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Indian T-90 “Bhishma”. 1:35


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Indian T-90 “Bhishma”

Trumpeter 1:35

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History
The T-90S is the latest development in the T-series of Russian tanks and represents an increase in firepower, mobility and protection. It is manufactured by Uralvagonzavod in Nizhnyi Tagil, Russia. The T-90S entered service with the Russian Army in 1992. In February 2001, the Indian Army signed a contract for 310 T-90S tanks: 124 were completed in Russia and the rest are being delivered in "knocked down" form for final assembly in India.

The first of these was delivered in January 2004. The locally assembled tanks are christened 'Bhishma'. The tanks are fitted with the Shtora self-protection system and Catherine thermal imagers from Thales of France and Peleng of Belarus. The first ten Bhishma tanks were inducted into the Indian Army in August 2009. India plans to induce 1,640 T-90 tanks by 2020. In January 2005, it was announced that a further 91 T-90S tanks would be procured for the Russian Army, although this number was later reduced.

By November 2007, it has been estimated that the Russian Army has around 200 T-90 tanks. In August 2007, Thales was awarded a contract to supply 100 of these with the Catherine FC thermal imager. In March 2006, Algeria signed a contract for the supply of 180 T-90S tanks from Uralvagonzavod, to be delivered by 2011. Of the total, 102 tanks were in service with the Algerian Army by 2008. In November 2006, India ordered a further 330 T-90 tanks, to be licence-built by heavy vehicle factory (HVF), Avadi, Tamil Nadu.

The Model
The kit comes in the standard style of box used by Trumpeter these days, although in this instance it appears to be slightly deeper. The boxart shows a vehicle on the road during a parade in the standard Indian colour scheme for this type. Inside there are fourteen sprues of light grey styrene, separate lower hull and turret, eight of brown styrene, one of clear, two sprues of a rubbery material, a bit like Dragons DS, three sheets of etched brass, sixteen poly caps, plus lengths of copper wire, brass wire and vinyl tubing. All the parts are beautifully moulded with great detail and surface texture. There is no sign of flash or other imperfections, but there are a lot of moulding pips that need to be removed and will add to the cleaning up required.

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Construction begins with the assembly of the two sprocket wheels, each from three parts plus the poly cap, the two idler wheels, each of two parts and the poly cap, the idler axle mounts, each from four parts, (ensure you use the correct parts as they are handed), and the twelve road wheels, again each from two parts plus the poly cap. With these done the lower hull section is fitted out with the idler wheel axles, the sprocket axle casings, the return rollers, track slides and the three additional shock absorber mounts for the first, second and sixth road wheels. The lower glacis plate is also attached, and fitted with two towing eye fixtures and centrally mounted hook, whilst on the hull sides, two turret ring panels are fitted, and completed with the addition of fifteen PE bolt heads. The torsion arms and additional suspension arms are attached, whilst the mine trawl KMT-6 connection hardpoint/attachment plate is fitted on the underside of the hull. All the wheels are now fitted and the complete lower hull assembly put to one side to set properly.

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Before fitting any parts to the upper hull several holes need to be opened up from the inside, followed by the fitting of the drivers clear vision block. The armoured plate that sits between the drivers hatch and the turret ring is attached, followed by two long rods plus end fittings on the upper glacis plate, drivers vision block shield and the six shtora sensors each made up from two parts. The glacis plate ERA block comes in one piece and is fitted with the block end plates, mid mounted breakwater, and tow hooks, before being fitted to the upper hull. Each of the main headlight assemblies are made up from the protective cage, headlight, with separate clear lens, indicators and reflectors before being attached to the sides of the upper glacis. There is a further plate fitted in front of the drivers position, whilst the drivers hatch is made up from inner and outer plates and fitted into position. The front upper hull section is then attached to the lower hull, followed by the engine hatch, complete with additional hinge details, and the radiator hatch, which is fitted with hinges, clasps, four etched grilles and two intake covers. The rear bulkhead plate is fitted out with spare track links, unditching log straps, unditching log, (DS type material) and the fuel drum supports, before being fitted to the rear hull.

