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hobby-boss t-34/85 1:48 starring in "t-34 memorial"


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so as my usual i'll jump on a new project before finishing the others i'm on. Than when i'll be bored with this i'll go back with them, at some point something will come to an end hopefully :lol:

 

and my new project is the following: the T-34/85 produced by Hobby Boss on 1/48 scale. the reason i went for this kit are two: first i was curious about the 1/48 scale for tanks, i've never built one, if they come out as good as 1/35 but costing less and at a reduced size, well i may possibly decide to switch to this scale. 

and second, this kit is mental: at the cost of just 16 euros, wich is considerably less than Tamiya's 1/48 kit that are all around 22/25€  you get an extremely detailed, finely moulded kit with full interiors!

if it's true what i've read this is a scaled down version of the 1:16 trumpeter t-34 by the way. 

 

So the fact that it has full interiors gave me the idea on how to present it. I don't want to weather it down, or destroy it or cover it with snow, mud or anything else.

So the idea is to make it in museum conditions both inside and outside and to put it on a pedestal mimicking one of those monument you can find all over eastern europe or vietnam celebrating russian victories and the role of t-34 in them, something like this one. This way it will make sense to present it in pristine conditions, also it will be easier to disassemble it when you want to take a look inside.

 

memorial-to-soviet-tank-t-to-fallen-sold

 

i still have to decide if i want to make a true copy of one existing or take inspiration to make something of my own, i have seen many details from many different monuments, i think i will put them togheter. 

the decals give you the option both to make a russian or a vietnamese tank, i think i'll go with the russian.

Edited by cambridge
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two words on the kit: i personally believe this kit is an absolute must have. this looks really like a one-of-his-kind kit, i don't think it will push other manufacturers to raise the bar, i think they'll simply pretend it doesn't even exist.

 

the kit is full of beautiful details, is cheaper than many 1/48 tank kits you can find on the market, and is one of the most iconic tanks of ww2 ( hobby boss released 2 t-34/76 and 2 t-34/85 all with interiors and all at the same price so you can also chose the one you like the most ) these are the tree main reasons why i suggest it to anyone who wants to build something on the 1/48 scale. 

 

i leave you with a couple of review of it

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=1952

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/48/hobbyboss/hb84806-8.htm#2

 

this is my kit 

0FPqJPz.jpg

 

and this is what you find in the box, wich is an astonishing number of sprues for such a small kit at this price 

 

gy6Y8v2.jpg

 

it also has some goodies, like a metal tow cable, two transparent plastic lights and this wich i really love, a pre assembled plastic/metal engine cowl

 

Lyuhj3n.jpg

 

i won't put any more pictures of the box, look the reviews for more informations. 

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Will be looking. I personal think this scale is to small for me, but I can see it getting really popular more and more. 

I wish all the  T - 34 has the engine cowl prepared like this. In my Cyber hobby one I've had to cut everything out. 

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question: has anyone some reliable pictures showing the right colors of the engine? i've seen pictures of museum display engines with colored parts to showcase the different systems but i would like to see an original color scheme. for example I've seen some with red cylinder head some with black, some with bare metal i have no clue wich one is the right one

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i've started with the assembly. I'm having a first glance at the quality of this kit, and i'm pretty pleased. The details are amazing for the scale. There's some less than perfect fit here and there but for my experience is a normal thing with complex kits like this one. 

 

for now i've assembled the suspensions, the engine, the gearbox and the fan. I've done a little upgrade to the engine adding tubes to it using a drill and copper wire, everything still waiting to be primed.

 

oRprBdj.jpg

 

i have got a question: since i'm planning to make it openable, i would like to know if anyone has a clue how to finish the sidewalls of the suspensions, I mean, that clearly is not what you should see if you virtually remove the hull in real life. Do you have any picture that shows how it should be finished so i can make it with plasticard?

 

Also i have a weird idea i would like your opinion on it: how do you think it would look if i paint left half ot the interiors in realistic colors and right half in fictionals colors just to highlight the different elements of the systems, like in a museum tank? Do you think it could make sense or would end up as a bad idea? 

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Painting half's different? Why not. I actually never seen interior done that way, but one of the friends painted the KV-2 half Russian half German scheme. Best be if you could chopped it in two halfs like one in the Bovington. 

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It would be a challenging project, have seen this done several times with Summer/Winter camo, Panzer grey/ yellow schemes. It's interesting to see the difference in appearance due to the different colors.

