Expressive BOOM!

Yes...

oddly this made me want to do a vignette of a tank at the point of impact of enemy shell

I agree,, rather tough to replicate,, but would like to see it done though

May I say that attempts I've seen to replicate fire & smoke in models/diorama end up looking like -- painted cotton balls.  Nothing can capture the diaphonous and cloudy nature of real smoke and fire.  I think it's one of those things that never fools the eye for even an instant.  If that's the best that can be done, then I'd say omit it instead.  My two cents.

...you mean without blowing something up right? 

The good news is that it actually does touch the ground so you could support something fairly heavy without anything being seen. Cotton balls? It looks very defined on the back end though - maybe a paper-maché kind of setup with something added to give it a more consistent texture. The colour of the explosion might be better duplicated with a clear plastic sheet (thinking the crinkly plastic film that gets stuffed inside gift bags) painted up with transparent colours.... Good luck & show us what you come up with!!

First you'd have to have the model of the vehicle...

Classic way would be with cotton balls.  that is a sexy picture.  You can even see the shell at the end of that explosion.

To think, all that metal to fire that tiny little spike

Yep, just last week I saw someone make a great model of explostion and smoke. I'll bet he could do it.