T-34/76 Mod.42/43 KO

[Dario Risso]

I "oficially" start my new proyect. It's AFV Club 35S57 kit, with interior parts and clear top hull and turret. Of course, I will paint the clear parts, the interior will be showed by the breaking of some armoured plates, with the turret blown.

The kit seems to be not a beauty, according to modeler Scott Fraser. He opinate the this kit is a wreck, you will see why.

This is in Armorama.

and I quote: "The suspension is very poorly executed, such that amyone wanting to build this into an accurate model of a T-34, ANY T-34, must replace the roadwheels. They are wrong, for this or any other T-34.....we have a tank without wheels, and a tank without wheels is a wreck."







Of course I found all these links after I buy the kit, but...my model will be a wreck anyway

A couple of websites

http://legion-afv.narod.ru/T-34-76.html Hundreds of pics from museums and wrecks

http://pblinov.narod.ru/photo.htm

The first duty I do was to replace a couple of the suspension spring by other made of ...0.6mm? copper wire. To obtain the same distance from one spiral to each other, I wrap 2 wires around a KS brass tube, 2 mm in diameter. Then, one of the wires was discarted




The black one is provided by AFV Club; I think the copper one is more accurate, because the wire diameter and less spirals



Another detail I want to show is a burnt rubber-covered wheel. The kit provides 4 double wheels of this type, with the "rubber" part in hard styrene, not vinil (thanks Lord!)



So, to make the "grooves" od the bare wheel, I improvise a tool: a surgery # 11 blade screwed to a piece of MDF. I added 0,5 mm styrene sheet to make the different separated slots.



I was nor satisfied with the result, so I take my motor tools, safety glasses and I modified the blade tip



Well, still not satisfied, but is not bad considering it will be partially covered with rests of rubber and ashes. I finally make the slots a bit larger using an X-Acto saw



Next step will be study the thickness of the armoured plates and compare it with the kit.

Of course, suggestions are wellcomed

Darío

[Jamie Tainton]

Will be watching with avid interest. Thanks for posting your progress Dario!

[Roy Schlicht]

Yes, your copper spring looks more authentic but to be honest they will be hard to see even if portraying a wreck. I have never purchased an AFV Club T-34 namely because I have plenty of Dragon ones and they are for the most part part pretty accurate. Will be looking forward to your build. I am currently building a Tamiya IS-II but got too involved with it before I realized I should be blogging it here. I will post some pics once I am completed with it.

Roy

[Dario Risso]

Thanks guys!
Well, I work in the main gun ammo racks. I suppose the ammo exploded (may be some, maybe all), so the racks must be empty

I found these pics; the second one shows a different type of racks (?)





The kit provides these parts:



As you can see, they look to thick, so...let's work

I take a tin sheet, more malleable than aluminium or brass. The first task is smooth it with a digital tool: my nail




I cut some pieces, 2,5 cm x 1 cm (1" x .4")




I take one of the kit part an sand the rises molded.. I stick the part to a piece of styrene sheet with double sided tape




Then I position the tin piece over it ant with the help of a toothpick (or a fingernail or a dentist tool...whatever you thinks works better) I copy the shape. Note I made 2 cuts in the rear part, to help molding the butt




I cut the tin with an X-Acto blade (actually...Maped blade)




And the first part is done. They look distorted, but the right shape can be obtained again using the plastic part. Anyway, in a destroyed vehicle they will look worst




Now the question (Oh, you think I would show you my method for free? )

If you look again the first pic, I draw some red lines pointing to....what? Metal strapping? Or remains of rubber/leather pads?

Thanks

Darío

[Roy Schlicht]

I believe those were felt strips to keep the shell from sliding too much and rubbing. Good job replacing those as the kit ones looked awful.

Roy

[Tim Coulson]

Looking forward to your progress.

[Dario Risso]

Thanks, fellas!
To justify the presence of the port side shell brackets, I suppose they was empty when the ammo in the boxes located at the floor exploded (there are 8 ammo boxes with... 3 rounds each?)

Let me show you the updates:

I cut the side armour and the inner plate (where the starboard ammo brackets was located), leaving just the suspension springs



Here you can see the remains of the ammo boxes.




I apply a coat of green, then hairspray laque and then a coat of white. It doesn't looks as I want, but I think is not bad. It still need some burnt effect, pipes and wires

The weathering was simple:

* acrilic applied with sponge
* oils washes (diluted in white spirit)
* oil mapping
* Tamiya Flat Black airbushed very diluted

I will add some pigments later


Firewall, deformed and broken. At the left you can see an MG ammo rack, build out of styrene sheet


Remains of the ammo boxes, with a coat of satin black





That's all for now; as always, opinions are wellcomed

Darío

[Roy Schlicht]

Nice job, I'm thinking that if this thing suffered a catastrophic explosion that the whole fighting compartment will be burned including the walls. The paint would have burned off leaving bare metal which would rust. Your ammo racks look good.

Roy

[Tim Coulson]

[Dario Risso]

Thanks guys...I had the idea that the explosion extinguished the fire, that's why there are not much fire damage
More updates: the blue pipes are for the compressed air to the diesel fuel. The rest of the wires are...wires



Engine and transmision parts with a coat of...a crazy mix of Molak aluminium (enamel) and Tamiya Black (acrilic). Then a coat of hairspray and another coat of the crazy mix, but with more black. It doesn't work well, when I scrapped with a hard brush and warm water, the metal color peel off very easily, leaving the bare plastic. Anyway, the washes will help to blend the colors





Almost all parts painted and weathered with hairspray, brush and sponge. Then oil washes (black and raw umber). It still need a lot of pipes and wires







Regards
Darío