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The Semi Skilled Mink

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Hi there everybody. I'd just like to introduce myself.  My name is Andrew and I'm returning to modelling after a gap of about 45 years or so. Last built a kit aged around 9 or 10 and I'm now approaching my 54th birthday.  This has come about due to a very brief conversation with my 20 year old son last year sometime, when I happened to mention my favourite tank of World War 2 (doesn't everyone have one??) is a Russian T34. Lo and behold, on Christmas morning the lad had only gone and bought me an Airfix T34 in 1/76. So, I suppose I'd better build it. If I'm brave enough I may post some pics here when it is complete.  I'm sure I'll have lots of questions during this and subsequent builds. By the way, I discovered this site whilst researching this build. It came up often with useful answers to my questions, so I thought it would be a good idea to join. Thanks for having me!

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Hello Andrew...:post1: from Chicago USA. There is a T-34 group build coming in the summer, it starts on June 13th. Anyone is allowed and encouraged to join in the fun. The conversation, camaraderie, and all the building help you can ask for. Maybe build the airfix kit to get some experience and then look for another kit in the same scale or a larger scale. 
 

Dennis

 

Here is a link to the build. 

 

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@The Semi Skilled Mink Welcome to BM where there are many just like you. As the Group Leader (I use the term loosely) you'll be welcome to join in. We aren't 'precious' on BM at all as we're all here to enjoy ourselves/console when needed/assist in hiding the latest purchase from the family.

 

That's a great user name too.

 

Thanks to @Corsairfoxfouruncle for the plug, the best PR Officer I know ;)

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18 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello Andrew...:post1: from Chicago USA. There is a T-34 group build coming in the summer, it starts on June 13th. Anyone is allowed and encouraged to join in the fun. The conversation, camaraderie, and all the building help you can ask for. Maybe build the airfix kit to get some experience and then look for another kit in the same scale or a larger scale. 
 

Dennis

 

Here is a link to the build. 

 

Thanks Dennis, and thank you for the heads up on the T-34 group build. It certainly sounds like something I would enjoy being part of. Better get a move on with this little T-34 of mine, then see what else is out there, maybe the Tamiya 1/35?

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14 hours ago, SleeperService said:

@The Semi Skilled Mink Welcome to BM where there are many just like you. As the Group Leader (I use the term loosely) you'll be welcome to join in. We aren't 'precious' on BM at all as we're all here to enjoy ourselves/console when needed/assist in hiding the latest purchase from the family.

 

That's a great user name too.

 

Thanks to @Corsairfoxfouruncle for the plug, the best PR Officer I know ;)

Thank you! Looking forward to rediscovering the hobby, subject to the wife's spending restrictions of course...

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14 hours ago, The Semi Skilled Mink said:

Thanks Dennis, and thank you for the heads up on the T-34 group build. It certainly sounds like something I would enjoy being part of. Better get a move on with this little T-34 of mine, then see what else is out there, maybe the Tamiya 1/35?

Have a look at the Zvezda T-34s. Check online for prices and availability and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Allow for replacement tracks if your choice only has vinyl though, not because I want you to spend money but the vinyl tracks aren't good. Some boxes have styrene link and length in which are quite usable with a bit of cleaning up.

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On 18/01/2020 at 08:53, SleeperService said:

Have a look at the Zvezda T-34s. Check online for prices and availability and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Allow for replacement tracks if your choice only has vinyl though, not because I want you to spend money but the vinyl tracks aren't good. Some boxes have styrene link and length in which are quite usable with a bit of cleaning up.

Thanks for this. I’ve been having a little look around at kits, etc, and the Zvezda kits look pretty impressive. I would ideally like a T-34 mod 1941 so bearing in mind what you said about vinyl tracks, is there any way of knowing which kit has which tracks before buying? Also I’m struggling to find replacement tank tracks in the UK. Based on a thread on here I sourced a set of resin ones with the correct pattern but as they are coming from EU it makes the postage cost prohibitive. Can anyone recommend a good supplier? Finally, in another thread I read that 1/72 and 1/76 are similar enough to make no noticeable difference, eg. 1/72 tracks will happily fit a 1/76 tank?

Sorry for all the questions but I’ve spent the last few days digging with little to nothing to show for it!

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I shall consult the Club T-34 oracle and get back to you ASAP. Have you got a particular Mod. 1941 in mind? You may find THIS sheet of interest.

 

@Sgt.Squarehead may be able to help about the 1/72 & 1/76 mix as I'm very out of date on the tiny stuff and he isn't.

 

If you want a 1/35 Mod. 1941 (or 1940) then it's Dragon I'm afraid. 1941 or 1940 both include individual styrene track links which may or may not be a good thing for you. I'll ask around to see if anybody has a cheapie for sale as well as opinions. 

 

 

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On 25/01/2020 at 13:30, SleeperService said:

I shall consult the Club T-34 oracle and get back to you ASAP. Have you got a particular Mod. 1941 in mind? You may find THIS sheet of interest.

 

@Sgt.Squarehead may be able to help about the 1/72 & 1/76 mix as I'm very out of date on the tiny stuff and he isn't.

 

If you want a 1/35 Mod. 1941 (or 1940) then it's Dragon I'm afraid. 1941 or 1940 both include individual styrene track links which may or may not be a good thing for you. I'll ask around to see if anybody has a cheapie for sale as well as opinions. 

