im using google image search for the t34 during ww2. i am having trouble finding any pictures of the t34 that have a good amount of stowage on top of them. at most i could find is a bed roll tied to the back of the turret.

did the soldiers typically have stowage on the t34 like you see in some of the shermans?

if they did have stowage, is there any stowage kits for a t34 or a t34 kit that has stowage on it?

i just finished building the t34/85 from ICM and it looks pretty bare to me. there is just 2 toolboxes and a shovel, oh and one bedroll.

thank you in advanced

Based on reference books & other sources I have on hand, I don't think you'll find many pics like you describe for several reasons. During the first year or so on the Eastern front, Red Army tanks were either retreating too fast or were getting shot up. After Stalingrad & Kursk, they were on the offensive and moving west too quickly, plus the loss rate was still high. Red Army practice wanted assault troops on the tanks & stowage would take up space where 2 or 3 more troops could ride into battle. Also, Red Army High Command was never too concerned with the crew's creature comforts anyway. You'd never find a Russian crew stopping for tea like the British, or setting up camp like Oddball's Shermans in "Kelly's Heroes."

Further to Jack’s post, the only thing I’ve seen lashed to the rear deck of a 34 is a transmission of a T 34. Otherwise it’s spare tracks in the troop rails around the turret. Not much to work with, sorry.

Miniart have wooden ammo boxes and shells for the 85mm gun. I got mine as part of their "special edition" Soviet tank crew at work set, and have found them to be very useful.

You can always add either of these if it suits your needs...not
much very available.

https://www.blast-models.eu/en/world-war-ii/43-bl35043k-soviet-t34-85-stowage.html

https://www.passion132.com/gb/kits-d-amelioration/128055-panzer-art-re35-546-135-t-34-stowage-set-for-improvised-arv.html

As already mentioned, not much was strapped on these
vehicles in reality ...virtually no pics showing stowage.

So artistic license may be your salvation.

Or add some troops.

Cheers,

Soviet tank crews were fond of having at least one tarp. It was standard issue with all Soviet tanks.

i generally try to keep things historically accurate as far as how things would be back then.

for the troops, would they be just regular infantry soldiers or only tanker soldiers?

for example, i found these
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-35-ICM-35640-WWII-Soviet-Tank-Riders-1943-1945-Plastic-Model-Kit/162654069577?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649



would an infantry soldier like this be considered ok as accurate to the tank scene (if in a diorama)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dragon-1-35-Soviet-Anti-Tank-Team-1942-43-Soldier-Figure-Model-Kit-6049/163391770947?hash=item260ae89143:m:mNJ-t5pbyvYRvliXU3Z2ELg

To add to the above, the average Soviet trooper had very little in the way of personal gear that he needed to store. They used their great coats as sleeping bags, so no need for those...

Mike,
There are also these:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/dragon-6197-infantry-tank-riders--108133

What is nice about them is they have a variety of head gear
and the poses look good.

In the end, it is what you like best.

Cheers,

I have seen pics of oil drums and even a Jeep lashed to a T-34 rear engine deck during a river crossing (in one of the concord books).

You can always lash a spare transmission to the deck as
per this photo:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TankPorn/comments/9uw6f4/t34_with_a_spare_transmission_lashed_to_the/

Cheers,

Berlin 1945. Some T-34s were fitted with "bedspring" armor, but it looks like some others were fitted with the rest of the furniture :



Full size

H.P.

If you look for pictures of the T-34-85 in the latter campaigns, you will see much more kit being carried, such as the engine heater and 85mm ammunition boxes.

And and in the last campaign as shown above, the most booty they could fit on one. Soviets soldiers were known to even take toilets, which when they first encountered them they didn't know what they were used for. Some thought they were for storing food. Other were mystified when they later wouldn't work after being liberated. (I may have to wave the BS flag on that one as I imagine most areas in Berlin were without running water toward the end.)
Lots of great anecdotes about Berlin's final days from a book I found in the Major Arthur D. Nicholson library in Berlin. I wish I could remember the name of it so I could look for it.

More Berlin tanks :







H.P.

Two good reads on der endkampf Berlin would be, 'The last battle' by Cornelius RYAN, and 'The fall of Berlin 1945' by Antony BEEVOR. It being some time since I read either, I am not aware of more current books on the subject.

The Cornelius Ryan book I know, and it is a good read, but the one I'm thinking of dealt more with the direct aftermath - Kohlentheater, where they would hold plays in little buildings underneath S-Bahn tracks (since 90% of the buildings in Berlin were destroyed) and would charge a block of coal as admission so they could heat the theater. People would purchase stumps in the Gruenewald and go work on them every day to get a bit of firewood. Or make dandelion tea. Gas only came on for an hour or two in each neighborhood where it worked at all, at any time of the day or night, and the pressure wasn't enough that you could kill yourself even if you wanted to. Stories like that used to really resonate with me as I rode around in what became my favorite city of all time. Maybe someone knows that book...

There are pictures of T-34 piled up with crates of ammunition, spare parts and fuel drums as well as supporting infantry. A tank unit on road march to an assembly area could be carrying everything needed to set up a unit base before an attack. Then it all came off before the attack.

Considering the lack of motor transport in the Soviet army, anyone who could beg a ride; did. So there could be mechanics, medics, replacement tank crew as well as infantry.

I recommend reading Ivan's War: life and death in the Red Army by Catharine Merridale.