One of the more surprising announcements from the Tokyo Trade Show, was the announcement from AFV Club that they will be releasing a T34 in 1/35th scale. Here's a link to the images of what promises to be a VERY interesting release - Pure Eye Candy!

http://homepage1.nifty.com/gizmo-cafe/clipboard/hobbyshow/afvclub.html

Wow - I'll have a half-dozen, thanks you!

After struggling with the Verlinden resin interior, this would be welcome indeed.

Despite the criticism that I know is forthcoming about the interior accuracy of this model, I feel AFV Club has taken a huge step in the right direction. It is a pity that kit supplied interiors in 1:35 scale have been relatively ignored by mainstream manufacturers, yet the other ends of the spectrum - 1:48 and 1:16 - have been treated to several nice representations. AFV Club should be commended! BTW, do I detect empty shell trays? That would be a cool feature, allowing the model to place his choice of ammo!

Kirchoff

It’s not just the interior that deserves criticism (and, of course, it does though it’ll be fine once the upper hull and turret are in place and hatches are closed ;-)) but really mediocre exterior detail too.

Based on these photos (and the original HB/Trumpeter kits) the MG blister and driver’s hatch aren’t quite right, with the blister being the most poorly shaped, the bullet splash strips around the upper hull are badly reproduced, a number of details on the fenders are misplaced, the rear plate will need tweaking, the engine deck has several details that should be corrected, and the soft plastic tires don’t seem to fit well. On the turret the vision blocks have to be corrected at a minimum.

OK, I know that this is just a test shot and we “may” end up getting a cleaned up and corrected kit once it ends up on hobby shop shelves, but I’m not holding my breath.

I do hope that someday, in the sweet by and by, fans of the T-34 will insist on the same level of detail as modelers of the Tigers and (more recently) the M4.

Mark

Right their Mark just about any kit produced has it's little things missing,but still better then the Original Tamiya T/34.

Duh, those giant pin marks made me shiver again, that's scaled down version of Trumpeter's 1/16 T-34/76 Plant 112. I don't understand why would AFV Club do it, but there will be quite a job to do to fix flaws left over from Trumpy's kit. Maybe they just use it for display purposes only the similar way as Zvezda during Nurnberg 2007 with their new built up KV being actually Trumpeter's kit and La-5FN being Vector.

Hey Jeff,
Unfortunately, it isn't so much a matter of "things missing" as things done poorly. As for being better than the old Tamiya kit, sure, but by the same token the DML M4A1 is better than the old Nichimo kit, but it still isn't as good as Tasca's if you follow me

Mark

I think its great news! I for one am glad to see other manufactuers take a stab at the T-34. I personally don't care for DML kits and I enjoy the releases from AFV Club.
I will be pre ordering one!!!!

Wow, I gotta say this very pleasantly surprised me. Considering AFVClubs release history, i was quite surprised to see a T-34, and one with a full interior to boot. I will most definitely be picking one up.

Alas, once again, websites are filled with complaints and whiners before the kit is even released.

I totally agree. The detail is excellent and pleasing to look at.

Aaron C.

This stops the purchase of a DML kit.

Only problem that I see is the rubber band tracks. However some good AM tracks with the rubber rim rings and good to go.

But if the kit were to come with indy link tracks along with the rubber bands than I be a very happy glue sniffer.

Wow Mark, you're right, there are some real issues here. The wheels look unusable and the turret exterior is really poor. Also, maybe it's a builder's error but the wheels sit almost against the underside of the sponsons.

What do you see on the rear plate that is wrong?

I was looking forward both to the interior and to this specific version, but on closer inspection this is a real bummer.

Danny

Hey Danny,
At the risk of "whining" let me see if I can describe what I mean; from the photos it appears to me that there should be more of the side plates thickness exposed on either side of the rear plate. What I see of the kit (and based on the HB model) makes it look as though rear side plates are beveled so that there is little or no "lip" exposed on either side. On the real tank about an inch or inch and a half is visable.
Also the bolts and exhaust covers seem a bit off to me though without having the thing in front of me I can't really be anything like sure. It could just be an artifact of the photo.

How I see it .... there´s whinning and there´s whinning!
Firstly, its great to see AFV Club experimenting more with their choice of models, and starting with a T34 with interior is an excellent way to go. From what will be seen through the hatches, it will probably do for most modellers.
On the other hand, this is probably a mock up or initial shots, and pointing out the main errors at this stage, there may still be time to fix them, before general release. This will be competing with some excellent T34s from Dragon, and its in AFV Clubs best interest to get it right, or as close as possible. Bad press even at this stage could hurt sales ... and an item coming out to a market, already flooded with excellent T34s, needs to be a bit special. The fact that modellers can influence companies today, is very positive IMO.

The sad thing is that, really, this isn't an AFV Club kit
The best information at this point (and it's also fairly obvious from the photos) is that this is a Trumpeter creation. The same "master", probably digital I would guess (does anyone make "hard" masters anymore?), as the HB 1/48 kit and the molds themselves were cut by Trump. AFVC, who's kits I generally admire (I own most of them!), is just boxing the kit.
I can't help but think that had they done their own work I'd be as excited about this one as anyone.

