¹⁄35

From 'Backyard Toy' to Soviet T34-85

The Hull

Firstly I removed the turret, tracks and deck and placed them away for what I knew would be for quite a few months. I intended to strip out all of the suspension units but unlike the Panther, the units had been arc welded to their axles. Other than a lot of grinding that would weaken the axle I could do nothing. In view of this the axles were not removed. The wheels are fixed to their respective axles by epoxy glue! As the wheels were cast in pairs and the quality of the castings are truly atrocious, the wheels were removed from their axles by heat. The axle for the idler wheels was rusty and bent (this seems usual, 2 out of 2) and was replaced with a new true mild steel round bar.

No idler tension adjustment is provided. I designed an adjustment system using cap head screws, round brass bar and the small steel angled brackets normally used in kitchen furniture of a construction similar to that I had designed for the Panther. This was less complicated as the T34 adjustment is by pushing the axle forward and not by pulling back as in the Panther. Once completed these were bolted and f/g in place. 

Having now a bare hull, the heads of the bolts that both limit the angle of the suspension units and secure the retaining end of the suspension spring protrude through the hull sides. Unlike the Panther the T34 has no bazooka plates and as with the Panther, after removing the bolts I reinforced the inside of the hull with 2 layers of g/f. I then obtained new bolts, silver solder to each a 50 mm diameter brass plate and mounted them in their correct location inside the hull. The inside of the hull then received 3 more layers of g/f with a little extra over each bolt location. The hull exterior was then finished off using car body filler.

The non scale fixing of the deck to the hull had to go! I decided that I would copy the system used by Tamiya on some of their earlier model tanks by making a retaining clip on the front hull that engaged with a corresponding clip on the deck. These were made of brass and then bolted and f/g in place. (To achieve the correct alignment it was necessary to cut a large fitting/locating hole in the glacis plate which was later filled). The rear of the deck would be held on to the hull by the 2 scale rear hinges that on the 1:1 tank allow the rear engine plate to be lowered.