Brick Tank MOC Instructions Compared: Tiger, T-34 and Type 99
Tanks never run short of builders in the military MOC scene, but tanks from different eras were designed on completely different logic, and the instruction sets available for them vary just as widely in quality. In this review I've grouped the brick tank MOC instructions I've actually built around three representative machines — the Tiger, the T-34 and the Type 99 — and compared them on track structure, turret detail and overall accuracy to the real vehicle.
Tiger: a win on sheer mass
The Tiger's strength is the visual weight of hull and turret. A good brick tank MOC instruction set piles on curved slopes to build up the whole silhouette, and the signature features land where they should: the side skirts, the gun mantlet, and the interleaved road wheels. Viewed head-on, the result is genuinely imposing.
The hard part is exactly those interleaved road wheels and the tracks. There are a lot of small parts involved and assembly gets tedious — a mid-sized Tiger runs to around 1,500 pieces without much effort. For the link-style tracks, it's worth using rubber bands as extra retention, otherwise the chain tends to slip off as soon as the model rolls.
T-34: the value pick
The T-34 is the set I'd recommend most often as a first tank. Its hull lines are simple and clean, and the sloped armour goes together almost immediately once you lay down a run of slope bricks. Difficulty is low, the parts are cheap, and you can produce a very complete-looking model inside 1,000 pieces.
The turret is the weaker link. Plenty of designs make the cast turret too rounded and lose some of its hard-edged character, though from a normal viewing distance it doesn't hurt the model much. If you want your first tank instructions to end in a finished model you're proud to put on the shelf, the T-34 won't let you down.
Type 99: the most precise of the three
Type 99 designs have matured a lot in recent years. The wedge-shaped turret, the hull side skirts and the added armour panels are all handled convincingly, which gives it the highest fidelity of the three. The trade-off is a heavy dependence on newer specialised parts, so the cost of gathering the pieces is noticeably higher, and the build demands tight tolerances. This one suits more experienced builders looking for a challenge.
Which one should you build?
| Model | Accuracy | Difficulty | Part count | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger | ★★★★☆ | High | ~1,500 | Advanced military builders |
| T-34 | ★★★★☆ | Low | ~1,000 | Beginners |
| Type 99 | ★★★★★ | High | ~1,600 | Experienced builders |
Whichever of the three appeals to you, you can head to brickplan.cn (https://brickplan.cn) and search out the matching tank MOC instructions. The site carries a large library of military designs including the Tiger, T-34 and Type 99, each with track specifications and a full parts list attached. Pick one to start with and let the armour column line up in your display cabinet.