Winter in Chechnya - a 1/72nd scale WIP diorama.
Introduction
I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at making a diorama. It’s not something I have experience with so it’s a whole new field for me. 1/35th scale is just a bit to large though and a bit to bank breaking and, trust me, the bank is pretty broken to begin with.
So I’m going to do it in 1/72nd scale instead; it’s more affordable and I can fit it in into my display case a whole lot easier.
I’m calling the diorama War in Chechnya and it’s going to be really simple; I’m getting a Russian tank, a T-80 in this case, some Chechen rebel figures and I’m hopefully going to create a snow-scape ambush scene. That sounds simple enough to me. It’s going be a long-term project though because I can’t afford to purchase all of the materials upfront but who needs to rush anyway?
The T-80 Main Battle Tank
A little background history on the T-80; before the First Chechen War, which sparked off in 1994, the T-80 had never been used in anger. It remained untested with rather inexperienced crews which would prove disastrous in the beginning.
The Chechen defenders, on the other hand, were well experienced and pretty well equipped. Many of them were former members of the Russian military who had served and survived the brutal war in Afghanistan, they had the experience and they still had the equipment.
It was during the Battle of Grozny, the Chechen capital, that the T-80’s suffered the most. They were sent in unsupported by infantry and were quickly overwhelmed by RPG’s. Lacking Explosive Reactive Armour the RPG’s punched through into the ammunition storage in the hull causing a catastrophic explosion. Lessons were learned during that battle, that’s for sure.
You need look no further than Revell for a T-80 in 1/72nd scale as they have three versions of the same kit available, although two of those versions might be rare. The kit has its origins with Matchbox but it’s a good kit without real issues.
The first version of the kit was released by Revell in 1995 and is pictured above, that’s the kit I have. It’s simply a Revell reboxing of the Matchbox kit with no updates which is a shame. You see when Matchbox designed the kit they made a curious decision to leave the turret rather bare. The kit is missing an IR searchlight, smoke grenade launchers, a bustle rack and one or two storage boxes. This version of the kit isn’t readily available anymore but you can still pick it up second hand, guess where in Dublin I got mine?
The second version of this kit is a T-80B and Revell has added all the missing turret grubbins back in. The third version is a T-80BV which further adds Explosive Reactive Armour blocks to the tank. The T-80B is the main release from Revell and the one readily available from stores; I’m not sure about the BV though.
Now I’m not terribly concerned with bustle racks and storage boxes, I plan to buy some aftermarket stowage anyway and cover the turret with it. But I can’t let the searchlight and smoke dischargers go, they’re prominent features on a Russian MBT and have been since the 1950’s and the T-55.
What I plan to do is pick up a Revell T-72M1, which is a fine kit, and borrow its searchlight and smoke launchers. That kit will then go into a different diorama further on up the road, a Gulf War diorama. As it happens I’ve seen many a picture of Iraqi T-72’s with their smoke launchers and so on.
That’s pretty much the introduction to a long and hopefully successful build blog. Wish me luck because I think I’ll need it.