Just my :2c:

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i've built some more parts and tried to dry-fit them in the tank. i actually think the forementioned coloring is not a good idea. everything is so packed togheter and considering the scale i have the idea it all would just like messy 

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  • 2 weeks later...

work is "on hold" cause i'm waiting for an order to arrive since i needed some paints i didn't have for this and my glue and primer are almost over, meanwhile i'm still putting togheter pieces here and there in order to have them ready to paint. 

 

i just wanted to say one thing while i wait to add some pictures of the updates: this kit is even more amazing than i thought.

the amount of details is insane for the scale, absolutely insane. I've found some walktrough for the Trumpeter 1/16 kit online and i have to confirm is just the same kit scaled down, parts and details looks to be exactly the same. The parts fit togheter nicely. Considering what i see online in other boxes this might be the best 1/48 armor model on the market, and considering is also one of the cheapest i confirm my first impression this is a must buy

 

I think this model ( and the whole hobbyboss t-34 lineup )  is the perfect tank for diorama makers 

The smaller scale compared to 1/35 allows you to realize wider scenes in a smaller amount of space, and the amount of internal details allows you to use the model for any diorama you have in mind:

you can make a maintenance diorama, with half the tank open and maybe the engine being replaced or something like that. 

or  you can make a damaged tank diorama, with the turret blown off and the inside fully exposed.

and so on, whatever you have in mind you can make it.  You can open every single hatch realistically as you would on the real tank: driver hatch, captain hatch, loader hatch, engine hatch, radiators hatch.

You can open the circular port on the back or remove the whole panel as you would do for heavy maintenance on brakes or gearbox. damn, you can even rotate the armor plates over the engine in both open and close position if you want to simulate a tank under air attack or normal configuration. 

 

i'm not even adding details myself, considering the scale i think there's more than enough. Maybe some details would look better if replaced by photoetched parts, but i'm not intending to invest that much effort in this project. The only upgrades i've made at the moment are some cables in the cabin and on the engine and i've sealed the other side of the fuel tanks ( this is an odd feature considering the tank is intended to show its interiors. Also, i've added some magnets to make it easier to open and close the tank. 

 

 

 

Edited by cambridge
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  • 3 weeks later...

well i've moved on this one but i forgot to take pictures so this is the current state of the kit

 

GSexpIh.jpg

 

Yg0pIhB.jpg

 

5xmkKjW.jpg

 

Zfy7mz7.jpg

 

vKdlkIl.jpg

 

8BX6FGR.jpg

 

the kits come togheter absolutely nicely. the quality of the interiors assembled is impressive for the scale. 

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Nice work! I'm working on AFV club's 1/35 T-34/85 with interior for the from russia with love GB and seeing that you added the wiring on the engine another addition you could make is the tubing connecting the air bottles for the air start system to the rest of the tank.

xOBJIP1.jpg

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is that 1/35?

your suggestion would be a nice addiction for sure, i had pondered it but in the end when i assembled the cockpit it all came out so nicely and so clean that i think i'm not gonna add anything, don't want to risk to mess it with glue drops or something. 

 

i've got one question since i'm there: how did you decided to paint the engine bay?

i made some research online, apparently is still a debated topic. In the end the more plausible option i've come up with is to have a green engine bay, red fuel tanks and green oil tanks. It looks like you've done a full red is that something coming from the instruction sheet? the Hobby boss instruction poo-poo doesn't tell what colors to use on the various parts.

 

anyway, i've finished assembling the engine bay, i just have to redo the green prime on the hull.  here's the result ( i still think is an insane amount of details for a 1/48 scale ):

 

69wPVeL.jpg

 

eKVu3MW.jpg

 

ciAJGou.jpg

 

 

Edited by cambridge
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AFV club's instructions tell you to just pain the engine bay white but from what I could find the engine bay of a T-34 would have either been painted 4B0 green or just left in red oxide primer. I chose red oxide primer because I figured that the soviets would have been more concerned with getting the tank out of the factory and onto the battlefield as fast as possible. AFC club's instructions tell you to paint the oil tanks steel and for that I used vallejo metal color steel.

quQ7mkb.jpg

 

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that is an absolute mistery to me, 80.000 tanks produced in over 15 years and one can't find a reliable source on the tank colors. I know they were produced in different factories over different years but come on 

Edited by cambridge
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