T-80 Hovertank Wip

[mgp]

As a break from more serious modelling I felt I needed to do something different. I felt like doing something both armour and sci-fi, so after a bit of thought I decided to refurbish a Dragon T-80ERA  kit I did many moons ago and turn it into a Hovertank. The only criteria I set myself was that it wasn't to get bogged down in too much detail.
First I removed the tracks, wheels and all the ERA blocks as well as many of the smaller fittings. Then I stippled on MR Surfacer onto the turret tyo give it that nice cast look that Russian armour has. The stowage was rearranged, the snorkel relocated from the hull rear to the turret rear and the smoke grenade launcher rebuilt because I broke them.


Next I added a piece of 40 thou plastic card to simulate some bolted on applique armour.


Now the hard bit - the side skirts. After a bit of thought and trial and error I came up with this. More plasticard for the top extension and the front with all the mudflaps from the kit being reused.


I decided that my model was going to be radio command vehicle so I added a telescopic radio mast made from plastic tube to where the unditching log was and added a mounting plate to the top of the turret.


For a few hours work spread over 10 days the final result was this:


Next up I'll show you what it looks like painted but unweathered.
 

[B777LR]

Mmmmm, BF 2142  

[Rafael]

Masterful work of plastic shaping!!!    
I want to see that beast hovering in a battelfield
Congrats,
Rafa

[cthulhu77]

Like what you did with the turret !      Some real neat scratching on this one.

[ysi_maniac]

IMHO I would add a fan or so on engine grille to make an air intake.

But I like it bttb
     

[Brian da Basher]

That's some top-notch work, mgp! I'd say you nailed that cast look you were going for! I can't wait to see more on this intimidating beast!

Brian da Basher

[BlackOps]

Cool, what scale is this? A hover tank is on my "hope to get to it this year" list.  

I have an Italeri 1/35 M-60 that is slated to become my hover tank so I really like to see how others have tackled the subject.  Looking forward to seeing this baby with some paintwork on her!

[mgp]

Cool, what scale is this?

It's the 1/35 Dragon kit of many years ago.

I have an Italeri 1/35 M-60 that is slated to become my hover tank so I really like to see how others have tackled the subject.

This is the third Hovertank I've done. You can see the first one here and here's a link to my second one a HoverMarder. I've seen a really good Merkava Hovertank on the Starshipmodeler discussion board that has inspired me to do my own version in the near future.

Mmmmm, BF 2142

I'm thinking closer to 2010 myself. The rough backstory is the Mikhail Gorbachov was ousted in a coup by combined hardline Military and Stalinist forces within the Politburo before he could announce perestroika, glasnost and other reforms. The Soviet Union stagnates even more and eventually a desperate leadership invade western Europe to try and remedy the situation. The invasion fails but Nato/US forces are only able to retake conquered territory very slowly. Neither side wants to go nuclear so WW3 has become a low/medium intensity war of attrition.  

[B777LR]

Isnt this T-72 to use the same hover technology as in the Type 21 Nekomata Hover Tank?  http://h610332.serverkompetenz.net/bfn/for...r/bild-3360.jpg

[philp]

Hovertanks fascinate me ever since I read the Hammer's Slammers books.
I have seen several interesting models done, most commonly like yours by taking the tracks off and adding a hovering capability of some kind.

Here are a few interesting ones I found, the first with a Merkava turret.

Hovertank

Another neat design.
tank 2

This site has several cool designs
etranger

like
AC-12

or this
Montgomery

[Sisko]

Lookin good Mark!  

[Radish]

What Sisko said    

[mgp]

The paintwork is pretty well done and the markings are on. I actually had to spray it twice as the first time around the paint I used dried in a mix of glossy and matt patches and was an olive drab colour rather than green shade I was after. Looked like cr*p!    At a guess I'd say the paint had gone off somehow. A new jar and a quick respray took care of that problem. The rubber side skits were painted in a 50/50 mix of Matt Black and Revell Coal Black to give them a slightly faded look. Periscopes are black with a coat of clear gloss with the Infra-red lights black with a clear red top coat.







The markings are from a Verlinden dry transfer sheet of WW2 Russian markings. As a way of promoting espirit d'corps crews are encouraged to use WW2 symbols. This particular crew are from a Guards unit and went with 54th Guards Tank Brigade markings.



I managed to forget to paint the glacis rubber splash guard and the engine intake grills plus I've decided to reattach the tow cables. The turret machine gun will be added after the main weathering is applied. Weathering pictures to follow.


Mark

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Looks quite menacing with that low profile and typical long gun tube of the late Russian tanks.  

[nev]

That looks really, really cool  B)  I look forward to seeing the weathered version

Only query - why would a hover tank need a snorkel?