MT-12 Rapira

Spalah Models

Reviewed by Zack Sex

USD$24.00 plus shipping available online from Spalah Models

B a c k g r o u n d

The MT-12 Rapira was developed from the T-12 anti-tank gun, which entered service with Soviet forces in 1961. The T-12 was a revolutionary design, incorporating a 100mm smoothbore gun. It was the first anti-tank gun to adopt a smoothbore barrel, allowing it to fire a range of modern armour-piercing projectiles. Designed and produced by the Yurga Machine Building Plant to replace the BS-3 100mm gun, the T-12 represented a major leap in anti-armour technology.

The decision to adopt a smoothbore rather than a rifled barrel allowed for the effective use of long, narrow-diameter dart-like ammunition fired at extremely high velocity. The introduction of Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) rounds enabled T-12 and MT-12 crews to engage targets at greater distances and penetrate thicker armour than traditional Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition. The long smoothbore barrel generated extremely high pressures, resulting in greater projectile speeds not only for kinetic-energy rounds but also for high-explosive and later guided missile ammunition.

After witnessing the significant increase in range and penetration compared to the 100mm gun of the T-55, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reportedly demanded in 1958 that the T-12 be mounted in the T-55. This proved impossible because the one-metre-long standard ammunition, and even longer specialist rounds, could not be loaded within the confined space of the T-55 turret. This challenge ultimately led to the development of a shorter but wider 115mm smoothbore round for the new T-62 tank.

The MT-12 eventually evolved into the MT-12, which essentially mounted the same gun on a larger carriage with bigger wheels for improved transport and firing stability. Despite the growing introduction of anti-tank guided missiles such as the wire-guided Sagger, and increasingly heavily armoured NATO main battle tanks, the MT-12 remained in service both as an anti-tank weapon and in direct and indirect artillery fire roles. In direct fire it had a range of approximately 3km, while in the indirect fire role it could reach targets at up to 8.2km.

The MT-12 saw combat service during the Iran-Iraq War with Iraqi forces, the Soviet-Afghan War, the Georgian conflict, the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflicts, and the Transnistria conflict. However, its most extensive combat use has occurred during the Russo-Ukrainian War from 2014 through to the present day. Throughout the conflict, including the Anti-Terrorist Operation phase and the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, the T-12, MT-12 and radar-equipped MT-12R have all been used by Russian, Ukrainian, DNR and LNR forces.

Today, the MT-12 remains a relatively cheap and effective weapon against infantry and soft-skinned vehicles, while still retaining the capability to damage modern main battle tanks under the right conditions. Although typically towed by trucks or MT-LBs, a number of MT-12s have been mounted in the rear of open-topped MT-LBs by both Russian and Ukrainian forces. Cuba has even mounted examples in modified BMP-1 vehicles.

Spalah's 1:35 M-12 Rapira

The Spalah-produced MT-12 is another gem from the growing Ukrainian 3D-printing industry. Having previously reviewed some of Spalah’s excellent figures and heads, I can report that the same level of attention to detail has been applied to this unique anti-tank gun.

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The major components of the gun, carriage and wheels separate cleanly from their 3D-printing supports, although care is naturally required with some of the finer parts. Small fittings and details, including the approximately 80 holes in the muzzle brake, are faithfully reproduced. The instructions are well produced, offering clear and concise step-by-step assembly guidance that is easy to follow.

The gun shield and its support assemblies fit together cleanly and appear accurately engineered, resulting in trouble-free construction. I did manage to knock off one or two small fittings during the build, but that was entirely due to my own clumsiness rather than any flaw in the kit.

The only real dilemma with Spalah’s MT-12 is deciding how to display it: deployed in a firing position during one of the many well-documented battles of the Donbas, or in transport mode behind a Trumpeter MT-LB with boxes of oversized ammunition strapped to the roof. I would also love to see this kit expanded into a conversion set for a Ukrainian MT-LB self-propelled gun variant, or perhaps released with the radar equipment used on the MT-12R by Ukrainian forces in limited numbers.

Those are ideas for the future though. For now, I am thoroughly impressed with Spalah’s MT-12 and fully intend to finish mine in the attractive digital camouflage scheme recommended in the kit’s colour guide.

Zack Sex

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Spalah Models for the sample www.spalah-models.com