Other than a few kits of Chinese-built T-55s, models of People’s Liberation Army equipment has been almost impossible to find. HobbyBoss and Bronco are moving to fill that gap, with the former releasing several armored fighting vehicles, including China’s newest tank, the ZTZ-99.
HobbyBoss’ third kit is the B variant, which features appliqué armor and a snazzy digital camouflage scheme that debuted during the 2009 PLA 60th anniversary parade.
Molded in light gray plastic, the parts have good detail with crisp edges and sharp rivets.
The lower hull features torsion-bar troughs, with well-rendered, separate road wheel arms and other suspension details.
A small fret provides photoetched-metal grilles for the engine deck’s four openings, but no clear parts are included for the lights, sight optics, or vision blocks.
Decals provide markings for three PLA tanks, two in a three-color splotchy camo, and one in digital camo. In addition to color five-view diagrams of each vehicle, a 1/35 scale black-and-white version of the digital scheme that makes it easier to measure areas for masking.
When building tanks, I usually leave the running gear off but add everything else, including tools and stowage, before painting. The ZTZ’s fender skirts and complex paint scheme required a change.
First, I assembled the lower hull, including road wheel arms, but left off the wheels and skirts as well as small bits like tow hooks and lights that would be difficult to mask around.
The only problem during construction was a warp in the gun barrel. I used just a touch of Mr. Surfacer 500 to fill minor gaps elsewhere.
After spraying the hull olive drab, I painted and assembled the wheels. For the digital scheme, the wheels should have white walls; it’s shown in the diagrams, but never called out. With the running gear on, I assembled the individual-link tracks; they didn’t need a lot of cleanup and went together easily. After painting the tracks, I attached them and the skirts, then masked off the lower hull and running gear.
After a coat of Model Master Acryl sand, I started masking with 6mm Tamiya and 2mm Gunze Sangyo tape. It wasn’t complicated, just time-consuming. Between masking, I applied Acryl medium green and Polly Scale schwarzgrün before applying Tamiya olive drab as called for in the instructions. (I think the latter is too dark, but I’m not starting again!) I spent about 35 hours masking and painting. After removing the tape, I added the last parts and touched up the camo by hand. The few decals went on fine over a coat of Pledge Future floor polish; they were very thin, inclined to stick, and needed no solvent.
Because it was a parade vehicle, I kept weathering to a minimum.
The model is sharp looking and resembles the few photos I’ve found of the ZTZ. I enjoyed the build, and it’s great to have a new modern armor subject to build.