1 | 2 | 3| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Review by Graham Thompson
There is an ever increasing number of superb 1:48 scale models available to us now. Tamiya with their range of over 40 models in this really practical scale are, to some degree, dominating the market. However, there are alternatives available and one of those is the subject of this review and build.
I have always been fond of the Soviet T34 series of tanks. They have a look about them that has helped raise them to almost legendary status. It has to be said though that their success against the might of the German Panzer armies in Russia was much to do with the sheer number of T34s thrown against the Panzer IVs, Panthers and Tigers which, certainly for the latter two, out gunned and out armoured the smaller T34.
The subject I have chosen for this build is the T34/85 in 1:48 manufactured by HobbyBoss. There are a few surprises with this kit, not least is the price. Most of the HobbyBoss 1:48 range of tanks are between £8 and £9. This makes them a very cost effective model to build. In the case of the T34s in the range though, the price comes as a very nice surprise when you consider that all the T34 in the range have a fully detailed interior making this a lot of kit for the price. Sadly, the other tanks in their range do not have this luxury but they still represent great value for money.
Onto the build…
Before I pick up any tools though, it is worthwhile with a kit of this amount of parts and detail to take a serious look at the instructions. Although the instructions are clear and well detailed, it is inevitable that at some point I will have to break away from the stages they recommend.
There is so much going on inside that tank that it will be impossible to effectively paint the interior and weather it to bring out the detail, especially on the engine and transmission, in situ. These parts will have to be built and painted as sub-assemblies prior to fitting it all together. A lot of these decisions will take place as I work through the kit rather than try to make a firm plan right at the beginning.
Let’s start…
There has to be a place to start however so I began with Stage One as per instructions. This involves gluing the suspension springs for the long travel Christie style suspension into the side walls of the interior. Immediately I run into what I had expected. Although I can fit the springs, I cannot glue the side walls into position as the insides of the side walls and the springs need to be painted differently to the rest of the interior. Also, unless the hull top is made removable, these springs will never be seen.
For this reason, I have decided to spray the inside of the sidewalls containing the springs in a red oxide primer colour and then bring out the detail of the springs. These side walls were then glued into place with some of the crew compartment detail. Oddly, the main crew floor is made up of ammunition boxes and this is well represented in this kit.
Next came the engine, and what a lovely item it is to. The main engine is made up of around 20 parts.
This is followed by the cooling fan, made up of 4 parts, the picture shows both sides of the fan to show just how detailed even this part is.
And finally, the transmission unit made up of 9 parts.
It would have been easy for HobbyBoss to have just moulded some mounting lugs in for the engine but no. The engine sits on separate engine mounts representing what really look like the real ones and they certainly fit the bill even though they may never be seen again once the engine and transmission are in place.