Kit: No. 03149
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Revell Germany, www.revell.de
Price: n/a
Comments: Injection-molded, 158 parts, decals
Pros: New mold, easy assembly, finely detailed
Cons: Gaps in track assembly, hard-to-fix seams on fuel drums, placement of the smoke dischargers not precise

Revell Germany’s kit of the T-72M1, the export version of the Soviet Union’s leading main battle tank from the 1970s and ’80s, features finely detailed hull and turret, smoke dischargers, an NSVT 12.7mm machine gun, link-and-length tracks, and separate turret hatches that can be posed open. Markings are included for three variants: East German, Finnish, and Iraqi. A set of early-pattern road wheels is included but not used.
Three parts make up the hull which I painted before installing the running gear and tracks. The tracks are a little short, leaving gaps on the bottom. The best way to fix this shortcoming is to leave the gaps on top out of sight under the skirts. If you plan on leaving off the skirts, there is a gap between the superstructure and hull top that will need to be filled.
Revell has recreated the slight wave in the side skirts. Mismatched seams on the fuel drums were hard to clean up around the molded-on bands.
Building the turret presented no issues. The barrel muzzle (part No. 44) has a small opening which I reamed out to open it up more. I encountered problems installing the smoke dischargers, which were molded to be set out at a horizontal angle; they should face upwards. The small indentations in the turret did not help with exact placement of the smoke dischargers.
I chose markings for an Iraqi T-72M1 from the Saladin 3rd Regiment, and painted my model with Tamiya Dark Yellow followed by a wash of burnt umber. I used Tamiya weathering pastels to bring out the highlights. The decals went down without any problems. My reference was T-72 Soviet Main Battle Tank, by Steve Zaloga. My painting and weathering reference was Blitzkrieg in the Gulf, by Yves Debay.
It took me 13 hours to complete this well-engineered kit. It’s a must-have for modern 1/72 scale AFV fans.
– Tom Foti