Stokesy's Red Army T72 Tamiya 1/35

[Stokesy44]

Wanted a stable of modern MBT so in the past year I've stashed a Challenger II, an Abrams, A Merkeva, A Leopard 2 and lastly a T72. I wanted a T80 but could find one without indy link tracks. Went for a T72 instead then the 80s SIG came up and here we are.

This thing was built to smash its way across the plains of Germany when the red hoard came a knocking during the cold war. Never happened as we know - mostly because nobody could figure out how to stop a ground war going nuclear. For the T72 crews it was probably just as well given how superior the NATO tanks were. I figure it would have been a repeat of 40 years previous - superior numbers versus superior technology - never mind how hard it was on the crews. Rather like a pack of dogs versus a bear. The dogs take a hammering but the bear goes down in the end.

So here she is. Its an older Tamiya kit but still a beauty. You can see the heritage of the hull in the running gear as it looks very similar to the T55 and even all the way back to the T34.

Big, green and mean



Nice low part count and the plastic looks nice close up



Some nice little extras. Rubber hoses for the fuel drums



Ready to go. As all the sport's been cancelled this weekend I should have a big session at the bench.

[Quax]

Looking forward to seeing this come together, it's not one I've ever built so its going to be interesting. Did the pe grills come with it or are they extras?

Paul

[KalebB]

Oooooh yes!

Excited to watch this build thread, T-72's are a mean looking, stronk Russian tenk

I almost bought this kit the other day at the shop but got a IS-2 instead. I'll probably go back and pick this one up too

Can't wait to see what you do with her Stokesy

[Stokesy44]

Looking forward to seeing this come together, it's not one I've ever built so its going to be interesting. Did the pe grills come with it or are they extras?

Paul

Yep, some nice extras in the box. PE grills, rubber tubed for the external fuel drums and some rope for the rear tow cable.

[Stokesy44]

Oooooh yes!

Excited to watch this build thread, T-72's are a mean looking, stronk Russian tenk

I almost bought this kit the other day at the shop but got a IS-2 instead. I'll probably go back and pick this one up too

Can't wait to see what you do with her Stokesy

Thanks Kaleb.

She's off to a good start. Mind you I suffered for my art. Brand new blade in the old scalpel and promptly stuck it in my finger.



Stronk tenk has wheely things



Greeblies on the front end



Not bad for a first session. Hopefully more to come today

[RangerNeil]

I know someone who owns a real T-72, an ex-Czech model.
We call it the "Rust Proofer" because if you are anywhere near the exhaust you get covered in an oily film....

[TheNordus]

I have this one too. Bought a resin barrel for it since my local hobby shop had one, put that on the turret and then put it away. It's a well detailed kit but I heard it can only accurately build a DDR-used tank, but I haven't looked into it. Looking forward to seeing progress on this one!

[KalebB]

I know someone who owns a real T-72, an ex-Czech model.
We call it the "Rust Proofer" because if you are anywhere near the exhaust you get covered in an oily film....

I'm jealous, there's a BMP-1 for sale near me, runs and drives great from what the ad says. I just want a piece of Russian armor in my life

[Stokesy44]

Side skirts on. Very nice detail for a kit this old. Should look lovely under paint. Everything is just sitting together at the mo. The wheels are on polycaps and the upper hull will just sit on the lower half until right at the end. That way I can paint the wheels separately, put the tracks on and then cement the upper hull into place after everything has been painted.



Very nice detail on the engine deck. PE grills and plastic mesh, all looking rather spiffy.



I cant get over how low profile this beasty is. Its my first modern (ish) MBT and its weird seeing just how low to the ground it is.



Now its alive, a proper tank. Turret and gun. A bit like that moment the first time you put the wings on the fuselage for an aircraft. Its no longer a piece of plastic, its now representative of something swoon.



The gun is going to be an absolute cow to sand but its started off well. Its just a case of making sure I don't lose any of the detail as I go. I love a good metal barrel as much as the next man but I wanted to build this OOTB with no extra cost. And, as a wise man once said on YouTube, if you cant sand a seam out of a barrel, maybe you're in the wrong hobby!



The join where the turret base glues to the upper section is agricultural at best. So far, its the only point where the kit is less than precise. Most of it will be covered by stowage bins and boxes anyway, the remaining bits that can be seen will be sorted with sanding and a bit of filler. No drama.

