The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank which had a profound and lasting effect on the field of tank design. Although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient, and influential tank design of World War II. At its introduction, the T-34 possessed an unprecedented combination of firepower, mobility, protection, and ruggedness. Its 76.2 mm (3 in) high-velocity tank gun provided a substantial increase in firepower over any of the T-34’s contemporaries; its heavy sloped armor was difficult to penetrate by most contemporary anti-tank weapons. First encountered in 1941, German tank general von Kleist called it “the finest tank in the world” and Heinz Guderian confirmed the T-34’s “vast superiority” over German armor and found it “very worrying.”
[Source: Wikipedia]
Detailed spring suspension in hull
Tracks are from in the link plus length
Great casting detail on the turret
Choice of short or tall commander’s cupola
Hatches can be positioned open or closed
Hull comes with nice spare track links and stowage
Photo Etch parts for the engine grille
Scale: 1/35
Item # 13290
MSRP: $49.00 (USD)
Markings are provided for six versions
M08, Berlin, Germany, May 1945
904, Berlin, Germany, May 1945
Yugoslavia, 1945, ‘From the father of Shulgi Ksinu Kicenko’
738, North Korean Army, 1950
229, North Korean Army, 1950
‘Knocked Out 20 July 1950 Under the Supervision of Maj Gen WF Dean’
Here comes Academy with a brand spanking new tooling of one of my favorite subjects. This is the all new T-34/85 from Academy in 1/35th scale. The kit is nicely molded in dark green styrene and comprised of 18 sprues 2 of which are dark gray for the track links. Â A small fret of photo etch is also provided with the engine grille cover. This kit depicts the T-34 model built at the 112 factory production in Gorky. As with should expect from a new tooling, the kit is free from flash and heavy molding lines. All the injection gates throughout the entire kit are very fine and delicate evident mostly on all handle bars and small parts.
All the key details of this kit are there without being overly engineered. Â The ejection pin marks are well controlled and the vast majority will ve invisible once the lower and upper hull are cemented. There are 3 visible ejection pin marks on the hatch should you decide to display it open but nothing that a little bit of putty and a sanding stick may eliminate. I’m personally OK with the tracks but I think I will treat this kit to a nice set of AFV Club tracks.
As stated above, markings are for 6 different versions of the T-34 and are printed very nicely. The new T-34/85 from Academy should build as a fine model even out of the box and to make complement the kit, the gun barrel is molded in one piece (yay!) so getting rid of that fine molding line will be a piece of cake.
Highly Recommended!
