35th Scale T-34: Hull Bottom

While trying to decide how to base my smaller T-34, I thought I'd begin construction on the larger one. I skipped the first step of constructing the road wheels, idlers, and drive sprockets as they will be painted off the model and attached much later with the tracks.

I began with the lower hull. After some very slight clean-up on the bottom, I removed one of the bump stops on each side for the most forward suspension arms (per the instructions). I'm assuming that the front double bump stops were features of other T-34 variants. The coil spring suspension is nicely reproduced through the use of ten rectangular boxes (actually parallelograms!) added to the inner hull on which the springs are molded. These are visible through slots in the hull as shown in the photo below.

I then added the suspension arms and pieces of the transmission housing. I did not attach the idler wheel arms as they can be rotated to tighten or loosen the tracks and I want to be able to make that adjustment later if necessary.

To complete these initial steps I then attached the front and rear hull sections and the hatches on the hull bottom.

Catching Up

Given the weather, summertime, etc., it's been a month since I last posted. So here's  an update on my active projects.

T-34/76 Model 1941 Cast Turret, 72nd Scale:

Most of the stowage has been added and painted but not shaded. I added rolled tarps to each side, extra track links to the front and right side, and a tow cable and shovel to the left side. I'm still going to add a chain to the front of the hull and that should do it for this go-round.

Next I'll airbrush the lower hull and running gear with a brown-black mixture and then apply an overall flat finish to the model. After that it's on to adding some scratches, possibly some dry brushing if I need to bring out some details, and then a light dust coat. While all that is in progress, I'll be prepping a base and groundwork.

I'm still not totally happy with the darkness of the green finish (it's MUCH darker than in the photo above), but I'll correct that on other Russian tanks!

Steyr 1500A/01:

Shown above are the two radio tables with most of the equipment attached. Next up is drilling all the holes for the wiring. I have several packages of lead wire in thicknesses ranging from 0.2mm to 1.0mm which I'll be using and have also picked-up a couple spools of fly tying wire, just in case. I'm still trying to noodle-out the best order for wiring, painting, and attaching all this to the Steyr itself. I have a feeling that my experience in rigging model ships will come in handy!

T-34/76 Model 1941 Cast Turret, 35th Scale:

Yes, another Russian tank! I enjoyed the Dragon 72nd scale T-34 so much that I found its "big brother"--almost the same model in 35th scale! The only differences that I have seen so far lie in the stowage and the hull attachments. This kit does not include the large auxiliary fuel tanks attached to the rear deck but I found a set of aftermarket PE from Aber that should do the trick nicely. My plan is to build it out-of-the-box with the exception of those fuel tanks.

T-34: Lighten up!

I mixed a lighter green from Vallejo Model Air Russian Green (71.017) and Vallejo Model Air White (71.001), approximately 60:40, green to white. This was sprayed over the entire upper hull and turret trying not to get it into areas where there would be natural shadows. The road wheels were also lightly misted.

I then added more white to this mix and sprayed those areas that would receive the most natural light, such as the turret roof, hull and fuel tank tops, and the upper sides of the turret and hull.

I'm not sure if I mentioned before that I drilled out the lightening holes on both the drive and idler wheels. Even at this scale, I think it enhances the look. Here's a shot, before and after, of one of the drive wheels:

T-34: Primer Coat

I used Vallejo Surface Primer Russian Green (73609) for the primer coat. The end result looks fine but getting there was touch-and-go.

I sprayed the primer straight from my airbrush with no dilution. Now, I've used other colors of the Vallejo surface primers on other models with no problems, so it came as a surprise when this primer beaded-up horribly on the flat parts of the hull. I know that the beading is a sure sign of a "dirty" surface (mold release agents, oily fingerprints, etc.) but I had washed this model, as usual, with a solution of water with a little added dish washing detergent. At this point I thought, "What the heck" (or worse!) and just continued spraying until the surfaces were covered. I let the model dry, paint pools and all, overnight. Much to my surprise the next day, the paint had totally snugged down to all surfaces with no obliteration of detail. Quite a testament to the Vallejo Surface Primers.

The resulting color is a bit dark for my taste, but it will serve as shadowing and I will follow it with a lighter base and then highlighting.

T-34: Pre-Paint

I finally finished constructing my T-34. Someone remind me to never again complain about the "fiddly bits" on a 1/35 scale model!

Everything has been added to the model at this point. I'm going with the theory of "If you can see it you can paint it." We'll see how that all works out.

The tracks were the one-piece DS that Dragon includes with most of their armor kits now. They were tacked down to each road wheel with a tiny amount of Model Master Liquid Cement. This was also used for the track join on each side and I experienced no track deformation anywhere.

All the other pieces are stock from the kit. Stowage was included on a separate sprue and I chose what I wanted and added it where I thought it would go and where it would add some interest (read color) to the overall green paint scheme. I did add a section of track to the front of the hull, securing it with four bolt heads punched from thin styrene sheet. (Thanks, Ashley!)

Next up is the base coat.

T-34: Upper Hull Construction

The hull top was a single, crisply-molded piece to which I added the front and rear plates, exhaust pipes and covers, left-side rail, two tool boxes, engine fan screen, driver's hatch, machine gun, and various hooks and handles. Still to be added are the antenna mount, headlight, and the two rear small fuel tanks. Assembly went smoothly but two issues merit mentioning.

First, the instructions illustrate two holes that need to be opened for the attachment of the rail that runs along the left side. These holes are indicated by detents on the inside of the hull; however, the distance between the detents is incorrect for the mounting pins on the rail. I opened the front mounting hole, glued in the front rail support, and then measured the correct distance for the rear hole and drilled it there.

Secondly, Dragon includes two engine fan screens: the first has a molded screen and supports and is extremely well detailed; the second has a PE screen which is to be mounted in a molded frame. However, the PE screen lacks the detailed supports. Since the screen as molded is not badly reproduced, I opted for the molded piece with the detailed supports. Much more tank-like to me.

I've been working on the turret in tandem with the hull and will post more pictures later.

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: