The DML T-34/85 (kit #6319) is considered one of the top kits overall. The AFV Club (35S56) has a complete interior. Anyone built both kits and able to say "if you only buy one T-34/85, this is the one"??

I have built the Dragon Factory 112 offering and have the /76 from AFV club in the stash. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. these are some of my observations:

The dragon kit comes with Indy tracks, and the AFV club kit comes with vinyl links. The vinyls are excellently detailed, but all vinyl ltracks are useless when it comes to the T-34 becasue of the size of the tracks and because of sag. Aftermarket tracks are not hard to find, however.

The dragon kit comes with a VERY large PE fret (most of which are not used), while IIRC the AFV Club has few parts.

The AFV club kit comes with a COMPLETE interior and engine compartment, as well as a turned- brass barrel and coiled rod for springs for the suspension. Hull parts are clear to show off the detail

The Dragon kit is made up of miss-and-match sprues from old and new kits- some parts have better detail than others.

The AFV club kit has seperate injection-molded tires for the wheels.

Fit wise, I was disapointed with my Dragon T-34. The hull was warped and a lot of the parts did not fit very well. I have read that others found the fit to be excellent, and im not sure how the AFV club kit fits well.

For the value, Id say go for the AFV club kit. a set of Friuls and maybe a bit of TLC will render it just as good as a brand-new Dragon kit- except it will have an interior!

I have not seen an AFV Club built yet by anyone, so I think the jury is still out. Neither if perfect that for sure. DK

hi
well the only dragon t34 i have built was the cyberhobby t34/76 stalingrad version. and yes the detail is brilliant but the hull fit was very poor.
i am jsut starting on the AFV club t34/85 kit and my first impression is its a great kit. the fit of the hull pieces is very good and the detail of the interier is very nice, as i plan to build it damaged its a great feature. the tracks are band type but the detail is really nice, i think they should sit ok when glued, if not i'll get a set of fruils.... but i have not got that far yet.

i wanted to build a damaged t34/85 for a while but the price of the dragon kit plus a resin interier ment i couldnt. so if you want a good detailed whole t34, i'd say the dragon has better surface detail, but if you want more workings showing, go for the AFV club kit, which is also the cheaper kit to start with.
hope this helps

Won the AFV Club one on Ebay for £12.99!!!!,even with the postage from Hong Kong still works out a tenner cheaper they when ever then get to the UK

I am working on the AFV Club T-34-85 right now and I have built several DML T-34-85s.

Which kit is "better" probably depends more on you than on the kit. I like both the DML and AFV kits, but for different reasons. As others have said, neither kit is perfect, but on the other hand, both are very good !

If you want a good T-34-85 and don't really care about an interior, I would say the DML kit has better exterior detail and is a better value, due to the indy tracks. If the interior is important to you, obviously the AFV club kit is the way to go. I am finding the kit a real pleasure to build, but I would absolutely spring for AFV Club's separate tracks - they're nice.

The other thing is, the two kits represent slightly different variants. AFV Club's kit is a factory 174 version; DML's is a factory 183.

Finally, I'd say you should not assume that because the AFV Club kit is newer, it must be better. It is better in some ways but worse in others.

Get both, they're both fun !

The DML kit is hands down the better.
The AFVC kits clear hull is close to useless; it can not be seen through very clearly, especially the turret (the interior lacks the backsides to fuel cells as well as many other details in any case) and if you choose to paint it it has no surface texture and not much by way of weld beads.
The interior is nice but suffers in a number of details. For instance, the driver's side of the sponson should not be closed off. Lots of other issues both big and small.
DML's kits, though not anything like prefect, are much better in terms of exterior detail.

If the interior is not the No.1 selling point for you the only other advantage of the AFVC kit is it's very reasonable price when compared with DML.

Mark

If you wanted to build a T34 with a full interior (I did that in 1:48 scale and it was fun), why not just get a DML kit and an aftermarket interior set? Wouldn't you be better off with that option anyway?

I had been put off the AFV Club kit as my concerns were the same as Marks. Should you want to paint it (which I would as I think the see through hull is a silly idea) there seems to be little surface texture or detail such as weld beads etc.

Can anyone confirm how well it stands up to a coat of paint?

Thanks, everyone, that really clears things up. No surface detail is a big issue. Who does a good interior for the DML?

AFV Club?

Is it? adding a cast texture to a turret is very easy with Mr. Surfacer. Are you familiar with the product? Adding an aftermarket interior would run you up a huge price- a road that if you are willing to go down Im sure the pay-off will be worth it. Personally i think that if you want to add an interior, go with the AFV club kit- i don't think much of the errors would be visible through open hatches anyway.

But in the end, the choice is yours.

Haha awesome. That made me smile.

Jon I'd like to use Mr Surfacer a lot more but to be honest its rather tough for me to get hold of.

