From the Model Rectifier Company’s website,

The Soviet Army T-80BV is a main battle tank that entered service in 1985, notable as the first production version of the T-80 family to feature factory-fitted Kontakt-1 explosive reactive armor (ERA).

It combined a high-speed gas turbine engine with a heavily reinforced armor package, making it one of the most elite, high-performance armored vehicles fielded by the Soviet Union during the final years of the Cold War.

• -Equipped with a 2A46M-1 main gun and a 12.7mm 6P17
• -Semi-connecting tracks included

While interesting, the details of this tank are lacking, so I reference the US Army CTC OE Data Integration Network website,

The T-80BV is an upgraded T-80B MBT. It features ERA that is added to the turret, glacis, and hull sides. It is the second-most numerous T-80 variant in Russian service. As per T-80B with the addition of ERA tiles in an arrowhead on the turret front and large quantities of tiles added to the glacis and hull sides. The T-80BV is easily distinguished from its predecessors and successors by a large number of small ERA tiles. Later vehicles carry much larger tiles that are built-in, and earlier versions did not benefit from the additional cassettes. Care should be taken, however, to distinguish the T-80BV from T-72 models that carry ERA. The latter carries a much greater amount of ERA that will usually cover the side skirts and turret completely. The T-80BV on the other hand may have a single line of ERA along the top of its side skirts but only on the front third of the platform. Failing above the road wheels should be examined according to the distinguishing features listed under the T-80B.

With that in mind, it was time to start. Upon opening the rigid box top, the sturdy box does a good job of protecting the kit’s four plastic sprues and a decal sheet. This model is a re-boxing of Revell’s T-80BV (Kit No. 03106, first released in 1996).

The instruction manual covers 19 steps over a two-sided three-fold black and white paper. Construction starts with the lower hull and its detailed undercarriage and works up. There are minor notes that are identified here by their instruction step:

Step 5: The two external fuel drums (2 x Parts 42 and 43) assemble easily. I found some reference photos that show a seam, others do not, so it is builder’s preference.

Step 6: The tracks are link and length and extremely fiddly at this scale. The instructions don’t state it, but two sets are necessary. Take your time and clean up the tracks as they are assembled.

Step 8: For the front hull mud flaps fastener (Part 58) to fit on the glacis, the headlight boxes will need to be cut off. The two sets of parallel locator tabs on the glacis above the lights will also have to be removed for the Kontakt ERA blocks (Step 10) to fit flush.

Step 10: Take time to study the ERA block layout. I had to trim a few to make them fit according to the schematic.

Step 12: The 125mm cannon barrel is one piece but needs to have the barrel hollowed out. There is also a prominent lateral seam on both sides that needs to be delicately removed.

Step 13: The machine gun does not have the distinctive gunner’s shield as shown on the box art. The machine gun barrel also needs to be drilled out.

Step 14: There are no locating tabs for the smoke dischargers or bustle rack (or the ERA blocks in the following steps). Refer to the overhead turret view in the step between 17 and 18, which is noticeably absent, for the correct locations.

Step 14 and 15: The smoke dischargers are to be installed. I recommend keeping them off the turret until after installation of the turret cheek ERA blocks to maintain the proper spacing. I followed the sequence and had to remove both the ERA blocks and smoke discharges more than a few times due to no locating tabs or marks.

Step 16: The turret cheek ERA will test your patience. After several false starts and re-sanding, I assembled the top run along the top turret edge, then added the lower run. Once the ERA is added, the smoke dischargers can be added without any stress.

Step Between 17 and 18: As mentioned earlier, this step is not numbered and is the top view of the turret. There are three obvious holes remaining after the ERA is applied, and no parts are called out for them. I filled them in with putty (see photo) and used two unused parts (2 x Part 46), drilled them out and used them as antenna bases (see finished photo). The third hole in front of the gunner was filled in, and a spare ERA block found a new home, making the turret look sufficiently busy.

Step 18: There are two alternate side skirt parts (Parts 34 and 35)

Steps 19: Repeat the side skirt ERA blocks (3 x Part 57) for the right side.

I followed the instructions, and it was easy to build with the notes outlined above. Attention and care must be used as there are a lot of fiddly bits, but they are easily manageable. Noticeably absent is an overall painting and decal guide, nor the usual three profile view of the completed model.

The model was painted in overall Russian green and the numbers decals chosen based on reference for an early Russian invasion of Ukraine. The decals are thin, lay down well and mine did not silver, although the numbers are individual, so research must be done on the unit and vehicle numbering system. I found a pre-Ukrainian Russian T-80BV with the three-digit number in an unusual location, so chose 251 on the side skirts instead of the turret. The T-80BV looks good completed.

As mentioned above, this kit is a re-boxing of Revell’s T-80BV first released in 1996 (which shares some sprues with its 1995 T-80 release without the Kontakt ERA. The instructions are the same, which ironically explain a few of the comments made above: The unnumbered step between Steps 17 and 18, showing the assembled turret from above, was split out from the Revell instructions where they were displayed side by side; and the original instructions included two painting guides, each with five views of the subject tank.

Regardless, this model was a lot of fun to build and paint. While not recommended for beginners, it does build up well and looks imposing when complete. If you want a braille scale T-80, there is really one option currently available in styrene, and this is it.

Profuse thanks to Model Rectifier Corporation and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.