Small Scale Military Headquarters

I'm just starting my 1/72 collection, since I'm running out of room for 1/6 and even 1/18 stuff.

Has anyone tried to repaint the FOV Iraqi T-72 as a Russian?

I'm about to tackle one (several, actually) and wondered if anyone had any tips...

Picked up a second one, same as the first one. No sense in keeping the same colors, so I completely repainted using acrylics.

On all other FOV 1/72nds, I at least paint the tracks and add weathering.

A cheap tip; go to the crafts section of WallyWorld and find those plastic flip-cap bottles of craft acylics. They have 90-billion colors. Fo under a buck a bottle, you can paint divisions of armor and custom mix your own varieties of OD, Russian Green, etc.

Be advised that OOTBottle, it is thick paint. Paint several thinned-with-water coats and it will look like you spent 3 bux a bottle on Valejo or Tamiya paints.

I ended up taking one of mine apart (six screws - two for the main hull, two for the turret retention ring, and two for the piece inside the turret that hold the barrell in place and that the commander figure is glued to), taking the tracks off (one track was already busted) and I hand-painted the insides of the road wheels last night.

I also removed the commander figure, to make painting the turret easier. Turns out he's a full-height figure with legs, not just a half-figure. They even painted his belt and belt buckle (which you can't see)! I'm thinking about re-painting him too, and posing him next to the tank, instead of inside the hatch.

I'm debating between hand-painting the hull and masking off the road wheels and getting out the airbrush...

I also found some Russian A/C decals (Mig-21, IIRC) in the bargain bin at my local hobby shop, and some of the stars are small enough - I hope...