Something quintessentially Russian about the external fuel tanks. They look good and will be even better when the hose lines are added at the end.



Turret greeblies, still a fair few bits to go on but its looking busy already.





The remaining greeblies are the last part of the build phase, then its on to priming! Speedy stuff for me!

[RangerNeil]

I know someone who owns a real T-72, an ex-Czech model.
We call it the "Rust Proofer" because if you are anywhere near the exhaust you get covered in an oily film....

I'm jealous, there's a BMP-1 for sale near me, runs and drives great from what the ad says. I just want a piece of Russian armor in my life

With apologies to Stokesy for the thread hijack - if you have chance to get a BMP class vehicle - GO FOR IT!!!!
You will earn the true meaning of the term "Sh*t eating grin" after driving it..... Spoooo much fun - my wife always said no matter how foul a mood I was in - which included being one very short step from killing people a couple of times - when I came back after a run around in 151 I was a different, happy, person
This was mine - Hull 151 - a Czech built )T-90. Basically a converted BMP-1. One of the sets of arms limitation talks limited the number of A/T guns permitted. The 73mm "Grom" smoothbore cannon in the BMP-1 turret is classed as an A/T gun. Some of the WarPac countries just scrapped their BMP-1's to comply but the Czech's being what they are went "Hmmm - we have a perfectly good BMP-1 hull and we have a load of SKOT-64's with a turret mounted KVPT coming into end of life. Lets take the turret of the SKOT, weld a plinth onto the BMP hull and mount the SKOT turret on that - and thus was born the OT-90. They made a few more changes like adding a second shock absorber on the second pair of road wheels (which does make a difference).
I curse the day I had to sell it 5 years again to this day and will till they dump me in a wooden box.
If you can drive a car with column shift you can drive a BMP - they are conscript proof.
And if you are used to working on NATO vehicles that leak everywhere and have all-white wiring looms you will think you have died and gone to heaven looking under the decking of a BMP - everything is colour coded (again - conscript proof).

[RangerNeil]

I know someone who owns a real T-72, an ex-Czech model.
We call it the "Rust Proofer" because if you are anywhere near the exhaust you get covered in an oily film....

I'm jealous, there's a BMP-1 for sale near me, runs and drives great from what the ad says. I just want a piece of Russian armor in my life

With apologies to Stokesy for the thread hijack - if you have chance to get a BMP class vehicle - GO FOR IT!!!!
You will earn the true meaning of the term "Sh*t eating grin" after driving it..... Spoooo much fun - my wife always said no matter how foul a mood I was in - which included being one very short step from killing people a couple of times - when I came back after a run around in 151 I was a different, happy, person grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat!!!
This was mine - Hull 151 - a Czech built )T-90. Basically a converted BMP-1. One of the sets of arms limitation talks limited the number of A/T guns permitted. The 73mm "Grom" smoothbore cannon in the BMP-1 turret is classed as an A/T gun. Some of the WarPac countries just scrapped their BMP-1's to comply but the Czech's being what they are went "Hmmm - we have a perfectly good BMP-1 hull and we have a load of SKOT-64's with a turret mounted KVPT coming into end of life. Lets take the turret of the SKOT, weld a plinth onto the BMP hull and mount the SKOT turret on that - and thus was born the OT-90. They made a few more changes like adding a second shock absorber on the second pair of road wheels (which does make a difference).
I curse the day I had to sell it 5 years again to this day and will till they dump me in a wooden box.
If you can drive a car with column shift you can drive a BMP - they are conscript proof.
And if you are used to working on NATO vehicles that leak everywhere and have all-white wiring looms you will think you have died and gone to heaven looking under the decking of a BMP - everything is colour coded (again - conscript proof).

[KalebB]

She's starting to look like the low profile machine of death she's supposed to look like!

Absolutely love the look of this MBT

[KalebB]

@RangerNeil unfortunately I can't foot the 94 thousand dollar bill for the BMP, but I wish I could theyre slick machines

[Gary30]

I missed this one until now, looking great so far! I was hoping for more tank builds when I pitched the 80's GB idea, so I doff my cap to you sir!

[RangerNeil]

@RangerNeil unfortunately I can't foot the 94 thousand dollar bill for the BMP, but I wish I could theyre slick machines

HOW MUCH????
I paid £13,500 for mine plus another £11,000 to have the tracks broken down to individual links, 2 holes plasma cut in each link (90 per side), BMP-2 track pads fitted to each link then the track reassembled, fitted and tensioned correctly. This was in 2007.

