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I am well aware that at the moment it may not be welcome to spend time building models of Russian vehicles. But after all we are also building those related to Nazi Germany, aren't we? I found the perfect Modelkrak resin kit of the T-37A floating tank. The problem is that it presents an Izhorsk-built variant, while almost all photographed T-37As from the Winter War, the invasion of Poland or the Barbarossa Operation are tanks produced by the Podolsk factory - a modification (theoretically feasible) would devastate the sophisticated details of the turret and the hull uppersurface. Unfortunately, the tanks from the Izhorsk factory appear only in the photos of the pre-war maneuvers in Ukraine and the clashes on the Khalkhin Gol river. But there are also photos of such tanks in Wehrmacht markings, and the Germans surely did not capture them in Mongolia 😆. Does anybody have a photo or a colour profile of the Izhorsk-built T-37A from the 1941 Eastern Front? Cheers Michael

Russian T-37A Light Tank HobbyBoss 1:35 History The T-37A was a Soviet amphibious light tank. The tank is often referred to as the T-37, although that designation was used by a different tank which never left the prototype stage. The T-37A was the first series of mass-produced fully amphibious tanks in the world. The tank was first created in 1932, based on the British Vickers tankette and other operational amphibious tanks. Production started in 1933 up until 1936, when it was replaced with the more modern T-38, based on the T-37A. Overall, after four years of production, 2552 T-37A’s were produced, including the original prototypes. In the Red Army, they were used to perform tasks in communication, reconnaissance, and as defence units on the march, as well as active infantry support on the battlefield. The T-37A’s were used in large numbers during the Soviet invasion of Poland and in the Winter War against Finland. The T-37 A was also used by the Soviets in the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, but most of them were quickly lost. Surviving tanks of that type fought on the front lines until 1944, and were used in training and auxiliary defence until the end of World War II. The Model The kit is packaged in the standard Trumpeter style top opening box with an artistic representation of the tank emerging from a river. Inside, there are nine sprues, two separate hull parts moulded in green styrene, seven sprues of brown styrene, two small sheets of etched brass and a small decal sheet. As we have come to expect from Trumpeter, all the mouldings are very well produced, with no sign of flash or other imperfections and only a few moulding pips. The details are nicely reproduced and even the rivets seem about right for this type of tank. Although this is a very small tank, this kit comes with individual track links, which, whilst well moulded are joined to the sprue are three points, so not only will they take quite a bit of careful cleaning up, they will need a lot of patience putting a full run of eight six links per side together. Construction begins with the assembly of the road wheels and their suspension parts. Each pair of wheels is made up form eight parts and there are two pairs fitted per side. These assemblies are then fitted to the lower hull section, along with two return rollers per side and the idler wheel axle bearings. The sprocket wheel gearbox covers are attached followed by the sprocket wheels themselves. At the rear of the hull the propeller shaft housing and propeller are fitted, as is the propeller guard on the underside of the hull and the rudder. The idler wheels are then attached and the assembled tracks can be fitted. The upper hull is then glued to the lower hull and the separate engine cover fitted. There are a couple of areas on the upper hull that need to be removed in accordance to the instructions on each side of the front glacis plate and a couple of holes on the engine deck need to be opened up. The two, two piece watertight sponsons/fenders are assembled and fitted to the hull, along with the pioneer tools. The sponson fixing brackets are attached, fixing the sponsons to the front glacis plate and the frontal armour on the fighting compartment is fitted. The two piece exhaust is attached to the engine deck via four PE brackets, with further PE brackets being fitted around the upper hull. The engine intake grille is covered with PE mesh, and the drivers hatch is glued into place. The simple machine gun turret is fitted with the two piece machine gun, turret hatch, three vision ports and two PE plates. The external section of the machine guns ball socket is glued into position, meaning that the machine gun cannot be posed in anything other than straight without modification. The completed turret is then slotted into position on the hull, completing the build. Decals The small decal sheet only provides four different styles of turret stripe, one for each of the colour schemes included on the paint chart. T-37A, in Russian Green overall, red upper stripe with white dotted stripe below. T-37A, in Dark green overall, with blue stripe on white background. T-37A in Russian green overall, with red brown dots all over and solid red turret stripe over a red dotted stripe. T-37A in Grey green overall, with dark green spots and a thick solid red stripe on the turret. Conclusion Hobby boss have released quite a few of these small Russian tanks now and they still manage to find more to release. This is a great little kit of a very small tank, but will keep you busy for hours trying to get the tracks assembled and fitted. Probably not for the novice due to the tracks, as it may put them off indie links completely, but a nice addition to any tank collection, particularly if you like you tanks a little on the weird side. Highly Recommended Review sample courtesy of

T-37A Soviet amphibious light tank.Pictures taken at National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, Kiev by Dave Haskell.