Exactly as I feel I really do wish that people would wait until a model is in production until they begin to judge it. It's also worth remembering that many times when a model is unveiled (in this form) it's presented for the Trade (importers, distributors etc.) simply as an indication as to what the company's catalog will contain in the coming months. It's simply an ADVISORY as to what to expect. Same thing happened when I photographed the Italeri Staghound in Nuremberg - it was a mock-up, not a production example. Some people were discreet enough to ask me to pass on their concerns privately to the manufacturer. Now the Nuremberg Trade Show is a great example of this - it isn't for modelers, it's for people in the industry who need to get a feel for future product lines.

Comments are great but please, remember that what you see on a trade stand may be somewhat changed by the time it arrives in the stores...

Hi Jim .... just wondering ....
Can I, as a modeller with no industry connections, go to the Nuremberg fair, pay an entrance and go in, or is it a VIP or invite only thingy?

The Nuremberg Toy Fair is only for people in business, e.g. manufacturers, shop owners, plus press people like I am.

Thomas

It's also extremely accomodating for the 'Internet Media' for professional sites such as this...

Ditto-I've built two of the newer DML ones with no complaints from me and this looks pretty nice too. I'll buy one, build it, and move on with my life... Looks accurate enough to me, and the women that come by my house just look at the ship models anyway...

“I really do wish that people would wait until a model is in production until they begin to judge it. It's also worth remembering that many times when a model is unveiled (in this form) it's presented for the Trade (importers, distributors etc.) simply as an indication as to what the company's catalog will contain in the coming months. It's simply an ADVISORY as to what to expect. Same thing happened when I photographed the Italeri Staghound in Nuremberg - it was a mock-up, not a production example. Some people were discreet enough to ask me to pass on their concerns privately to the manufacturer. Now the Nuremberg Trade Show is a great example of this - it isn't for modelers, it's for people in the industry who need to get a feel for future product lines".


I'll see your Italeri Staghound and raise an Academy M3 Lee.
The thing about the Staghound is that it was an obvious mock-up. In fact, I seem to recall someone mentioning early on that it was another company's resin kit that Italeri showed at Nuremberg. (I have no idea whether that was true or not truthfully.)
On the other hand we have the M3 and the same arguments being made here; when it was displayed for the fist time modelers familiar with the tank noticed problems with the suspension initially and then with the hull too. Those who made their observations public were roundly criticized for not "waiting until the kit was on the shelves" (am I the only one who thinks it's pointless to wait until it's too late? ). It turned out we got exactly what we saw as is most often, from my observations at least, the case.
Now we have "AFV Club's" T-34-76 Model '42 Factory 112 production kit which, at the risk of beating a dead horse, is based on the Hobby Boss kit, which is in turn based on the Trumpeter T-34's. It has all the same features and shows all the same problems (I will state, however, that I DO suspect the turret shell is only a early test shot, it's just too sloppy to be anything else).
As for relaying critiques via “discrete” channels, I have to admit I’m a bit of a cad, I don’t care whether I’m bruising the, apparently, sensitive egos of someone who’s trying to sell me a product by using more public forums.
Of course too there are those modelers whose philosophy is "if it looks like "X" then that's good enough for me". That's fine; the more power to you if that’s the way you see the hobby. Build and enjoy I say. I've seen literally hundreds of Tamiya's T-34's built into truly spectacular models (which is not to say particularly "accurate" representations of the tank). But many of us have grown to expect much more in terms of accuracy, we revel in the level of detail in DML’s Panthers and Tiger I’s, Tamiya’s Char B and Hetzer, AFV Club’s M3A3 and Flak 18. And at the prices we’re all paying for new kits isn’t it justified to expect, even assume, a very high level of accuracy? (Not to be confused with a large number of parts.)
I’ll be quite pleased if it turns out we’re getting something other than what the photos show. I’ll crow it to the four winds in fact! I’ll post mea culpas on every web site I visit. (I mean that.) But if I’m right how many of you will say, “Darn, you warned us but we didn’t listen.”
Yes. I’m on a crusade; I WANT a really good, modern, highly and ACCURATELY, detailed T-34. I’m not happy with just “OK” anymore and with kits approaching fourtyfive to fifty bucks a pop, who would be?

Mark

Yep, I remember getting WELL pissed by that comment. As I actually handled the damn thing, it WASN'T resin, it was plastic....

Got you covered but heck at least they are trying

Think it is a way of getting us to part with our Dollars?

As have to add another kit to the stash even if it does have things a little messed up.

And of cause if somebody does another one well have to add that to stash also see where I am going if they do it right well only one kit needed but if 10 of same type and all just a little off well you just sold 10 kits instead of one.

The best thing about this release = CAST TURRET!!! And you don't have to wait for the Dragon kit...