After the carriers are complete, they can be cemented into the (large) one piece main hull. The interior of the T34 I inspected was painted throughout in an off-white colour. Tamiya XF2 with a hint of yellow was used to replicate this and a wash of Flory brown was applied in patches as the inside of these vehicles got pretty dirty in service.
Next to install were the eight axle units. Each one mounts to the hull with poly caps and a pin inserted into the adjacent spring/damper. These can then move in a manner which replicates the real suspension.
Now comes the fitting out of the inner hull with the driver’s position on the left and the machine gunner’s to the right. I also depicted my model as a command tank and so the nicely moulded radio equipment was installed on the gunner’s side. Pipework, cabling, switch-boxes, engine gauges and the driver’s levers and pedals are all replicated. Right forward are the two compressed air tanks which were the primary way of engine starting in extremely cold temperatures when batteries were at their most inefficient. I remember these prominent tanks being a medium blue colour, and that is what I went for.
There is no turret basket fitted to the T34/76, indeed the floor under the turret is formed by the 76mm ammunition boxes. These were fitted and received heavy weathering accordingly. Accessing this ammunition in action must have been a real contortion for the poor loader! With everything installed, the forward hull looks convincingly ‘busy’.
Construction now begins on the 39 Litre, V12 diesel engine. This consists of approx. 50 parts and is a mini kit in its own right. A trawl of the internet seemed to suggest that the engine could be painted black, green or left as bare metal. This depending on which factory produced it and how the war was going. Some T34s at Stalingrad were even sent into action in primer or even bare metal according to some sources. My T34 was going to represent a vehicle just before the Kursk battle, and so settled on a bare aluminium engine block with nato black induction and exhaust manifolds, the latter suitably lightly rusted. When complete, the engine and its bearers are mounted into the rear compartment of the hull. This part of the hull was also painted white and heavy oil staining applied. The fit of all components to this point was excellent.
Up next was fitting the engine bulkhead – no problems here, then the coolant radiator and associated pipework was installed. The transmission gearbox and integral brake bands went together beautifully and, after painting, was ready for fitment. Here I met the only major fit issue in the entire build. The transmission rests on two bearers which engage in slots on the base of the hull, except in my case they didn’t. With the cooling fan on the front of the gearbox slotted correctly into the rear of the engine block the bearers seemed to be about 1mm too far back. This may not seem much, but because the brake band covers and rear hull plate were tight in tolerance, a lot of let’s say, ‘adjustment’ was required before everything came together. With the fit of components being excellent up to this point, I would hazard a guess that the problem was all down to me. Anyway modelling would be boring if it was too easy!
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