Yes, really!
Matthew Picciotto built a HO (1:87) scale model railway module inspired by the Uzbekistan – Hairatan – Mazar-i-Sharif line while in Kandahar.
Read all about it in his article Free-mo in a foreign land in the May 2015 issue of the free digital magazine Model Railroad Hobbyist. The article describes the challenges of building a model railway 7000 miles from his home in the USA; although it notes “rocks and gravel were all locally harvested from the ground outside my tent”.
There is also a Facebook group focused on modeling 5 foot gauge railways as well as armour and aircraft from the former USSR: Russian Modelers Collective.
Thanks for sharing this! If anybody has any questions they can reach me through the facebook group or Matthew.Picciotto@gmail.com.