Monday, May 2, 2011

1/72 WWII Wargaming- more kits: T34-85s.

The below tanks represent elements of the Russian 15th Guards Tank Brigade. A PSC T34 85 (closest below), 2 Pegasus Hobbies T34 85's (next 2 w/commanders) & 2 Armour fast T34 85s (buttoned). The commander figures are all Preiser. I used the new flames of war Russian Armor  primer/basecoat spray paint.



Plastic Soldier Company T34/85. I really like this kit. Each box makes 3 tanks and contains 3 sprues. Each sprue makes up a T34 chassis and a model 41 turret (pictured directly below) and a model 85 turret (2nd picture down).  Each tank only has a few parts and assembles very easily. Focusing on the model 85 version; The hatch is separate to glue on but must be cut to glue open as shown in the pics. The gun barrel is way huge! (edit- PSC reports that thay have corrected the barrel issue). The turret has a wide center post and swings smoothly on the chassis. The barrel must be glued in place. A commander bust is included. It's a nice sculpt but looks a little fat compared to the Preiser commanders that I already had (and used instead)


 Pegasus Hobbies T34 85s. Another very nice kit. The box yields 2 T34 85 tanks. Two commander cupolas are included; one molded with open hatch (shown) and one molded buttoned up. Each cupola has two pins which fit into the recessed  turret top area so you can glue them or swap in game (the pins are short though and the cupola will fall off if turned over). The kit was easy enough to build, contains few parts and can be built to allow the gun to traverse  vertically. No commander figure is included. Looking at the pictures now I'm a bit upset that I didn't do a better job sanding the lines where the turret tops and bottoms join but too late now they're in the field! Not the worst thing I've done anyway;  close observation often reveals cat (we have three) hairs embedded on the kits that my aging eyes failed to notice during painting.
Below is an Armourfast T-34 85. Very easy to assemble and each box makes two tanks. No commander figure is included. The separate commanders hatch can be glued on closed or easily converted to glue open. The gun barrel can be assemblerd to traverse vertically. The tracks are the least detailed of the three kits reviewed. I like the Pegasus and PSC kits a bit  more but will gladly use the Armourfast ones I have completed.

No comments: