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PT-76 Soviet amphibious light tank, Pictures taken at National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, Kiev by Dave Haskell.

Etched set for Russian PT-76 MOD 1951 1:35 ET Models S35-014 The PT-76 has a typical tank layout: the steering compartment at the front, the combat compartment in the center and the engine compartment at the back. The tank has a three-man crew, with the commander also acting as the radio operator and gunner. This reduces his effectiveness as an observer. The commander and loader stations are located inside the turret, the commander sits on the left-hand side of the main gun and the loader sits on the right. They have a large oval shaped double hatch which opens forwards on top of the turret. The driver sits in the center of the front of the hull and has a one piece hatch that opens to the right, with three vision blocks and periscopes located beneath the main gun at the top of the sloping glacis plate. Under the driver's seat there is an emergency hatch which can be used by all crew members. At night the center periscope is swapped for a TVN-28 night vision device which gives the driver clear vision up to 60 meters. Its main armament consists of a 76.2 mm D-56T series rifled tank gun which has an effective range of approximately 1,500 meters and a rate of fire of six to eight rounds per minute. This gun is 42 calibres long. The PT-76 carries 40 rounds for its gun. A typical ammunition load consists of 24 x OF-350 Frag-HE, 4 x sub-calibre AP-T, 4 x AP-T and 8 x BK-350M HEAT rounds. The gun is mounted in an oval dish-type circular truncated cone turret with flat sloping sides which is mounted over the second, third, and fourth pair of road wheels. All PT-76s have a fume extractor for the main gun at the rear of the turret. The 7.62 mm SGMT coaxial medium machine gun comes with 1,000 rounds. This weapon has a maximum effective range of 1,000 meters in daylight while the vehicle is stationary, 400 to 500 meters in daylight while the vehicle is on the move and 600 meters at night. Maximum range is 1,500 meters. It can be fired in 2 to 10 round bursts and has a practical rate of fire of 250 rounds per minute and a cyclic rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute. From 1967 the machine gun was replaced with PKT of the same calibre. The commander/gunner has a cupola on the left side of the double hatch. The cupola has the TPKU-2B observation device and two TNP day periscopes and can be rotated 360 degrees by hand. The commander also has a 4X optical sight mounted to the left of the main armament and a TShK-66 sight/rangefinder. The loader has the MK-4 observation device mounted on the turret's roof in front of the hatch. S35-014 The Trumpeter PT-76 is one of their older releases, so it’s surprising that there haven’t been that many aftermarket items released for it. So finally ET Models have turned their attentions into designing a detail set for it. Now, this set is a in their value range and is made up of the details set E35-080 and the Fender set E35-082. Together there are six sheets of relief etched brass, a resin aerial base and a turned metal barrel for the 7.92mm machine gun. Four of the brass sheets are taped to the standard issue black card, whilst the two smallest sheets, aerial base and barrel are held in a separate zip lock poly bag. The instructions, on their green paper are for the most part very clear, but there are a couple of sub-assemblies that aren’t shown where they fit on the model so check with the kit instructions and make your own mind up on where they go. One of them I can only presume that they are the water jet outlets which will only be needed if the outlet doors are positioned open. The first parts to be built up are the various brackets and clamps, plus a new spade blade, tie downs for the spade, pick axe and spare shackles. There are new clips to be attached to the towing hooks, the two outlets mentioned above and ten new grab handles. The spare fuel cans on the rear decking are fitted with new handles, filler cap and tie down straps whilst each of the engine bay doors are fitted with new lifting handles. The engine intake grilles are replaced with new ones from the set and the exhaust vanes are replaced with new brass ones with their upper and lower locating plates. Up front on the drivers hatch cupola the three kit periscopes are removed and replaced by brass units. To the rear, the fire extinguisher has a new clamps and hull mounts. Returning to the bow, the lights are fitted with new catches and mounts, whilst their protective cages are completely replaced with very fine brass items and fitted with new hinges and locking plates, complete with separate wing nuts. The bows spray guard is completely replaced by a brass unit, and is made up of the front plate, the rear strengthening lattice, three lower hinges and the two side arms which raise or lower the guard as required. There a number of scratch built parts also required, such as side mounting blocks and styrene or brass pins. The turret has quite a few new parts added. Most notably new hatch hinges, periscopes for the commanders cupola, a complex searchlight mount, spare track clamps, a secondary rotatable periscope fitted just behind the searchlight, the turned brass machine gun barrel replaces the kit item and the aerial base. The kits aerial will need some care to remove, as it within a curved indented mount on the turret. If the turrets hatch is to be posed open, then the interior latches and handle are also provided as is the protective ring around the shell port at the rear of the turret. The main communication aerial around the turret is fitted with ne supports and there are several grab handles around the base of the turret. Finally the main gun is fitted with a clamp, like a large jubilee clip where it meets the mantle. Fender set (E35-082) This single sheet set has exactly what it says on the card. The two fenders are each fitted with their respective supports, and strengthening beams. The forward and rear mudguards are then bent to shape and glued into position. Construction looks to be fairly simple, but will make for a much better scale thickness on the model. Conclusion This is a very nice set, and with not too many really small items, should be fairly easy to use, The only real problem are I can see is the removal of the kits aerial, so I would say that is optional if the modeller doesn’t feel up to the job or doesn’t have the right tools it won’t make too much difference. With a bit of care when bending the various parts, some good tweezers and a bit of patience, this set will really enhance the model taking it to another level of realism. Highly recommended. Available soon from White Ensign Models in the UK Review Sample courtesy of