 

 

Thank you so much for staying with me on this quest. I'll continue with my Airfix T-34 for now and see how that turns out. In the meantime I'll have a look at the Dragon offerings and whatever else looks interesting. 

 

I did come across something very interesting yesterday which I really did not expect to find, a Unimodel 1/72 T-34/57 with ZIS 4 gun. As these tanks were produced in such ridiculously small numbers I'm amazed anyone bothered to make a model kit of one. Sadly (and inexplicably) this kit seems to be based on the 1943 rather than the 1941, which is really quite disappointing. However, the detail in the kit looks really good so I thought it would make a nice little rarity when built, just like the real one, i suppose! 

 

Are these Unimodel kits ok and worth a punt on? Ten quid plus postage seems like a reasonable price to me. 

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Welcome back to the fold Andrew and welcome to BM. Armour is not my forte, at least not since the last century, mine is aircraft , but there are many boffins here that a vast wealth of miniscule and arcane knowledge in the ways of rolling iron. I look forward to seeing you build.

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16 hours ago, The Semi Skilled Mink said:

I did come across something very interesting yesterday which I really did not expect to find, a Unimodel 1/72 T-34/57 with ZIS 4 gun. As these tanks were produced in such ridiculously small numbers I'm amazed anyone bothered to make a model kit of one. Sadly (and inexplicably) this kit seems to be based on the 1943 rather than the 1941, which is really quite disappointing. However, the detail in the kit looks really good so I thought it would make a nice little rarity when built, just like the real one, i suppose! 

There was a batch built on the 1943 build T-34 so Unimodel are OK on that. They can be a bit clunky with oversized pour stubs etc. but I've built several aircraft and they all build well with a little care, the plastic glues nicely, and they are cheap as chips. I've got two of their Bf109G kits to make a zwilling and the extra armament set which my brother paid 12USD for in 2016. Holds up pretty well against better known brands. I'd certainly risk a tenner.

 

Tracks were 550mm wide which is 7.24mm in 1/76 or 7.69mm in 1/72. Given the variation in kit design I think you'll be OK to mix scales. The Airfix kit has raised dimples on the rubber tyres these are incorrect, early vehicles has holes in the tyres later on plain tyres were used. IIRC the Airfix kit has the squared off mudguards which are extremely rare on WW2 vehicles. However they do work for a North Korean T34-76 or a post-war rebuilt vehicle (although mostly these were the 1943 hex turret type). The T35/76 version is nearest to a 1942 production tank which is no surprise as that's Bovingdon's pedigree too. Just to confuse the issue further some 1942-43 tanks had narrower 500mm tracks fitted. (Isn't this fun?)

 

For the 76mm gun types the best reference is Mikhail Baryatinskiy's T-34 Medium Tank in Ian Allan's Russian armour series. ISBN 978-071103265-1. The New Vanguard is based on Cold War Era

research for the most part and the print on demand versions have poor reproduction. Peter Samsonov has recently written Designing the T-34 (ISBN 9781911658306) which I think is an absolute bargain. Covers the development and history up to the German Invasion very well, some later information, but the photos are the best bit; well chosen, beautifully reproduced on quality paper, some nice shots of the only Pre-War T-34 left, and even a shot of the T-34/57 (a common one but very well reproduced).   

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On 29/01/2020 at 12:07, SleeperService said:

There was a batch built on the 1943 build T-34 so Unimodel are OK on that. They can be a bit clunky with oversized pour stubs etc. but I've built several aircraft and they all build well with a little care, the plastic glues nicely, and they are cheap as chips. I've got two of their Bf109G kits to make a zwilling and the extra armament set which my brother paid 12USD for in 2016. Holds up pretty well against better known brands. I'd certainly risk a tenner.

 

Tracks were 550mm wide which is 7.24mm in 1/76 or 7.69mm in 1/72. Given the variation in kit design I think you'll be OK to mix scales. The Airfix kit has raised dimples on the rubber tyres these are incorrect, early vehicles has holes in the tyres later on plain tyres were used. IIRC the Airfix kit has the squared off mudguards which are extremely rare on WW2 vehicles. However they do work for a North Korean T34-76 or a post-war rebuilt vehicle (although mostly these were the 1943 hex turret type). The T35/76 version is nearest to a 1942 production tank which is no surprise as that's Bovingdon's pedigree too. Just to confuse the issue further some 1942-43 tanks had narrower 500mm tracks fitted. (Isn't this fun?)

 

For the 76mm gun types the best reference is Mikhail Baryatinskiy's T-34 Medium Tank in Ian Allan's Russian armour series. ISBN 978-071103265-1. The New Vanguard is based on Cold War Era

research for the most part and the print on demand versions have poor reproduction. Peter Samsonov has recently written Designing the T-34 (ISBN 9781911658306) which I think is an absolute bargain. Covers the development and history up to the German Invasion very well, some later information, but the photos are the best bit; well chosen, beautifully reproduced on quality paper, some nice shots of the only Pre-War T-34 left, and even a shot of the T-34/57 (a common one but very well reproduced).   

Thank you so much. Plenty of info and advice to get going with. I honestly hadn’t noticed the squared off mudguards until you pointed them out. I’m going to buy the Unimodel kit as the detail is very good. 

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