15mm T-72 Tank Comparison (Part 1)

I am posting this even though I'm still waiting on a few 3D printed T-72B3 tanks and the new Battlefront T-72B box. I will make another comparison when they are finished.

Below are some comparison photos of various T-72 tanks in 15mm (1/100th scale). As a guide, the painted tank is a Battlefront T-72A, the resin and metal tank is a Khurasan T-72AV and the unpainted plastic is a  Zvezda T-72B obr. 1989 (although the box shows an older T-72B).

From Left to Right: Battlefront, Khurasan, Zvezda

All of these tank miniatures have their pros and cons but overall they are each really great!  What you can, hopefully, see in the pictures is that each of these three tanks, from different manufactures, scale nicely together! The hulls on each are nearly the same length and height. The turrets on the Khurasan and Zvezda tanks are the same size but the Battlefront turret is a little bigger all around, (just like with its T-64 I've recently reviewed). Detail on each is very good and the assembly for all of them is quick.

For the two Zvezda T-72's I've recently assembled, I mad a few modifications. I replaced their cupola with a spare Battlefront T-72 version and the AA machinegun (modified to be facing correctly). I also made some smoke dischargers on the side of the turret, since the kit does not have them. My custom job turned out terrible, but at least they are there. Then I added mine plough to one, with more BF leftovers. The Zvezda kits are fine, but the detail does not pop as much as it does on the other tanks but still a good kit. Right now the Zvezda T-72's seem hard to find, whether that is because of the current war or that they were phasing them out already, I don't know.

Top: Battlefront, Bottom: Khurasan

The Khurasan T-72AV is a phenomenal kit! Most of the few complaints I had about the Khurasan T-64BV tanks do not apply to the T-72AV. If is just a little larger, which mean it scales better with the Battlefront tanks (see above photos). Also the 125mm cannon is molded into the mantlet which means it is more secure and less likely to be broken off. The commanders hatch can be glued open or shut. Also there is no trouble with the tracks, as the T-64BV's tracks were a little too long and stuck out too far (sorry, I will try to get a picture to show this on the 64). My only complaint is that they are currently sold out on Khurasan's store or I would have more!

15mm Ukrainian T-64BV Tanks

Below are my first three painted 15mm T-64 BV tanks by Khurasan Miniatures. I painted these up with the 2022 Ukrainian tank camo. These were my test models and I have identified several things i can do to improve later versions. But all in all, I do like how these first tanks turned out.

Khurasan T-64BV tank

 T-64BV

I have recently picked up a few 15mm tanks from Khurasan miniatures. I won't hide that most of these will be painted up as Ukrainian, but I will be adding some to my existing Soviet Team Yankee force.

First, will be a rather large number of T-64BV tanks that will make up a Ukrainian force. Here are the first three.

I have ordered from Khurasan before and really love the quality of all of their miniatures and their T-64BV is no different. It is a great model that goes together very well with really sharp and crisp details. If you haven't built any resin and metal kits recently, this is just a reminder that there is some flash to clean up on the metal parts and somethings, like the resin tracks, I had to heat up and straighten. But those corrections were expected and very minimal.

One thing you may notice in the pictures is that I did add a plastic commanders hatch and the NSVT machinegun. Those are leftover parts from my Battlefront T-64 tanks. I did this because the Khurasan's T-64BV commanders hatch can only be in the closed position and I love to have figures on my command tanks. The conversion is not great as the BF hatch is much larger and there is some overhang on the turret, but it turned out the way I wanted. Now the Khurasan commanders hatch and AAMG looks great but I went with the easier route instead of modifying the Khurasan hatch. 

Next up are some size comparisons with a BF T-64. The Khurasan tank is almost the same length but is noticeably shorter, with the hull slightly shorter and the turret slightly shorter as well. The biggest difference is the diameter of the turret, the BF version is just bigger all around it just has much more volume than the Khurasan one. This is not an issue for me since I will not be mixing these miniatures and they are very close. A quick teaser for another post, but the Khurasan T-72AV is a much closer match to the BF T-72!

Overall I am incredibly happy with these miniatures and am excited to get them painted up. I would really like to see more modern tanks by various manufacturers. I have ordered BF's new T-72B box and have a few Zvezda T-72B's (really T-72B3's) and will compare them with Khurasan's T-72AV.