Kit Build/Review: Revell 1/76 T-34/76, 1940

This is my second 'panzer wreck' build, after the FoV 1/72 Pz III. Only this time it's a Russian tank. It's  also 1/76, for starters, so smaller than my other 1/72 T-34s. But as a battlefield wreck? And a thing in itself? Well... whatever! As they say these days.  

Sprues... inc. ol' Matchbox diorama base.

And the rest.

Vinyl tracks... eugh!

Lacking internal detailing, other than teeth.

Didn't document much of this build.

Gorilla gel superglue sorts vinyl tracks.

Felt pen 'print' template on plastic card, for inner turret hatch detailing.

Added the gun breech, so the open hatch view isn't utterly bare.*

I've built it to look it took a hit or two, conked out and was abandoned. So apart from the shell penetrations and minor wear and tear, it's not in too bad shape. The surviving crew baled out, hence the open hatches, and someone's taken a few bits - the hull m.g. and two fuel tanks are missing - but it's mostly in pretty good shape. 

* Doubtless extending too far into the turret space, but I think it'll look better than empty space.

Hull MG has been removed. Commander's hatch open.

Missing rear mudguard and both fuel barrels, port side.

I did it in this manner on account of the model leading me this way. I thought about having the rear engine access hatch and the engine grill covers open as well. But that presented too any tricky challenges. I'd like to build a real humdinger of a wreck, but, ironically perhaps, a better base/donor kit would make that easier. 

I have a third model on this particular pending pile (I have terrible piles!), that I'd considered either doing as a wreck, or maybe even as a tank being built, which is an Airfix 1/76 Panther. I have the Nürnberg Panther factory book, and quite fancy doing a diorama of a hull under construction in a workshop. But I might entirely scratch-build that, and use the Airfix kit for a battlefield casualty.

Anyroad, re the T-34... TBC...

Kit Build/Review: T-34 Factory

The last thing I needed to do prior to undercoating my ten T-34s was add some scratch-built handles to the inner sides of the turret hatches on the Revell kit. With this done I duly sprayed them all with Halfords grey primer. The latter seems to vary in consistency. Occasionally I get a can that's heavier and grainier, producing a rough surface. That's happened this time, and is a nuisance.

Also getting sprayed, the Fujimi BMW R-75 and Kubelwagen kit, and accompanying figures. These latter include a reasonably rare example of a German officer in 1/72 giving the 'Roman' or 'Heil Hitler' salute. 

And there they all are, my little Russian 'horde', in front of similarly large numbers of German armour. I'm really rather chuffed. And I'm particularly pleased that I bothered to detail them all somewhat, to improve them, and give a bit more variety and, hopefully, realism. 

Kit Builds/Reviews: Various 1/72 T-34

After enjoying the T-34 Tank Craft book, I decided to try and build a few more, and work towards finishing a batch of Russian armour. The models in question are all T-34s, some are the earlier 76 variants, others the later 85 type. The makes are Trumpeter (one T-34/85), Armourfast (two T-34/76 and two T-34/85), Italeri (two T-34/76), and Zvezda (two T-34/85). I also got a SU-100 tank destroyer, by Zvezda. The Zvezdas are the snap-fit variety, but I'll be gluing them up anyway. 

My tank factory, inc. several T-34s.

So far I've been detailing the kits I've already got in hand. Although I did also build the two Italeri 'fast assembly' kits, which are very well designed, and, as they proclaim themselves, perfect for wargamers. They're better detailed and nicer than the Armourfast models which, whilst robust and easy to assemble, are just too clunky and lacking in detail.

These are great, far superior to Armourfast.

So, first thing for this post, a quick look at building the fast assembly Italeri kits. The colour of the styrene is gorgeous, a near perfect Russian WWII green. If you wanted to go super basic, you could simply apply decals, paint the parts that aren't green and there you have it. But that wouldn't satisfy me, nor, I suspect, most of us modellers/wargamers. In fact I want to use these tanks as practice at weathering and making monochromatic colour schemes look good.

Got to dig that green styrene!

Laying out the kits for cleaning up.

Tank number one cleaned and ready for assembly.

The turret mounting clip is a really great bit of design.

First tank assembled. I'll attach the turret after basic painting.

