Wednesday, February 26, 2014

T-34/76 WIP

Starting beute T-34/76 based on the DML T-34 German Army. Generally OOB but with a few minor modifications as follows:  added wiring for front notek and rear convoy light, swapped out front headlights for smaller German headlights, replaced antenna mast and base with German antenna mast and base (spare from StuG III F/8, although a bit thick), added S-hooks and fire extinguisher per Tankograd reference pix (a treasure trove of references), added jack block (no reference, but gotta be somewhere, right?), added engine louvers (or at least enough to hopefully look like louvers through the mesh screen), added two jerry cans to rack.  Balkenkruz from Archer Fine Transfers. Crew is modified miniart german tank crew figure with replacement head and leg, and Archer Fine Transfer decals.  Initially added full legs but tightness of turret meant that lower legs had to be removed to fit.  Can see why larger turret was needed.  Feldgrau/black uniform color combo based on Tankograd ref.  The kit generally went together pretty well.  The engine deck screen was a little fiddly, esp. when one of the cross straps was eternally lost via a tweezer fling.  The tracks also turned out to be more difficult than anticipated.  Given their width, thought they would hold together well, but turned out to be a bit fragile.  Also, because fenders are molded onto to hull getting them to sit nicely was more work than expected - in part because of the tall track teeth.  The idler is not glued in and should be rotated higher than it is in the pictures.