Trumpeter 1/16 T-34/76 (1943 Model) Build Team: Don Barry, Ed Buckley and Kent Kirkpatrick

The Kit

Built in greater numbers than any other tank, the T-34 and its several variants formed the backbone of Soviet armored forces during and for many years after World War II.
This is Trumpeter's second release of the T-34 in 1/16th scale. The kit is packed in a large (5x16x25 inch) box, with many parts packed in their own individual boxes. Our sample consisted of over 800 injection molded parts, 2 photo-etched frets, rubber tires, metal tow rope, decal sheet, a full color painting and marking guide, and a 20 page instruction book (that's right, BOOK). This is a case study of the factory assembly of a complete T34/76.

Construction

Steps 1 thru 4 cover suspension components. Take care to identify left and right parts, this will come up again as building continues. Many components look very much alike and are easy to mix up. These parts will take considerable stress later, so make sure they are securely glued and cured before proceeding. Poly caps fit snugly to crank arms but are not difficult to install. We assembled the photo-etched machine gun ammunition racks at this point, but left them off till later.

Steps 5 & 6 bring you to the interior. Install parts H-13, F5, F6, and F7 in recommended order before sidewall pieces E 17 and 18. The fit here is good, nice detail, lots of room for added details if desired. Instrument face decals would have been a nice touch here, but are not included. We pre-painted radios and other interior stowage before installing.

Steps 7 thru 14 cover the engine and transmission. These are virtually kits within themselves. The fit of the parts is very good and assembly is straightforward. Again, labeling left and right is recommended for intake and exhaust manifolds, cylinder heads, air cleaners, radiators and exhaust pipes. There are lots of ejector pin marks on bulkhead parts E-5 and 7, however only the top third of these parts will show, so fill as you see fit.

Steps 15 and 16 cover the transmission. There is a lot of nice detail and no fit problems up to the steering brakes. Parts C-33 need to be bent to fit around the brake drums. This is very difficult to do without cracking the plastic. We heated them in hot water and they still cracked as we clamped and glued them in place. Fortunately, or not, as they are nicely detailed, they do not show after the hull halves are joined.

Steps 17 thru 27 cover the upper hull assembly. Everything fits very well, and shows nice detail. Roll the photo-etched engine cover screen over a dowel or tube to pre-curve the screen before installation. At this point we departed from the recommended sequence and built and installed the road wheels and drive sprockets on the lower hull. Then the tracks were assembled, painted, given an earth-toned wash, and dry brushed. The instructions show 36 of each type of track link per side; we found 35 to fit perfectly. The eccentric tooth and pin structure of the idler wheel and mount allow the builder to tension the track properly. After allowing ample cure time, the upper and lower hulls were joined. Alignment pins at the front and along the sides help to keep this square. Despite numerous tries, there was still a gap where rear plate P-2 joins lower hull part P-10. We filled the gap with a piece of .040 square rod cut to length and inserted in the gap.

Steps 31 thru 37 cover turret assembly. Here again, detail and fit are very nice. There are over a dozen large ejector marks in the turret roof, but these are hidden unless the turret is removed and turned over. The remainder of the turret assembles readily, with good fit and detail throughout. We left the long, delicate trigger assembly off till everything else was done to avoid breakage. One recommendation would be to remove the turret roof so you can view the inside turret detail more completely.

Painting and Weathering

All interior parts, engine, gearbox, and various sub-assemblies were painted during the build process as appropriate. Antique white, toned with various grey, tan and brown shades, was used for the hull and turret interior. Differing shades of metallic paints were used on engine and transmission parts, as well as the cannon breech areas.

All exterior parts were first given a coat of Floquil Grimy Black to pre-shadow them. Next, a coat of Model Master Green Drab was sprayed, leaving edges and panel lines darker. Then a spotty "cloud" pattern of Model Master Olive Drab was sprayed, concentrating on the center of panels. The olive drab was lightened and heavily thinned, and highlight areas were lightly sprayed for added definition. Dry brushing was done using oil paints and a wide brush.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an excellent kit, except for the one area at the hull rear the fit was without fault. We liked the mixture of different surface textures, simulating rolled or cast armor surfaces. Tracks assemble easily and conform to suspension deflections in a proto-typical fashion. We highly recommend this kit to experienced modelers, especially those with ample work area. This is a BIG model measuring over 16 inches long including the cannon barrel.

The 'tag team' that built this T34/76 would like to thank Trumpeter and Stevens International for the review kit.