[KalebB]

@RangerNeil unfortunately I can't foot the 94 thousand dollar bill for the BMP, but I wish I could theyre slick machines

HOW MUCH????
I paid £13,500 for mine plus another £11,000 to have the tracks broken down to individual links, 2 holes plasma cut in each link (90 per side), BMP-2 track pads fitted to each link then the track reassembled, fitted and tensioned correctly. This was in 2007.

Now I could see paying that for one. But no this guy is selling his for 94k, only has 213 kilometers on it

[RangerNeil]

Now I could see paying that for one. But no this guy is selling his for 94k, only has 213 kilometers on it

Mine had 380 Km - and had just come out of a major Gov't overhaul costing the equivalent of over £290,000. It It was virtually a brand new machine.
Have a look on the web for a firm called Mortar Investments - they have them from time to time as well as MTLB's, T-55's and T-72's

[Stokesy44]

I missed this one until now, looking great so far! I was hoping for more tank builds when I pitched the 80's GB idea, so I doff my cap to you sir!

Thanks Gary. Glad to be aboard. Cant beat a good old brute of iron. Its my first Ruskie and I'm enjoying it very much so far

[Stokesy44]

When you've quite finished with your Ruskie BMP fetish, kindly stand aside and let me get my thread back in order.

Having said that, I'm too damn tired from work to do any bench time tonight so you two carry on if you want to!

[RangerNeil]

When you've quite finished with your Ruskie BMP fetish, kindly stand aside and let me get my thread back in order.

Having said that, I'm too damn tired from work to do any bench time tonight so you two carry on if you want to!

Apologies for the subversion of your thread sir - BMP's are addictive though... No more distractions hence forth!!

[KalebB]

When you've quite finished with your Ruskie BMP fetish, kindly stand aside and let me get my thread back in order.

Having said that, I'm too damn tired from work to do any bench time tonight so you two carry on if you want to!

Oops

Sorry Stokes! When Soviet/Russian armor starts to get discussed I can't help it

[Stokesy44]

Sorry Stokes! When Soviet/Russian armor starts to get discussed I can't help it

Ha ha, its nice to see people so enthused about stuff. So much negativity going on its great to hear people just jabbering on about something they love. I would be the same if there was a build of a Hawker Hurricane on here - you would have to hold me back!

I hope to get in a lot more work on the T72 at the weekend, there's still loads to go on to the turret but then its painting time. TBH though, I'm still boggled by just how small the turret is. When you compare it to the NATO MBTs of the time, its tiny.

[Stokesy44]

That's pretty much it for the build phase.

Turret now fully festooned with all its greeblies



Smoke launchers were fun. They must have been a BOGOF at the factory! I had planned to leave the main gun off so I could work on it more but I had to attach it in order to add the IR lamp.



Quite impressed with the big-ass MG, its a real monster







I'll prime it at the weekend, might even get the base coat on too. Very pleased with the kit. Its gone together beautifully and you cant argue with the plastic - especially since it cost less than £20

[KalebB]

Oh yeah she's all coming together now, good to see the build coming along swimmingly

Nothing like some stronk Russian tenks

[Hawkmoon]

All looking good and great work

[RangerNeil]

Sorry Stokes! When Soviet/Russian armor starts to get discussed I can't help it

Ha ha, its nice to see people so enthused about stuff. So much negativity going on its great to hear people just jabbering on about something they love. I would be the same if there was a build of a Hawker Hurricane on here - you would have to hold me back!

I hope to get in a lot more work on the T72 at the weekend, there's still loads to go on to the turret but then its painting time. TBH though, I'm still boggled by just how small the turret is. When you compare it to the NATO MBTs of the time, its tiny.

Soviet - indeed I believe Rus-Fed still - MBT crews are smaller that their western counterparts and there are only 3 of them compare to 4 in a Chieftain.
The T-72 has a Driver, a Gunner and a Commander
The Chieftain has a Driver, a Gunner, a Loader and a Commander.
I was 6' tall and a Russian Tankie stood shoulder high to me at most as well as being a hell of a lot thinner. I find the turret of a T-72 incredibly claustrophobic when the hatches are closed but am comfortable in a Chieftain
By eliminating the human loader and using an auto-loader instead the tank turret can be reduced in size and profile compared to its NATO opposition. Reduction in weight then adds to the vehicles performance. In their day the T-72's were the F1's of the Tank world.
The autoloader wasn't without its problems though. The one in the T-72 was reliable and, by Russian standards, fairly safe. The one in the T-64 was so bad the standing joke in the Russian Army was:
"How do you tell a T-62 gunner?
He can't count past 5 on his fingers!!"

