Modern Russian tanks are well known for superb mobility and a distinctive, low silhouette, offering as small a target as possible on the battlefield. In the late 1960s, the highly sophisticated T64 tank was produced to replace the Soviet T62 main battle tank. The T64 had the advanced feature of automatic cannon loading, that eliminated the requirement for a loader, reducing the crew from four men to three. The T-64 tank, however, proved to be unreliable due to its complicated mechanics, and this led to the development of the T72 tank.

The T72, despite its close external resemblance to the T-64, was created in an attempt to simplify the overall design, improve its maintenance capability, and to also enhance productivity. This versatile tank, which began service at the beginning of the 1970s, has been in production for many years, and had been licence-produced in many of the Warsaw Pact countries. Even during the 1980s when a new T80 main battle tank was introduced to replace the aging T-64, the T-72 series continued to be the centrepiece of the Russian armed forces.

Paints recommended by Tamiya: TS-28 Olive Drab 2, TS-46 Light Sand, X-10 Gloss Gun Metal, X-11 Gloss Chrome Silver, X-12 Gloss Gold Leaf, X-18 Semi-Gloss Black, X-7 Gloss Red, XF-1 Flat Black, XF-10 Flat Brown, XF-15 Flat Flesh, XF-2 Flat White, XF-56 Flat Metallic Grey.