Thursday, June 7, 2012

T-34: A "Small" Diversion


At last month's AMPS Central Virginia meeting, Bob Walls mentioned that there was a 1/72 scale T-34 build getting started on the AMPS website. So, thinking that this would be a nice diversion from all the PE and resin assemblage on my Steyr, of course I decided to jump right in!

I've never previously built nor painted any Russian armor and have no related reference material of any kind. My knowledge is limited to knowing that World War II Russian armor was big, green, and ugly . . . at least in my opinion.

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958 and is considered by many to be the most important weapon fielded by the Red Army in World War II. When first produced in 1940, it was called one of the finest tank designs in the world. Its sloping armor increased protection, the Model V-2 diesel engine (actually a V-12; V-2 was simply the model number) used a less flammable fuel, the Christie suspension was fast over rough terrain, and its wide tracks gave it low ground pressure for good mobility in mud and snow. [Wikipedia]

The 1/72 scale is much smaller than that of my Steyr (about half the size) and is the same as my Krupp Protze which, by the way, is still languishing in the paint shop.

The following photo shows the upside-down hull with a dime for comparison:

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