Anything Russian in Finnish use seems to leave more questions than answers I find. Are these of any help?

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/russia/rpt34/rpt34.htm
http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/t3485bg_2.html#Table%201:%20Turret%20Identifying%20Features

Kimmo

I'm a little confused. If you are referring to the rectangular mold joints at the front of the turret sides just above the horizontal seam, they are present in the photos you linked to. These are not weld joints, just joints where the sand molds came together, and they varied from casting to casting. In some cases, they might be cleaned up a bit with a grinder if time allowed (though usually not on wartime production). If you mean the rectangular bulge aft of that area on the left side only, that appeared in late 1944. The cupola was also relocated slightly forward and outboard at that time.

Hey Jason !
Here is the walkaround of the vehicle you want to model in its current state:
http://legion-afv.narod.ru/T-34-85_Parola_2.html (all images clickable)
It is a Factory 183 vehicle with 2 types of road wheels.The Finnish had at least 7 tanks of the type captured and in service during the conflict.
The linked one is authentically painted in accordance to the period photos and evidences, but...you will need a mantlet with wider cheeks around the gun, an earlier type for S-53 gun (CMK produces one, but I've got no experience with their products). The biggest problem is about tracks. In Russian sources they are nicknamed 'Parola type' because of their rarity and are not produced by any manufacturer as of yet.

HTH, Paul

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I'm a little confused. If you are referring to the rectangular mold joints at the front of the turret sides just above the horizontal seam, they are present in the photos you linked to. These are not weld joints, just joints where the sand molds came together, and they varied from casting to casting. In some cases, they might be cleaned up a bit with a grinder if time allowed (though usually not on wartime production). If you mean the rectangular bulge aft of that area on the left side only, that appeared in late 1944. The cupola was also relocated slightly forward and outboard at that time.

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No, what I was referring to are the small vertical lines. They make the cast seam look like a scar or train tracks. This is what I what I was using to identify the turrets- there is a comparison drawing about a quarter of the way down http://www.onthewaymodels.com/articles/T-34-85turrets/Identification.htm

Ah, the vertical striations. As I understand it, casting molds are made of tightly packed sand, supported by a wire structure. If the sand begins to crumble away from the wire supports, small striations can appear. These were production mistakes, not intentional parts of the turret design, and do not appear on all castings. You can add or delete them to match a particular tank easily enough.

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Ah, the vertical striations. As I understand it, casting molds are made of tightly packed sand, supported by a wire structure. If the sand begins to crumble away from the wire supports, small striations can appear. These were production mistakes, not intentional parts of the turret design, and do not appear on all castings. You can add or delete them to match a particular tank easily enough.

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Not quite - Those vertical fillets (not sure what else to call them) are very intentional. They were added to the sand mould in order to reduce the chance of voids forming while the molten steel was being poured. If you look closely, they aren't random but placed in areas where there are undercuts (the "neck" of the turret ring and the bulge on those later T-34-85 UTZ turrets though they're very common on -76 turrets as well).
They were however hand placed it appears and vary a bit in size and placement though comparing "apples to apples" (turrets of the same factory/time frame/type) you will notice that generally you will see about the same number of fillets with about the same spacing.
As far as I know (and it's something I studied at least a little) there was no wire frame but rather reinforced steel "flasks" that held the sand mould.
It's interesting stuff on its own and I hope this helped at least a little to further your understanding of these turrets and how they were made.
(PS: I hope we're talking about the same thing! )

So are they present on all Zavod 183 turrets? Or just some?