first off, I will say I'm 14, so don't be too harsh This is a tamiya kit, straight out of the box. I used tamiya olive drab with black washes for a darker base color, and weathered with drybrushing and pastels(it has a nice dusty look to it, but it is hard to tell in the pics. Please let me know what I could have done better, I'm always for constructive criticism and being able to build a nicer model. Btw, I have a crew for the kit, just need to finish painting it

Welcome to armor modeling! And, yes, I built that Tamiya kit a few times way back when. As for constructive criticism, the tracks need to ride on top of the road wheels on a T-34, and some of your vinyl track is hovering above. You can tie it down to the axles with fine thread, or tack it in place with white glue or something like Walther's Goo (a rubbery glue popular with model railroaders). Stuff rolled up cardboard or stiff paper between the upper hull and the tracks to hold them down firmly while the glue dries.
When you get more ambitious, you can move on to individual link tracks, as included in Dragon's T-34 series. Dragon also includes photoetched brass parts in the box for key parts like the engine deck screening.
You should look at the turret seam at the rear, which looks like it needs a touch of filler putty (if you assemble the parts with liquid cement, these seams often fill themselves when you press the parts together). Tamiya goofed on this kit, and one mistake was the tow rings on the leading edge of the hull. These were added at the US Aberdeen Proving Ground when they evaluated the T-34, to make it easier to haul around, and were left in place when the tank was put on display. Tamiya's engineers copied this mistake faithfully. Just cut off the rings and sand the front fillet to a smooth curve.
You can weather a bit more. Dirt tends to accumulate on the running gear on a real tank, and feathers out as you move upwards. You can use earth color washes, or dry pigments or both. Ground up artists pastel chalks in earth tones can also be used.
Since you're interested in improving your skills, you can do yourself a favor if you pick up one of Steven Zaloga's Modeling books published by Osprey (they usually spell it British style, as "Modelling"). He has books devoted to several US tank series, as well as a big book on building and painting US armor (the techniques shown are equally valid on Russian, German and other nations' tanks, of course). Sheperd Paine's books published by Ampersand are also great, though they are older and don't deal with current kits that use individual links and brass parts. All of these books are available discounted through Amazon (just search for "Zaloga Model" or "Sheperd Paine").

Well done. Nice solid build though it looks as if there are some fit problems with the rear plate. One thing I would say is don't use silver paint to highlight metal wear or scratches etc. Use a pencil or a graphite stick instead. Take a look at the build logs on this site for further tips.

Not at all bad for being 14.
To add to the replies above; try to pay a little more attention to parts clean up and orientation.
Carefully remove the little tabs from the wheel hubs. They'll look a lot better.
You have placed the towing hooks on the rear plate upside down. If you can do it without breaking them, pop them off and flip them around.
The way you arranged the wheels with the rubber tires looks interesting but is not likely to have ever happened. The "normal" arrangement would have been one rubber tired wheel on the first station and one on the back. This was done to reduce the vibration caused by the tire-less wheels which played hell with the tracks, the mechanics of the tank, and the crew.
The nice thing about these Tamiya kits is that you can just pull the wheels off and switch them around! No fuss at all.

Clean up, clean up, clean up! Once you've gotten all the little seams filed or filled, and all those little nibs from where the parts attached to the sprew filed and sanded away you will not believe how much better your models look.
Once you've mastered that easy though time consuming part of modeling you can move on to the hard work of mastering weathering.

Best of luck with your hobby and keep plugging away!

Mark

Excellent effort for a teenager,Justin,congratulations.

Keep listening to the guys above,and soldier on,pal!

All the best,

Marcus

Thanks everybody! I definately have some noticable seems on this as mentioned, due to the fact that I had to really rush this for a contest. I will definately take note with all the items mentioned.

Gerald: Thanks for the heads up about the hooks, I'll definately need to fix that up. Who is the best company to get link tracks from? I also have 2 dragon kits I'm working on(PzKpfw. IV Ausf. F2 and a DAK Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf f1) and wondering if I should paint the link tracks then attach them to the roadwheels, or paint them on the tank? Any suggestions? I'll also definately take a look at that book, and my dad also has a friend in town who is the BEST armor builder I have ever seen, and he is going to also be helping me with weathering.

Pat: When you talked about not using silver for drybrushing, I'm assuming you are talking about around the intakes the silver. I was going to do chips of dark green with the base of silver, just haven't thought of a way to do it. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Mark: Thanks for the tips, I'll definately fix the wheels. Do you have any tips for removing the rear hooks(I used the testors model cement, orange tube)

Keep up the good work Justin, you have some very good guidance to listen to here. Your T34 looks very good and much better than what I did when I was 14 ... and we didn't have the Internet to lean on for help and reference either!


- Jeff

Justin-
you did a nice job on this. Especially for 14!! It can be improved upon of course. If you could get right the first time- there would be a lot fewer modelers!

The cement you used will have melted the hooks and the rear hull plate together. Removing the tow hooks will destroy them & probably damage the rear plate. So you will need to fix the rear plate with some putty, replace the hooks with new ones and re-paint.

What I would do is re-arrange the wheels the way Mark described , take this to a few shows and retire it. Take what you have learned and build another, and another....

It is really great to see a guy your age getting into T-34's! Keep it up!

Steve

Thanks for the tips! This will be going to its 2nd show next saturday, then the next show after that is a few months away, so I will have better tanks by then(this is only my second tank model, although I do build cars and planes)

Great job! Keep it up!
Don't worry about building a perfect model. Instead, continue on with your next project, which will be better. Every model you build after that will be better than the last. Years from now, you'll take this model back to the workbench and add more details or paint.
And believe it or not, girls will actually appreciate a guy who is good with his hands.

Nice work Justin. Im 30 years older and just getting back in to model building from when i was your age. Im currently building the same kit and Im going to use the tips that these guys talked about. I cant add to their suggestions because it appears that your skills are better than mine but we read and learn yes?

Didn't think of it that way but I guess your right


I hope you enjoy building this kit as much as I did, and just take your time.

Hi Justin,
Finished up my T34 today. I sit around all day with nothing to do except build and read these treads. It was a lot of fun and I think it may be my best kit to date. Im gonna pick up some of Dragons Infantry Tank Riders and maybe a Mini Art Diorama Base and make it all into a nice build.

Awesome, you need to show us pics. I've also been thinking about picking up that figure set.

Hi Justin,
I was gonna post them on Marcus 4 camo T-34 tread being that he gave me some pointers but the system is down so keep an eye on that tread whae the system is back they will be there.