I'm working on the Cyber Hobby T-34/85 1944 kit and building it in Korean war markings. I was thinking of cutting some small bits of clear plastic card to go in front of the periscopes to try to make them more realistic. I had in mind painting the back of the clear bits in some color to simulated coated optics. What color would be best for this?

I couldn't detect any particular tint on the glass on the T-34-85 displayed at the old Patton Museum at Fort Knox. It was a 1944 production model captured in Korea in 1950, just like Dragon's version. Doesn't mean it wasn't tinted, but I couldn't perceive it from outside.
German tank vision blocks had glass with a pale green tint, but again, you have to be very close to detect this, and it would be more apparent to someone inside looking out than to someone outside looking in.
Modern optics are optically coated to block lasers, but that doesn't become common until the early 1980's. These reflect red, pink, or even orange, depending on the angle of sunlight striking them. Older optics just look glossy black, as light goes in and doesn't come back out. Steve Zaloga likes to use rectangles of old developed film negative to face his tank periscopes, as it's black and optically flat. Of course, who still has a film camera these days?

Hello,
AFAIK the glass was not tinted (neighter in the German tanks), it may look greenish/blueish because of reflections and/or the thickness of glass.

The anti-laser coating was not applied to tank optics until the mid-'80s. Before that, optics were clear glass that appeared to have a greenish color due to the thickness. The best way to represent them is to paint them black, then cover with a couple coats of clear green, and finally put on a couple coats of clear gloss. This gives them depth and a greenish tint that looks realistic.

Thanks guys, that is a lot of help. Would this glass be highly reflective or should it be matted down?

On rereading what I just tapped out I can see this this Q needs just a bit more detail. The clear plastic card stock I have in mind is very thin, very clear and it has a highly polished reflective surface. I have used it for windows in other armor projects and sometimes I think it might have just a bit too much reflectivity to look scale. You know how some optics almost glitter when the sun hits them at certain angles? Would Soviet optics glitter like that?

It may look less glossy as it gets dusty and dirty though. You can see here that the periscopes are all glossy black slits.



I don't use clear plastic for periscope glass at all. If I do, I will still paint over it with black. The clear glass doesn't look accurate too me because it is too thin and on real periscopes, you cannot see straight through them. They glass should be high gloss.

Thanks HeavyArty, that is good enough for this build. I'm still really a beginner so I'm trying different things to try to make the model look more realistic.