Kit: No. 6066
Scale: 1/35
Manufacturer: Dragon, distributed by Marco Polo Import, 532 S. Coralridge Pl., City of Industry, CA 91746
Price: $27.98
Comments: Injection molded, 406 parts, decals.
The T-34 was one of the great weapons of World War II. It was synonymous with the power of the Red Army and the massive battles of the Eastern Front. Mounting an 85mm gun, the ultimate development of the original 1940 model served long into the postwar era as the major ground weapon of the Soviet Union's client states. More than 48,000 T-34/85s were produced.
Dragon provides modelers a long-awaited T-34/85 kit with '90s technology. While labeled Model 1944, many of the turret details are typical of a late-war production model seen in 1945. The flash-free parts are molded in gray styrene. There are a few sinkholes on the inner rim of some of the bogie wheels and suspension arms, but they aren't obvious after the model is assembled. The breakdown of the hull suggests future variants.
Dragon's representation of the Christie suspension system provides a detailed spring compartment for every bogie-wheel unit. Another highlight is a clear part for the headlight.
The plastic individual-link tracks capture the waffle pattern well. Since each link is attached to the sprue at both ends, you must clean up every attachment nub. All hatches are separate (including those over the engine and transmission) and can be positioned as you wish. External equipment features fuel tanks and ice cleats. There is also a tow cable, spare track, and a two-handed wood saw. I left the ice cleats off my model as I could not find a reference photo of T-34/85s carrying them.
My kit went together quickly with only a few problems to fix. The turret has an unusual parts breakdown with a pair of cheek fillets at the front; the right one (G13) was too shallow to fit well. A little work with a knife and sanding stick evened out the mismatch.
I had a problem making the hull top fit properly at the rear. By trimming the front and back of the rear fender fillets (parts B8 and B9) and pressing them down as far as possible, I was able to get the hull top to fit correctly. Interestingly, the engine air-intake area of the hull top is detailed, but it is concealed by the armored cover.
The turret top and bottom mate at a real weld seam, but cleaning up the seam eliminated some of the weld marks. I reestablished the seam by brushing on goo made of sprue bits melted in liquid glue. When carefully applied, it looks like weld marks.
I finished my model with Polly Scale paints. Decals are included for five different WWII vehicles. Even though I applied a gloss coat and used plenty of setting solution, the decals silvered badly.
Dragon's T-34/85 scales accurately to my reference, New Vanguard No. 20, T-34/85 Medium Tank 1944-1994 by Steve Zaloga. I also found Museum Ordnance Special Number 6 T-34/85 In the Post War Era by Adam Geibel useful. I completed my model in 30 hours.
Dragon's new T-34 was a pleasure to build. WWII tank modelers should love it, but the separate track links make this a project for experienced builders.
- Jim Zeske