Adding stowage and little bits of detailing.

As well as detailing the models a little, e.g. with wire handles, lamps, boxes, blankets, and so on, I had to reattach an idler wheel on the Trumpeter T-34, which snapped off when I was supergluing the tracks in position. I'm also drilling out the barrels on a pair of Italeri (old Esci) Nebelwerfers, as they were ludicrously thick. You can see before and after above.

Not a great photo, but I'm pleased with my scratch-built saw and headlamps.

In the photo above you can see, albeit not very well, my scratch-built saw and headlamp, on the left. At right you can see how basic the rear engine-deck of the Armourfast kits are; no grill detail. I've also made a boo-boo with the towing cable, tying it off as if it's just strong, as opposed to steel cable. That's it for tonight. I'll do further detailing tomorrow, and then get them all undercoated and base coated, ready for detailed painting, decals, and weathering, etc.

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And now it's tomorrow... today! Decided I'd try a bit of silk purse from a sow's ear, and replace the Armourfast rear deck grill panels, with some mesh and plastic card. Got the mesh from Ely City Cycle Centre's model department, along with some more Vallejo acrylics and some (new to me) Tamiya liquid cement.

Rear deck grill panel removed.

New wire-mesh replacement fabricated, with added storage.

Is this overkill on an Armourfast kit? Hmmm!? It certainly improves the tank, in my view. But it also makes me feel the need to do similarly for hand rails, lifting eye-hooks and tracks. Can I be bothered? It remains to be seen. I've already cut out mesh for the other three Armourfast T-34s. But one of them is going to be very difficult to do on account of stowage I've already added. Unless I remove it...

Adding more detailing to the various T-34s...

Book Review: T-34, Robert Jackson (Tank Craft series)

This is my second Tank Craft book. And I have to say that, so far, I really love them. Although I mostly make 1/72 German WWII models, I do have several T-34s, and a few other Russian vehicles. This book provides inspiration and information, in turn giving motivation, to finish those kits. 

As Tank Museum curator David Willey notes in his excellent 'Tank Chat' on the T-34, this vehicle has become an icon of Russia's Patriotic War, as a result becoming - as with many German Panzers - wrapped in layers of myth (check out the bizarre Russian film White Tiger, if you're in any doubt about this!). 

Author Robert Jackson gives what I believe is a balanced account of the facts as we know them: like many of the fabled German Panzers, Russia's T-34 had a bumpy genesis, and was beset by problems throughout its evolution. But, as this book's subtitle - 'Russia's Armoured Spearhed' - suggests, it was undoubtedly essential, as was the Sherman for the Western Allies, to eventual victory.

My current clutch of Russian WWII armour, all T-34s.

The first two chapters, Development and Design and The T-34 in Detail, address this historical situation with admirable concision and brevity, before chapters on Camouflage and Markings, Model Showcases, and Modelling Products address the modelmaking aspects. Into Service and Into Action and Enter the T-34/85 flesh out the campaigns of WWII on the Eastern Front, examining the performance of the t-34 and its variants in context, before the book concludes with a brief look at the postwar use of the T-34, in theatres from the Middle East to Asia and the Balkans. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this slim but info-rich and superbly illustrated book. I'm no expert on the T-34. But I feel I know it much better now. And this book has prompted me to order several more kits of both the 76 and 85 variants, which I look forward to making. The models in the showcase are all very well done. Most are 1/35. My only real gripe re this book (and the series as a whole, insofar as I'm getting to know it) is that I'd like to have seen at least one 1/72 build.

Richardson's exquisitely realised 1/16 T-34/76.

The most impressive model is Brian Richardson's 1/16 Trumpeter T-34/76, which has been completed to a stunning level of realism, with an amazing paint job topped off with terrific weathering. 

At £15 a pop (RRP being £14.99 at the time I'm posting my review) these slim Tank Craft titles are reasonably dear. But I think they nonetheless represent decent VFM (value for moolah), as they combine a lot of useful info with copiously rich visual reference. The colour profiles section is terrific, with nine pages of well executed illustrations to inform and inspire. 

I look forward to more titles from this series, which admirably meets its stated brief of providing modellers with 'a new standard of primarily visual reference of both full-size tanks and their scale models'.