North Korean Armour

[Misterfriend]

Hello Chaps

I'm toying with the idea of going outside my comfort zone for the upcoming Korean War GB and doing a little armour. I was thinking of doing a North Korean T-34 in 1/48 scale but have a couple of queries.

Did they only use the T-34/85s or did they have any earlier versions?

The few photos I can find, the markings seem to consist of a number on the side of the turret. Would this have been both sides and were there any other markings?

I think I'm going for the Hobby Boss kit as it seems to be the best from what I've read, anything I should be aware of?

Also anyone know of a good reference for DPRK armour of that era? Online or in good old fashioned book form!

Sorry to bombard you with questions

cheers

Segan

[rickshaw]

The DPRK only used T34/85s. Their main armoured vehicle was the SU76.

[SleeperService]

Sorry for the delay but I've just found this thread.

The tactical number was on each side of the turret.Some vehicles had a large DPRK star insignia to the front of each turret side. Most pictures show the single hatch in the commanders position.

The HB kits are very good. You can leave some of the internal detail out if you want to make it easier. Be careful gluing the tracks as they are very thin. You mustn't fit them too tightly together or they'll be too short. The grille is a bit clunky. Hauler does a grille set for the Tamiya kit which looks much better IMHO it's quite cheap HLX48034 is the number. It DOES fit the HB kits as well.

There is a Squadron Signal Special Armor in Korea and Tanks Illustrated had Tank War Korea. But that's about it.

BTW many of these Korean T-34s were part crewed (at least) by Chinese 'Volunteers'. There were also turret less ARVs in theatre crewed by Chinese engineers. Possibly less than 5 in total. (This comes from a conversation my brother had in Beijing with a heavily medalled veteran when he was working there, with an interpreter I hasten to add.) This guy had been captured by the Americans and handed back in 1955 without them ever discovering he was Chinese.

[Misterfriend]

Hello SleeperService

Thanks for all the info, very useful indeed. Just got a copy of Tanks Illustrated, Tank War Korea. The grills from Hauler look nice too and I may invest in a set.

I got the Hobby Boss kit and it is a little daunting with the immense amount of interior detail, daunting in a good way though. I may skip some of it, haven't decided if I'll do hatches open or not. Thanks for the tip about the tracks. This is my first armour build since I was a teenager, many moons ago, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Cheers

Segan

[Pete610]

Indeed - only the T34/85 used in action - in complete contrast to the US forces - who were reaping the wild harvest left by the WW2 dogma of many Shermans will beat anything else - i.e. swamp them with Shermans even if they are inferior - only trouble with that policy was it didn't work if your opponent did the same - as the NKA did but with the superior T34. The US armour policy remained in a confused, underdeveloped state - until arguably the excellent M1 Abrams....

The US committed Shermans, Chaffees, Pershings and Pattons plus the M36 Tank Destroyer.

The Commonwealth forces committed a similarly confused mixture of WW2 tanks and the excellent 'new' Centurion.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Pete610

[spaddad]

Concord 7003 Armour At War -Tank Warfare In Korea 1950-53 . NKPA also used Su-76 & BA-64 scout car. One battalion of IS 2 were supplied to & deployed by the Chinese but no record of any combat use exists.

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi,

they have some T-34/76 too, rebuilt after the war with starfish wheels.

They are the first on this blog:

http://spioenkop.blogspot.nl/2014/01/north-korea-and-her-fighting-vehicles.html

Should anyone be interested to model more recent North Korean tanks,

I'm working on a page collecting images and details for eventual conversion works from Russian models.

http://www.massimotessitori.altervista.org/armoursite/nkindigenoustanks/index.html

Regards

Massimo

[SleeperService]

Well my flabber is completely gasted Thanks for the links Massimo

The T-34 1943 is a little unusual as it has the starfish wheels (excellent resin ones available in 1/48 from OKB Grigorov BTW) but the original rear engine plate rather than the hinged torsion balanced one that usually formed part of the upgrade. I was completely unaware that anybody had upgraded Model 1942s.

[Massimo Tessitori]

Yes, it was a surprise for me too. I had never seen them after the war before this. I thought that were lost or employed for conversions to later versions or special vehicles.

[SleeperService]

I thought the same. I read somewhere that the frying pan turreted T-34 /76 either received M1943 turrets during the upgrade or, as you say, were converted into ARVs.

Just as with Shermans we can 'never say never'