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Each individual track link is connected to the sprue in two places, in addition to the two moulding pips per link, it will be a rather labourious job cleaning up the 166 links required per side, not to mention the individual track horns, although these are very nicely moulded. Whilst the links have to glued together as there are no location pins provided, Trumpeter have provided a guide to build up the links into the various lengths required. With the tracks completed and fitted its back to the more interesting stuff with the assembly of the four part exhaust, with optional top plate, and the two four piece fuel drums. The two track guards are assembled, with the support arms and inside front plate attached. The right hand guard is fitted with a full length top piece representing the various stowage boxes the rear one fitted with a blanking plate, whilst the left hand unit is fitted with a smaller stowage box plate, exhaust unit and separate rear stowage box. Each of the stowage plates are then fitted with the various PE straps and hinges before the side skirts are attached. Each side skirt is then fitted with three additional armour plates and their associated fittings to the front of each side. The previously assembled fuel drums, additional engine cover plate and the track guards are then attached to the hull. The fuel drums are then plumbed, using the vinyl tubing provided. Each of the front rubber sections of mudguards are fitted with a PE part which will need some careful bending to fit correctly. The tow cable is then made up from a length of brass wire and the two tow eyes; this is then wrapped around the clamps to the rear of the hull.

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The turret is probably the most complicated section of the build, well, perhaps after the tracks that is. There are quite a few parts which I cannot identify even through searching the interweb, so forgive me if I get some parts wrong, or am a bit vague. Before the turret ring is attached to the turret itself, the three piece commanders’ sight is assembled and fitted inside, just in front of the commanders’ hatch. The only other part that needs to be fitted from the inside is the barrel of the co-axial machine gun. The mantlet cover is made of the DS type material and once fiotted to the turret is finished off with a PE connector ring. The infra-red sight housing is fitted with a PE window frame, and side panel, whilkst on the right hand side of the lower front, there is a small angled ERA box, made up from four parts, fitted. Each of the large cheek mounted ERA boxes is made up of four parts, which once assembled is glued into place. There is another small ERA box fitted to the right of the main gun and is assembled using five parts before being glued into position. There are an additional nineteen individual ERA boxes mounted on the roof of the turret. In front of the fixed sight there is a PE hood, made up from four parts attached to the turret roof, along with a rotating sight further aft which is made up from three parts. The spent cartridge port door is then fitted, as is the gunners hatche and aerial base. On each side of the turret there are six smoke dischargers. The tubes of which are individual parts fitted to a back plate. A small searchlight mounted on a pintle and including a clear leans is fitted to the left front of the turret. On the right side of the turret, adjacent to the commander cupola, a large storage box, made from nine parts is attached, along with the five parts that go to make up a spare ammunition box for the 14.5mm machine gun. There is another aerial type structure which looks to be part of the defensive suite and made up of seven parts before being fitted to the to the rear of the turret. The commanders’ cupola is quite a complex affair with the cupola being fitted with the vision blocks and computer sight, followed by the cupola ring. To this the hatch is attached after being fitted with the inner and outer plates, two grab handles inside and two vision blocks and their covers on the outside. The two part hinge is then fitted, followed by the clear plate and frame at the nominal front. The 14.5mm machine gun is assembled from five parts, then fitted with the three part spent cartridge bag, before being fitted to the cupola via the six piece mount. The completed cupola is then fitted with an elevation support, whilst the machine gun is fitted with its four piece ammunition box. Two more storage boxes are then assembled the smaller one, made from six parts is fitted to the left rear of the turret, just behind the smoke dischargers, whilst the larger one, made up of eight parts and fitted with the six piece snorkel, is attached to the rear of the turret. The main gun barrel is provided in two halves, which, with the strap detail, may be rather awkward to get rid of the seam without losing the detail, os it may be an idea to buy one of the turned aftermarket barrels that are available for this kit. The barrel and commanders’ cupola are glued into position and the completed turret attached to the hull completing the build. There is only one colour option, that of sandy brown overall, with a number of wood brown splotches over the base coat. There are no markings provided with the kit, and from what I’ve seen, none on the real tank.

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Conclusion
Ok, so it’s another version of the T-90 from Trumpeter, but this one at least is a little different and will look great in its camouflage scheme. Without the glaring anti missile “eyes” on the front of the turret it looks very much like its forbears the T-72/T-80, but if you like the T-90 it will certainly stand out from the crowd in your collection. Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of
logo.gifUK Distributors for logo.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

My mistake.the Indian Army did use the cast turret version,a few pictures of it does appear in the internet.My humble apology to all.:D It seems that the welded turret ones are recent purchases and the exhaust outlets are different too.

 

 

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