[Stokesy44]

Sorry Stokes! When Soviet/Russian armor starts to get discussed I can't help it

Ha ha, its nice to see people so enthused about stuff. So much negativity going on its great to hear people just jabbering on about something they love. I would be the same if there was a build of a Hawker Hurricane on here - you would have to hold me back!

I hope to get in a lot more work on the T72 at the weekend, there's still loads to go on to the turret but then its painting time. TBH though, I'm still boggled by just how small the turret is. When you compare it to the NATO MBTs of the time, its tiny.

Soviet - indeed I believe Rus-Fed still - MBT crews are smaller that their western counterparts and there are only 3 of them compare to 4 in a Chieftain.
The T-72 has a Driver, a Gunner and a Commander
The Chieftain has a Driver, a Gunner, a Loader and a Commander.
I was 6' tall and a Russian Tankie stood shoulder high to me at most as well as being a hell of a lot thinner. I find the turret of a T-72 incredibly claustrophobic when the hatches are closed but am comfortable in a Chieftain
By eliminating the human loader and using an auto-loader instead the tank turret can be reduced in size and profile compared to its NATO opposition. Reduction in weight then adds to the vehicles performance. In their day the T-72's were the F1's of the Tank world.
The autoloader wasn't without its problems though. The one in the T-72 was reliable and, by Russian standards, fairly safe. The one in the T-64 was so bad the standing joke in the Russian Army was:
"How do you tell a T-62 gunner?
He can't count past 5 on his fingers!!"

Excellent facts and trivia. Modern AFVs are a new subject for me so loving the info.

I'm sure there's something about the auto loading system in Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. How it created a vulnerability in the Russian vehicles because it was actually slower than a human loader and there was always a live round in the turret. Brilliant book, not sure how factual this comment was though.

[RangerNeil]

Excellent facts and trivia. Modern AFVs are a new subject for me so loving the info.

I'm sure there's something about the auto loading system in Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. How it created a vulnerability in the Russian vehicles because it was actually slower than a human loader and there was always a live round in the turret. Brilliant book, not sure how factual this comment was though.

When you get to my age you tend to get a head full of such trivia, in my case from staring at the Russian stuff through various gun sights up to and including the Charlie G or reading the Intel briefings..
Tom Clancys book is technically incorrect - and yet also correct... I know - sounds crazy - but we are dealing with the Russians here. Sanity in MV design has never been one of their strong points (until recently with the Armata). In the T-64 the round and the propellant charge are laid in a horizontal basket below the gun so until the gunner activates the auto-loader the breech is empty. Hence the bit why Mr Clancy is technically wrong. In action the gun would be loaded and ready to fire with the auto loader ready to reload as soon as the gunner fired. Hence why he is also technically correct. In fairness to the Russians the issue wit the T-64's auto-loader was mainly on the very early models when it was a new concept and things like crew safety weren't a consideration. - the Progressive Thinking being no one got hurt in the turret of a T34 or T-55 or T-62 so the new Tank will be good. Forgetting of course that the T-34 and T-55 and T-62 were manually loaded. As a result no protection was included and if the gunner were just a tad careless it was possible for an arm or a sleeve to get caught in the mechanism. Getting an arm caught was actually the lesser of the two evils as you just lost the arm. Getting a sleeve caught invariably meant the gunner getting dragged into the mechanism just as the gun fired. This was invariably a 1 way trip... Later variants of the T-64 and, of course, the T-72 featured protective devices to stop this happening.
The auto loader in the T-72 comes with its own problems though. They changed from the basket system of the T-64 where both round and propellant were laid horizontally to a cassette system where the rounds were horizontal but the propellant was stored vertically in the turret. And one of the issues of an auto-loader is you can't store the propellant charges in a wet cabinet so any penetrating hit to the rear of a T-72's turret produced VERY nasty results.
The T-64 on the other hand was rather vulnerable to an A/T mine going off under the floor beneath the turret...
The other result of the change was a slower rate of fire - the T-62 could manage between 5 to 8 rounds a minute whereas the system in the T-72 is 1 or 2 rounds slower at the top end. Still - for their times they were both good tanks and, in the hands of a good crew, capable of holding their own.
For all its flaws - and there were indeed many - the Russian system of conscripts and training produced remarkably good troops. We tend to see the older Russian designed kit getting blasted to bits out in the Middle East and few, if any, make allowance for the crap quality of the troops manning them!!

