In 2013, Russia began applying the B3 upgrade to older T-72 tanks. The upgrade included a new engine, fire-control system, and gunner's sight. By 2020, almost 600 T-72s had been upgraded to B3 standards. The vehicle has seen extensive use in the invasion of Ukraine.
Zvezda just released a 1/72 scale kit of the T-72B3. The kit is finely molded in gray plastic and features excellent detail. Zvezda pushes the boundaries of detail in 1/72 scale kits with more than 190 parts, which rivals many 1/35 scale kits. The one-piece plastic tracks need to be carefully formed to fit the running gear.
The instructions have large, clear diagrams. A separate, full-color painting and markings guide is provided for three different vehicles: with both Zvezda and Tamiya paint references.
Assembly starts with adding a few parts to the superbly molded upper hull. I skipped to steps 14 and 15 and added the side armor plates and headlights. Rather than assembling the headlights as shown, I found it easier to glue the rear frames (parts A7 and A8) to the hull, add the lights, and finish with the front frames.
Most of the kit’s assembly involves the turret, which has over 70 parts added to the main moldings (about the size of an Oreo cookie). You have the option of building the main sensor open or closed. You'll need to be comfortable handling, cleaning up, and assembling tiny parts. While most are well molded, you'll probably want to replace the kit antenna with fine stretched sprue.
Working on the lower hull, I attached all the suspension parts but left off the road wheels, drive sprockets, and idlers until most of the painting was finished. The only filler I used on the kit was for the rear fuel drums. The ends have nasty seams that Mr. Surfacer 500 took care of.
At this point, I painted the tires and wheels, upper and lower hull, turret, and small parts not yet attached. With the main painting complete, I added the road wheels to the lower hull.
Forming the one-piece plastic tracks to the running gear was tricky. The tracks have grooves molded on their inner surfaces to help with shaping. Once I had them curved as needed, I took off the tracks and, using the end of a paintbrush, “over-bent” the areas slightly so they would have a tight fit to the drive sprockets and idlers. I painted the tracks before gluing them in place.
After gluing the upper and lower hulls together, I added the rest of the parts. After a coat of gloss clear, I applied the decals; they worked well with Microscale Micro Set and Micro Sol. Once dry, I picked out panel lines with brown Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color (No. 87132); the rear engine grates received black accent color (No. 87131). A flat coat dulled down all those glossy effects.
I spent about 16 hours building and painting my Zvezda 1/72 scale Main Battle Tank T-72B3. Not too bad for such a high parts count (the one-color paint scheme helped). This kit is definitely not for the faint of heart. I have to admit, at times, it challenged me with the large number of small parts. However, if you are up to it, you'll wind up with an excellent, highly detailed model of a T-72B3 to add to your 1/72 scale armor collection.