Local model stores don't stock it, does anyone know good online vendors in the UK? In the past I ordered some directly from Japan when I got a whole load of Mr Resin primer spray. Thats a great product by the way.

It isn't really just the lack of surface detail that has me down on the AFVC kits. Things like the molded on ventilator domes which look crappy especially under a coat of paint, the driver's hatch being noticeably shifted too far inboard, and the iffy practice of molding the side intake grills in place bug the heck out of me personally. Add to that I bought both the -85 and -76 at about the same time and they both came with the same upper hull. They should not have as the interlocking glacis plate is right only for Factory 112 and even then, only the -76. (I've been told that I received a "bad" kit but since I won't be building it anyway, not too big a deal to me. But it didn't help my opinion any )
I will admit I like the AFVC lower hull well enough with the exception of two added and I believe fictitious access panels on the bottom. The wheels are nice though the separate tires don't do much but add extra parts. The only suspension details that I really don't care for are the drives which just don't capture the real thing as well as DML. And, if it matters to you, the springs are a bit thin to be in scale (even so they can't be seen so it truly does not matter).
All this can be worked around one way or another but the question was which kit is "better". I made the assumption that meant "out of the box". No question that in terms of exterior detail (what can be seen after all) DML has done a much better job.

But, really it depends on what you want. As has been said you really can't see much of the interior with just the driver's and turret hatches open. Honestly, you could build a lot of detail yourself, at least enough to do a convincing interior though the open hatches, with a bit of work, photographs, and plastic card and without much of a monetary investment.
Will you be using PE exterior details like fenders and intake grills?
The standard grey styrene on both kits is easy enough to work with but the clear parts are brittle and a bear to cut.
If you don't want to do it yourself I think Jaguar made a set for the T-34-85 as do/did Tank Workshop (?) and Verlinden. But to tell the truth it may actually be more economical to buy the AFVC kit and use it's interior parts, that is if you can find it at a good price (Lucky Model had them for about $30 a while back IIRC.).
Alternatively, you can use the AFVC kit and correct the textures, welds, and funky details.
Lots of options and they all depend on what you are looking for in the finished model and how much you are willing to spend.

Good luck!

Mark

I know Jacques meant this as a joke- but this is exactly the way I have been looking at the AFV Club T-34/76 since the first reviews came out.

I have no desire to build a model with a "see-through" hull- does anyone??

So discarding the hull and turret what do you get ? An engine compartment, hull and turret interior, another set of wheels. The wheels by the way represent a really common type- nice to have some extras of those. The engine deck comes apart which is a nice feature if you want to model a knocked out tank.

Mini Arm makes the same wheels and even at "street price" they are $15-20.
How much would a resin engine compartment set you back $30??
And a resin interior - another $30.
Each of these would have their own accuracy issues- just like AFVC's does.

Then I ask myself- If I have to alter some kit parts- would I rather be working on styrene or resin? Styrene for me hands down.

I look at the AFVC kit as a $30-$40 aftermarket set- and at that price I think its a deal!
Get one and use it to model a couple of Dragon kits- one with the Engine hatches opened & one with a fighting compartment interior.

Two big projects with one $40 aftermarket set- HELLO??

I like it- and I'll like it better when they are going for $25 at shows and in the classifieds.

Steve

I like it Steve. That's a very smart way to look at it.

Well guys, if you don't like a full interior build (same here), I've a suggestion - the tranny makes a good spare - seen one picture of the /76 with tranny tied to the rear deck as spare? Well, that's what I'll do with mine... lol The rest? I'll toss it in the back of a Zis / Studebaker or even captured Blitz truck? Want not waste not? :-)

Cheers,

Lawrence

Thanks, everyone, this is very interesting. I had not thought about buying the AFVC kit and using it for the interior. Fit issues are always the question when kit-bashing, but this could be good, since the AFVC kits are usually cheaper than the DMLs.

Hi Jon
use this bloke...
http://www.armour-models.co.uk/model_kit_gunze.html


Lou is a top man, I get all my Mr Surfacer from him,spend over £20 and its free p&p a very ,very reliable seller.
hth
Andy

Excellent! Thanks I'll give that a shot!

There is a home brew workaround if you can't find Mr Surfacer. Just add ordinary talcum powder to any brand of enamel paint until it thickens. Apply with a cheap nylon brush (like Testors offers), and stipple the surface with the tips of the bristles. Alternatively, the plastic can be crazed with liquid cement and the plastic itself can be stippled with the same type of brush (this produces a more pockmarked look). It can be gently sanded afterward to produce random flat areas and pitted depressions.
As for the kits, I have both because I want more than just one factory representation. All of Dragon's T-34-85 kits use the same Factory 183 "Flattened" turret, so I wanted at least one wide turret version (I'll texture the turret and fully paint the model--I think see through models are a bit gimmicky). I also picked up the new AFV Club workable tracks, though I haven't assembled them as yet.