While searching the web (unsuccessfully) for the IT-28 I found this page with some views of the interior of a T-28 preserved in Finland. Rusty but rare

http://www.saunalahti.fi/~ejuhola/7.62/t28.html

hmm interesting. I have an ICM kit of this in 1/35 still waiting in the box......for some time later

Hi David,

Good find. Interior pictures of a T-28 are rare indeed.

The IT-28 is a rare bird too. I looked around and couldn't find even one on-line picture of it. Well there are lots of pics of the model, but nothing showing a real one.

Maybe you're already aware of these sites, but I thought I'd pass along some interesting things I did find about the T-28.

Here's another thread on Armorama about the very same subject...
http://www.kitbase.com/forums/45707

They mention this link to a book "Steel Fortress, The Russian T-28 Medium Tank" by Mikhail Baryatinsky and Jim Kinnear.....

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/russia/t28-t35.htm

The review says the IT-28 is covered, including three photos!

UPDATE: I originally reported this book could be found at AirConnection...that was wrong. The Militaria book is there. Turns out "Steel Fortress" is kinda rare. I used AbeBooks...
http://www.abebooks.com

...to search for it. There were a number of hits in the UK (where the book is published), but only a few in the US. When I checked, the lowest price was at Articles of War for $29...
http://www.articlesofwar.com/

I used Google to dig deeper and found the best price to be at R&J Enterprises for $20. They also have the book "Land Battleship: The Russian T-35 Heavy Tank" by Maxim Kolomiets and Jim Kinnear also for $20...
http://www.rjproducts.com/

Also mentioned is the book "Soviet Tanks in Combat 1941-1945" by Concord Publications. I checked my copy, and yes, there are 7 nice pictures of T-28s, but none of an IT-28.

The book "Wydawnictwo Militaria 160 - T-28" is said to be the best reference for the T-28. It isn't mentioned whether the IT-28 is covered.

I see ArmyBook.com has it for $14...
http://www.armybook.com/summary.html?code=0103013s16

You might look around for something local to you, but I didn't find much in the US. UPDATE:I looked around and found the book for $24 at AirConnection...

http://www.airconnection.on.ca/airconnection_books_ltm160.htm

...which is near the bottom of this page...
http://www.airconnection.on.ca/airconnection_books_MILITARY.htm

ArmyBook has another one which might be of interest...a compilation of original service manuals for $10...


http://www.armybook.com/summary.html?code=0103004z49

I have books for other tanks from this series and have found them to be excellent. The text is in Russian, but there is a summary in English and the photos and drawings make them very worthwhile.

If you're interested, they also have the T-28 Medium tank (Bronekollekchiy 1/2001) book for $5...


http://www.armybook.com/summary.html?code=0103003849

Here are some other sites with some good T-28 information and/or photos...

Great photos of two "regular" Finnish T-28s...

http://www.andreaslarka.net/mediumheavytanks.html

More T-28 exterior shots on TheTankMaster...
http://www.thetankmaster.com/ENGLISH/AFV/t28_1.asp

"IT-28: Bridgelayer version that used the chassis of a T-28E and had a crew of 5 and kept the MG turrets. Appeared in 1938-39. The metal bridge was 13 meters long and had a weight limit of 50 tons. It could be unloaded in 3 minutes. Were used in the Winter War with Finland in 1939-1940."...
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/ussr/tanks_medium/t28.html

"The Finns nick-named them "the mail train" owing to the capture of one filled with Soviet mail, and the huge size of this tank reminded soldiers of a railroad train."...
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/finland/finland.html

" In 1940, a bridgelayer-prototype, IT-28, was built at Kirow."...
http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5288

"The T-28E was about the equal of the German PzKpfw III and its gun able to inflict harm upon most of the German armor fielded. But piecemeal deployment and poor tactical decisions by the raw and green Soviet command ( thanks to Stalin´s purges ) spelled the doom of the Soviet armor arm, even when they were using such powerful machines as the KV-1s and the T-34-76s. Eventually, a mere handful remained to see combat in 1943 in Russian hands or as part of armored trains and others in the hands of the Finnish. The T-28 was the subject of variants and used for testing components of other vehicles. The most notable version to see some service was the IT-28 bridgelayer."..
http://members.aol.com/sturmpnzr/SovietSU.html

Great find Drader!

Just ran and grabbed my ICM T28 kit off the shelf and peeked at the sprues, man, what a kit! One of these days!