that some of the kits will go on sale at the upcoming SMW... But for sure the plastic will be available for anyone interested, provided a club or a friendly trader sacrifices a sq.foot of display space for the purpose.

I can live with the delay, as long as the buyer is OK with it. I would be very uncomfortable with posting something before the payment is cleared. This is just another risk added to the other ones on ebay which might turn me off them as a seller. Appreciate your sharing the experience with us here. I would now definitely refrain from joining their new system, at least until the dust settles. BTW, I had a very negative experience with their cyber security when my ebay account was hi jacked, they did very little to react.... And this does not boost my confidence in them.

This is very bad! It was not clear from their promotional letters that you have to post the items before the payment clears. Is this their new normal? Could you please let us know? If this is the case, there is no reason, why I should bother selling anything with them.

Shocking news.... Mel was the first trader I bought a model kit from at the show. At a small jumble in Dulwich College. I never missed a chance to chat with him at the shows since. A big loss to all of us and the hobby. Sincere condolences to the family RIP, Mel...

This is exactly my intention as well. Wait and see... I have been with e-bay for ages and find their fees exorbitant. Their handling of the cases also leaves much to be desired - so I feel a bit uneasy providing them with my bank details and giving them semi-access to it. I am not at all sure if it is worth the time spent to open a separate bank account just for e-bay. Not sure what would be the benefits of registering your bank account with them... they hint vaguely at some discounts events on sellers fees but what they are and will they materialize - who knows? E-bid also entered my bookmarks list.... but from what I understand the selection there is not as big as on e-bay and (in case you are a seller) it takes much longer to sell something there. Perhaps more people will migrate there after these new rules?

It is coming - by the end of the year, hopefully, from AccsGB. In fact, based on the same renders.

T-72B3 (obr. 2016)

Happy New Year! Finally finished this one: Good riddance 2020!

A bit more on the Terminator

After the short break fruitfully used on waiting and watching the paint dry and other necessary procrastination, the next series of steps towards the completion of this model. The result so far is this: A couple of washes done. Very moderate chipping and oil dot filters here and there. As one can see some more detail added to the engine deck. The mesh over the main air intakes. After some consideration I also detailed the secondary intakes with the ribs and new mesh. The next step will be some very moderate weathering. The photos show that the tanks in Moscow in 1991 were rather clean. Perhaps just a bit of road dust...

The first coat of paint, glossed over and decals. The Guards emblem is from the kit sheet. It was misprinted, so a touch up was required. The weird thing is that the emblem is "mirrored" , and at first I thought it would be strange, but examining period photos, it turned out that in 1991 the emblems were indeed the mirror image, but the "Guards" inscription. Luckily this is dutifully reflected, so card required to make sure you put the emblems on the correct side of the turret. The numbers are taken from a generic decals sheet.

Moving on... The turret is primed, and the hull finished and ready for priming. Added fuel drums and corresponding fuel lines and fixed the light guards on the glacis.

Here's the next batch... Hull this time. The tracks are from Tankograd, the rest is scratchbuilt. I plan to use SG's frames for the mesh covers, so, the openings are cut out.

Started this project a while ago... now, with the second lock down, it is perhaps the time to finally complete it. The kit is one of the first ModelCollect kits and comes with the metal body tub, which is a huge pain in the .... but on the other hand, does add some weight to the model when one holds it. The kit's turret is actually rather good, but I had a Tankograd one which I decided to use for this project, the plastic MK one will be married with Revell's kit body for some other project, most likely something with ERA The barrel is from MK. The Tankograd equips its turrets with a metal barrel without a thermal jacket, but as I plan to build a T-72 circa August 1991 in Moscow, I needed one with the jacket. MG ammo boxes, smoke grenades, IR light and search light are from SG-modelling range, the pipe case is from the kit with replaced holders and antenna input by Zedval. Plus a few other smaller things scratch built. Based on these photos, I have slightly adjusted the smoke grenades position in the second row.