[Stokesy44]

Thanks Neil, that’s fascinating info. I’m thinking this build will be great fun with all the knowledge getting added from you and Kaleb etc. That’s why I love the forum. There’s room to breathe!

[digger303]

Excellent facts and trivia. Modern AFVs are a new subject for me so loving the info.

I'm sure there's something about the auto loading system in Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. How it created a vulnerability in the Russian vehicles because it was actually slower than a human loader and there was always a live round in the turret. Brilliant book, not sure how factual this comment was though.

When you get to my age you tend to get a head full of such trivia, in my case from staring at the Russian stuff through various gun sights up to and including the Charlie G or reading the Intel briefings..
Tom Clancys book is technically incorrect - and yet also correct... I know - sounds crazy - but we are dealing with the Russians here. Sanity in MV design has never been one of their strong points (until recently with the Armata). In the T-64 the round and the propellant charge are laid in a horizontal basket below the gun so until the gunner activates the auto-loader the breech is empty. Hence the bit why Mr Clancy is technically wrong. In action the gun would be loaded and ready to fire with the auto loader ready to reload as soon as the gunner fired. Hence why he is also technically correct. In fairness to the Russians the issue wit the T-64's auto-loader was mainly on the very early models when it was a new concept and things like crew safety weren't a consideration. - the Progressive Thinking being no one got hurt in the turret of a T34 or T-55 or T-62 so the new Tank will be good. Forgetting of course that the T-34 and T-55 and T-62 were manually loaded. As a result no protection was included and if the gunner were just a tad careless it was possible for an arm or a sleeve to get caught in the mechanism. Getting an arm caught was actually the lesser of the two evils as you just lost the arm. Getting a sleeve caught invariably meant the gunner getting dragged into the mechanism just as the gun fired. This was invariably a 1 way trip... Later variants of the T-64 and, of course, the T-72 featured protective devices to stop this happening.
The auto loader in the T-72 comes with its own problems though. They changed from the basket system of the T-64 where both round and propellant were laid horizontally to a cassette system where the rounds were horizontal but the propellant was stored vertically in the turret. And one of the issues of an auto-loader is you can't store the propellant charges in a wet cabinet so any penetrating hit to the rear of a T-72's turret produced VERY nasty results.
The T-64 on the other hand was rather vulnerable to an A/T mine going off under the floor beneath the turret...
The other result of the change was a slower rate of fire - the T-62 could manage between 5 to 8 rounds a minute whereas the system in the T-72 is 1 or 2 rounds slower at the top end. Still - for their times they were both good tanks and, in the hands of a good crew, capable of holding their own.
For all its flaws - and there were indeed many - the Russian system of conscripts and training produced remarkably good troops. We tend to see the older Russian designed kit getting blasted to bits out in the Middle East and few, if any, make allowance for the crap quality of the troops manning them!!

Great post...

[CygnusX1]

Great build and some very interesting information. I didn't know that bit about the gunners sleeves getting caught!

[Hawkmoon]

Coming together nicely and some top info being given out.

[Stokesy44]

Coming together nicely and some top info being given out.

I'm under pressure to do a decent paint job now the thread has gone up in quality due to all the tecky posts. Great stuff.

[Quax]

Nice build Stokesy AND learning stuff win win!

Paul

[Stokesy44]

Caution - looney at work. My Heath Robinson setup for the extractor.



Ultimate Black Primer, laid down nice and smooth. Had a little tip dry but that's usual for me.







I decided to leave the wheels on, I couldn't really see much gain in the usual cocktail stick mounting process, they were fine as they are and it meant I didn't waste primer on painting the hull behind them. With the skirts on, you don't see anything behind them anyway.



I thought about putting the base coat on today but in the end I decided against it. Better to let the primer nicely cure - there will be plenty of time over the next few days anyway!!

