Soviet Laser Tank Objekt 666

[Buzzbomb]

Well not really.
I have been in a modelling slump since our Aussie Model Expo so to get the mojo back decided to do something a bit off the wall.
Some of you folks may have seen this around

This is a Russian experimental laser tank for disrupting missiles.

What if the concept was moved forward to a true battlefield Laser tank.
I dug an old, very, very ordinary Dragon T-80 which for the hack and slash purposes of this build was perfect. It is really not good for anyhing else.
next dig through the spares and cobble up a turret. The big box above was too.. well neat, I was after something a little more agricultural, but still clunky especially given the amount of power something like a laser tank would consume. I was also after a solution that was self contained and could just plonk on a MBT hull.




So the end result.. meh.. I don't really like it. I think I lost my way a bit. Still I will at least go as far as an undercoat to see if it ties together better.
If nothing else all the gaps you see are what happens with this kit, straight from the box.. so be afraid.
Very Afraid.

[Kerick]

Is that part of a train locomotive for a generator? Nice idea!
Needs a little something, not sure what. Its a great start. May I suggest something other than the short little "gun" barrel? Needs some seriously big lense shapes.

[elmayerle]

Not lens shapes so much as electro-magnetic focusing rings?  Give it the "ray-gun" look beloved of toy designers and space opera illustrators?

[GTX_Admin]

The 1K17 Szhatie system (proper name for the "Objekt 666" shown in the initial post) was just one 'laser tank' developed by the Soviets. 

There was also the SLK "Sanguine":



and the SLK 1K11 "Stiletto":



and the KDHR-1H "Dal":




Therefore, maybe make your creation yet another one and make up your own story for it.

[GTX_Admin]

Oh, by the way, look what is due to be released:



Click on image for more details.

[Camthalion]

that's looking really cool.  Look forward to seeing it finished.

[tankmodeler]

So the end result.. meh.. I don't really like it. I think I lost my way a bit.

Don't undersell yourself, this hangs together pretty well as far as I can see. Maybe add a Russian Active Protection System (Droid??) but the turret does have that industrial look.

Maybe scrounge a thermal sight system from an Abrams or Leclerc and then modify that to be more "Russian"?? I think it does need something to tell the gunner where to shoot. The short laser barrel works though if you really don't like it add something that may indicate there is a cooling sleeve around the optics core. That may bulk it up for you and change how you feel about it. Keep it short, though, it really emphasises the difference between this beast and a normal tank.

Seriously, I really like it and it does sell the concept of a laser tank.

Paul

[Gingie]

^ x 2 what Paul said. This is really integrated kit bash. I think once you shoot a primer coat on, you'll see just how well everything does go together. I know that in your mind's eye , it may not be what you set out to achieve, but take it from me, it really is a great looking model!

[GTX_Admin]

Interesting news in light of this build - something you want to tell us Comrade??

Russia Gives Soviet-Era Laser Tank New Lease on Life
(Source: Sputnik; published July 16, 2015)

Russian engineers are working to breathe new life in Soviet-era plans to develop a laser tank, a staple of Hollywood blockbusters and video games, Russian media reported.

During the closing years of the Cold War, the USSR tried to make that part of science fiction come true and it worked, but not too well.

In its May 28, 2015 article the state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper hinted that Russian engineers were now working on similar laser weapons “without advertising it.”

By the mid-1970s, the Soviet Union was eagerly pursuing laser weapons on land, at sea, in the air and in outer space as a useful counter to US and Western European optics, missiles, spy satellites and other high-tech systems.

In 1982, it built the first full-size prototype of an energy weapon for a ground vehicle and installed in on a tracked chassis.

The first laser tank was born.

“Creators of the wonder-weapon began thinking about what to call their development so no one would guess anything and, most important, so there also was no mention of a laser,” the Moscow-based Rossiyskaya Gazeta noted.

“They called it a portable automated sighting device, designated the vehicle the 1K11 and dubbed it the Stilet —   or Stiletto. It was meant to burn out enemy cameras, scopes and seekers,” it added.

Far more impressive was the 1K17, which boasted a far more powerful multi-channel laser on a T-80 tank chassis. A dozen individual lenses amplified the main beam as huge batteries allowed the vehicle to fire multiple “shots” in rapid succession.

“[The] laser guns … were capable of burning out all enemy optics within direct line of sight in fractions of a second,” the newspaper wrote. “When there was contact with enemy armored vehicles, Soviet laser tanks simply would blind them, making aimed fire impossible,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote.

The energy beam would have twice the range of a normal tank gun.

In 1992, the first prototypes rolled out of the factory, but the economic chaos in the wake of the Soviet collapse forced the government to cancel the program.

“But one high-ranking official of the Yeltsin government once publicly let it slip that platforms were practically ready,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta noted. “The technology has not been lost.”

“There are a handful of areas … where, theoretically, Soviet-era engineering remains competitive on today’s battlefield,” retired US Army Major Ray Finch - -  an analyst at the Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office  --  wrote in the June 2015 edition of OE Watch.

-ends-

[raafif]

First field use of a laser-"weapon" was in East Germany in the 1970s/80s -- a British Brixmis soldier illegally photographing Russian tanks on exercises was targeted by the Ruski using his laser range-finder - a spot was burnt on the camera's reflector & the soldier sustained minor eye damage.  Special lens filters & sunglasses were issued to Brixmis soldiers after that.

[The Big Gimper]

First field use of a laser-"weapon" was in East Germany in the 1970s/80s -- a British Brixmis soldier illegally photographing Russian tanks on exercises was targeted by the Ruski using his laser range-finder - a spot was burnt on the camera's reflector & the soldier sustained minor eye damage.  Special lens filters & sunglasses were issued to Brixmis soldiers after that.

I was unaware of the Brixmis and other military liaison missions. Interesting reading,

[Buzzbomb]

Well thanks for the prod along folks.
To test the theory that paint can hide or highlight things, I took to this with the Airbrush.
Nothing fancy just a sort of Russianish scheme and not too much weathering effort either. In fact not much effort at all so all in all
it is bit of a average/below finish and did highlight one or two gaping chasms in the fit. Oh well.





I did add some of those cheapo jewels you can get at $2 shops for some laser lenses though

[Volkodav]

Nothing really to say except that looks great. :)

[The Big Gimper]

I am blinded by the beauty of the build. Or was it the LASER?

[GTX_Admin]

That looks great! :)

[Old Wombat]

Looks fine to me, mate! :)