Zvezda 1:35 T34-76 with Hex turret

[RangerNeil]

This apparently is a new release from Zvezda so I got it from Arma in Moscow as one of their "New release" bundles. The order comprised:
* 3686 - Zvezda 1/35 T34-76 as produced by Nizhny Tagi plant 1942
* AM35100 - Conversion kit for Zvezda T34
* AM35113-3 - Standard add-on kit for pre-ordered Zvezda T34
* AM4536 - Photo etch kit for Zvezda T34-76

A bit of a weird choice for me as I love helicopters - Soviet helicopters - but until we move house space is critical and helicopter rotors are on the large side.... So hence the choice of armour....

History
The kit itself is a new release by Zvezda of the T34-76 as built at the Ural Tank Factory Number 183 - Nizhny Tagil in late 1942. It has the - then - new turret which has a roughly heagonal form and was referred to by the Red Army as either the "Hex" or the "Nut Turret". It was designed to give greater room for the crew but by Western standards was still cramped. The dingle large hatch in the turret roof was replaced with the two round hatches giving it a distinctive profile and earning it the nickname "Mickey Maus" from the Germans. main armament was the 76mm F-34 gun. From the end of 1942 all T-34s were fitted with a new 5 speed transmission with permanent gear engagement. This version remained on the production lines until spring of 1944 with about 20,000 units being produced.

The kit
The bit everyone is waiting for - whats in the box!!
Lets start with the instruction sheet - a tri-fold page with a sprue map first and then the phased assembly diagrams. Very clear, very easy to follow.




Then we have the painting and decal placement sheet. Colour charts are given for Tamiya and Zvezda paints. Decals are provided for :
* T-34 number Red 116 "Leningrades" of the 1st Leningrad Red Banner Tank Brigade at Krasnoye Selo in January 1944.

* T34 number White 107 "Sergei Kirov" of the 1st Leningrad Red Banner Tank Brigade on the Leningrad Front in January/February 1943

* T34 number White 106 "Stalinets"" of the 1st Leningrad Red Banner Tank Brigade on the Leningrad Front in spring 1943




In the decal bag is also the transparency sprue, the mesh supplied for the engine deck and the cord for fabricating the tow cables


Main Sprues
Everything - understandably - is moulded in green - not a bad match for 4BO it has to be said and on first glance the ejector marks are invisible. There are three main parts sprues and five minor sprues with drivers and idlers on.









The tracks are moulded in sections in black on two sprues - first time I've come across this method before. I've seen the rubber band type and the individual link type but not these sectional ones. Zvezda do provide a jig to build the sections into the correct shape - this can be seen at the top of the sprue - so building these up should be interesting....


That takes care of the kit - now for the extras. Arma Models supplied a sheet of photoetch parts for the T34 - unfortunately they forgot to include the placement/forming sheet. There IS actually such a sheet as its shown in the photos on the order page so I will have to e-mail them and get them to send me a PDF copy. The PE itself is quite nicely done.


Last but not least are the conversion parts to make a T34-57. The ZiS-4 L/73 high velocity 57mm gun was fitted to a very small number of T34's in 1941 and 1943 as it was found the 57mm HV round had better armour penetration than the 76mm round currently in use - 140mm of armour at 500 metre range as opposed to 90mm. However the smaller round was decidedly inadequate against unarmoured targets and the advent of the 85mm gun rendered the 57mm valueless. It is believed only about 10 were made in 1941 and all were lost in the defence of Moscow. The Red Army began looking again at the 57mm for a tank hunter in 1943 but, as said, the advent of the 85mm made it obsolete.
I am not sure if I will use this as it will need a whole different set of decals so I might save the parts until another time when I can afford to built the kit again and get the necessary decal sheet.


So - there you have the Zvezda T34-76 with the "Hex" turret.
I still have some work to do on the Viper and the Pegasus before I can crack on with this one so for now updates will be sparse.

[Quax]

Hi Neil, nice kit and it will be interesting to see how it comes together . Have you decided which one to do? The white one with that red decal looks a weatherers dream!

Paul

[RangerNeil]

Hi Neil, nice kit and it will be interesting to see how it comes together . Have you decided which one to do? The white one with that red decal looks a weatherers dream!

Paul

Cheers Paul! Got to admit that was the scheme that caught my eye too. And as I've never weathered a vehicle before it could an interesting challenge
I gave it a lot of thought last night and I definitely think I am going with the T34-76 build this time. Kit was not that expensive so if I can find a set of decals for a T34-57 in the battle for Moscow I will build another one and use the conversion kit.

[RangerNeil]

Build thread is moved to the Late War SIG.