Alexander Zhuikov, a student from Novosibirsk, Russia, was recently in the news for his highly realistic snow sculpture of a life-size tank. It took him a month to create the frozen masterpiece, which he later entered into a contest held by the makers of popular online game World of Tanks.

Alexander, 20, began his project by downloading various tank drawings from the internet. He chose a spot in his grandmother’s garden and with the help of his friends, he cleared the place by shoveling  about 20 tonnes of snow. He then set about building the snow machine and making a shield to protect it from the sun, using simple tools like spades, knives and trowels. He even created a self-propelled cabin that can be accessed through a hatch. Everything is made of snow, except for the rope, barrel, and other small parts.

A student at the the Siberian State University of Telecommunications and Informatics, Alexander has always had an interest in military technology , and tanks in particular. When the makers of his favorite video game, World of Tanks, announced a contest for the best tank snow sculpture, he decided to go all out and build something really special. He decided on a a life-size model of the SU-122-54 Soviet war machine and managed to reproduce every detail almost perfectly.

This is actually Zhuikov’s second 1:1 scale snow tank. Last year, he got second place in the “Tanks in Ambush” contest, held by Wargaming, but he hopes this year he will win the grand prize.

He now wants to take selfies along with his prized creation before it starts to melt, so he’s on the lookout for a selfie stick.

Below are two photos of the tank Alexander Zhuikov built for last year’s contest:

Photos: Alexander Zhuikov/VK

Sources: Siberian News, SIB, Altai