[digger303]

Very smooth

[Stokesy44]

Very smooth

I know, right? I think you could mix road gravel into this Ultimate primer and it would still spray smooth, its amazing stuff. I know its self-levelling but to get beautiful coverage EVERY TIME shows what a great product it is.

And trust me, my airbrushing skills are not the reason for this result

[KalebB]

Oooh yes, paints now being laid down on this stronk tenk

[digger303]

Very smooth

I know, right? I think you could mix road gravel into this Ultimate primer and it would still spray smooth, its amazing stuff. I know its self-levelling but to get beautiful coverage EVERY TIME shows what a great product it is.

And trust me, my airbrushing skills are not the reason for this result

Going to have to open mine up for this eighties build......what a sales person you are Stokesy
I don't have the black only the light green and red . Still the green will be OK.

[CygnusX1]

Looking good so far. All those smoke dischargers though....
And yeah, Ultimate primer goes on a treat. I think it's the best primer I've used.

[Stokesy44]

Finally got back to the bench today. Every time I actually get down to it I kick myself for not doing it earlier. Almost always finish feeling better than when I started and was well happy with today's efforts.

Given this thing has no camo scheme I was wary of applying the green straight on to the primer as I didn't want the whole thing to flatten out and just suck in all the light. I applied a shadow coat in the hope that the green on top of it would leave some nice tonal variations that would keep the details popped as the kit gets inevitable darker with washes etc.

IMG_8371 by David Stokes, on Flickr

IMG_8372 by David Stokes, on Flickr

Then it was on to the base colour. I just kept going until had the variation I wanted. Judge for yourself if its too little or too much.





I'm happier with the hull than I am with the turret. The flat sections of the hull really help this technique whereas the round blob that is the turret - not so much



Wheels look ok, little bit of overspray to tidy up but with the upper hull on you can barely see anything anyway.





Fuel drums will look nice with weathering and washes too



Looking like a proper Red Army beast now







Side skirts will be done matt black free hand. I'll then add the decals, matt over those and apply dot filters. After that the detail painting and a gloss and dirt wash.

[CygnusX1]

I think it looks really good. The green has gone down really well; already some nice subtle shades.
I think it'll all come together once you start with the weathering. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it inext.

[Quax]

I agree with Cygnus and the others, it's good to see your mojo fully back!

Paul

[digger303]

He's back !
Great build and the paint is smooth and you can really see the details even at this stage

[Stokesy44]

Painted the rubber side skirts and the various detail bits today. Then the decals for the turret.











After I took the photos I sprayed a bit more green on the turret and gun barrel. It was showing too much of the primer which was dulling the paint. After that I matt varnished the whole kit with AK Ultra Matt so its ready for oil filters now.

[RangerNeil]

Looking very, very, good now.
I see you've gone with a vehicle from a Guards tank regiment as regards markings.

[Hawkmoon]

Thats looking sweet and nice work

[Stokesy44]

Looking very, very, good now.
I see you've gone with a vehicle from a Guards tank regiment as regards markings.

Thanks Neil, I didn’t know that about the unit. I just picked the Russian version from the instructions. There was also a Czech version and a desert one but I wanted a Red Army beast based in East Germany for the SIG

[RangerNeil]

Looking very, very, good now.
I see you've gone with a vehicle from a Guards tank regiment as regards markings.

Thanks Neil, I didn’t know that about the unit. I just picked the Russian version from the instructions. There was also a Czech version and a desert one but I wanted a Red Army beast based in East Germany for the SIG

The Red Army - put very basically - was split between two types of unit: Regular and Guards. The designation being reflected in the unit title thus:
9th Tank Division
11th Guards Tank Division
Confusingly a Regular unit may be part of a Guards one. In late 80's Germany (GSFG) you had the
2nd Guards Tank Army
comprising
16th Guards Tank Division
21st Motor Rifle Division
94th Guards Motor Rifle Division
207th Motor Rifle Division
The Guards units are considered Elite units having been awarded the designation through prowess in combat. The designation originated in the GPW - units showing exceptional skill in combat were formally recognized as such by being "ranged amongst the Guards" (ironically a Tsarist formation).
On your last photo the insignia on the turret denotes a Guards unit. Individual troops would alo wear a unique badge on the left breast of their uniform.

Going back to the autoloader discussion you might find this interesting:

[KalebB]

She's looking absolutely gorgeous gotta love a T-72