¹⁄35

From 'Backyard Toy' to Soviet T34-85

Overall opinion on the model

It is of a very, very basic quality and I still assume assembled by people with little practical knowledge of either good engineering practice or the skilled use of fibreglass. Even my patience has been tested to the limit in some areas! My personal feeling however are my own and to be fair they have to be balanced against what the prospective purchaser wants and what this manufacturer’s tanks cost.

If all you want is something to ‘wargame’ with or to chase the wife/lover/cats around the garden and are not greatly concerned with scale, it will suit you fine other than my real concerns on the reliability of the gearbox and on some models, I would believe the tracks. The cost is I believe a key factor. They are not cheap but compared to other offering I have seen on the web, a third to a quarter of the price asked for a similar sized model. It must be said however that those models are precision machines in their own right and the old adage applies, “You get what you pay for”.

The lack of applying the most basic of engineering principals still fills me with complete frustration. The tracks are a prime example. I consider however that the tracks on the T34 will unlike those of the Panther last the course. This I believe only through being of a simpler design and thinner than the Panthers and thereby harder to get wrong!

The continued lack of quality in cast items is also frustrating. The road wheels took many, many hours to turn into an acceptable quality. The welding of the suspension units to their axles has I believe been brought about by slippage occurring on previous models. It would have been far better to redesign for the problem and not to take the easy but final option of welding.

There are without doubt some clever pattern makers available to the manufacturer; the detail in some areas is superb. The overall quality of the raised detailing is in the main however not very good and I assume that f/g moulds and not a silicon type are used. 

The impression given is of a well thought out and designed product spoilt by lack of attention to detail, non existent quality control and built as cheaply as possible. It typifies all that we rightly or wrongly here in the west think of 1:1 Soviet WW2 armour. Simple, cheap, some areas of absolute brilliance (the T34 engine) and some areas of such crudeness that a mutiny would occur if you tried to ‘hoist it’ on to an American, German or British tanker!

For anyone else thinking of buying this or for that matter any of the other models made by this manufacture, you do what’s right for you. It does fill a niche market without doubt. It is cheaper than any other comparable model and it can be made to not only run well but look right but it takes some work.

The model was entered as an exhibit in The International Model Engineers Exhibition 2002 in December 2002 where it was awarded the Bronze medal.

I have decided that after so much work making something that is wrong look and work right I am going to build my own tank. I have started the 100% scale drawings for a 1:6 scale Hetzer. I will use a gas engine (40cc) with a rather neat small 3 speed automatic gearbox with reverse I picked up some time ago. That solves what to do for the next 2-3 years! 

As a parting shot I can only express my sincere gratitude to all of those members of Armorama who have helped me over these last 2 projects. 

Editors Note: Thanks Peter. I only wish I  had been a bit speedier getting this fine article published. In my defense I can only say that just as this was a big project, this is a big article! Thanks again. ~ Jim