Doing some research I stumbled across this picture.

For reference only:



So, I got an urge to make one. What is odd is that all the reference suggests the 57mm armed tanks were used up in late 1941 and early 1942. The clear pictures show the guns in various 1940 and 41 pattern turrets with the single large hatch.

This tank is a hex turret, with the 1942/43 commanders periscope, grab handles on the hull and turret and the rear boxy fuel tanks. If it were not for the gun I would suspect the picture was taken after late 1942, probably summer 1943.

Reference indicates no tank like in the picture saw combat, but this picture has the look of a combat picture. So, did the Soviets bring a few of these tanks to Kursk to hunt Tigers? I have no idea, but I'm going to fake it, and build a combat veteran T-34/57, summer 1943 just for the fun of it.

There are various resin and plastic hex turrets on the market. I wanted a hard edge type, and opted to use a Zvesda I had in hand, along with a Dragon T-34/76 twin mouse ear hatch kit as the base. I know AFV makes a hard edge tank, but all I could find are see through with interiors, and I don't need clear plastic.

So the tank will be the Dragon hull, with a Zvesda turret with Dragon turret details.

The Dragon is a soft edge version, so the first step is to see if the Zvesda turret fits the Dragon hull, and if the turret top is the right size.



Not too bad, after cutting out the Zvesda turret top and beveling the edges. The fit is ok, and probably as good as the originals! The Zvesda base ring is a perfect fit to the Dragon hull.

The Hex 57 was just for testing. Did not make it into combat.

As I said above, that is what all the reference material indicates.

I'm doing it as a why not.

The basic turret is typical hex pattern OOB Zvezda and Dragon. I made the cheek side strips since these are molded to the Zvezda kit part. The ring at the rear is the raised ring of the turret vent, missing on the Dragon top. It should stick up 1.25 to 1.5mm. The Zvezda view slits for the turret sides are poorly done and I am still looking for a decent replacement.

All that's left to put on are the barrel, view slits, grab handles and the vent cover.

No worries, build looks great so far.

Thanks. I should be more clear, this is a What If. Since it is based on a real tank I like Why Not better.

Funny thing is, I just found a box of spares that has most of what I need for a 1941 T-34, so I think I'll do a "real" one as well. I'll need a hull and some small parts, but I think most of what I need is actually in the hex turret kits.

I vaguely remember Dragon doing a 1941 T-34/57.

Slow progress, the lower hull is warped big time. This is the second kit I got with a bad lower hull. Bad karma, or Dragonism's?

Mods to the hulls. I'm hoping the last twist to the lower hull will be straightened when the upper hull is glued on. The hull floor has a ripple along it. This is the worst I've had in years.

I cut open the vents and reworked the center of the upper hull. I will add a plate under the vents. I have some PE vents screens to replace the kit screens. I add .010 thick strips on each side, front and back, to fill in the gaps. The Dragon hull is a little wide inside.



The turrets waiting for the barrel, and grab handles. It will be a Factory 183 version.

The 57mm barrel arrived today. Installed, and the ring added to the mantlet. Compared to the 76mm the barrel is long and slender.

Heres some reference material for you:
http://walkarounds.scalemodels.ru/v/walkarounds/afv/before_1950/t-34-57/

Colin,

Thanks for the link. I had seen a couple of those pictures but I did not know there was a walk around.

From what I read this tank is a post war conversion by the museum. None of the "real" tanks survived. All were destroyed or were converted to 76 armed tanks.

Maybe one will get pulled from a bog one of these days.

Ok, so I got carried away and made up an insert to add the missing details inside the intake vents.



Painted up it will give some eye candy to see through the vent screens. This is what I came up with. I hacked up the vent deck from an AFV T-34/76. Now I have a kit with a missing part that I need to scare up!

There is still some work to do to make it look good. I will cast up the insert for my personal use once I get my casting booth operational again shortly.



Typical Dragon poor fit, but I managed to get the rear plates to almost line up. However...



The front is way out thanks to the twisted lower hull. I added a .020 strip to the front edge to fill in the gap that's almost always there on Dragon T-34's. I also put .015 spacers strips on the lower hull to lift the nose.

Nice progress Randall

Did you know this top view ?



H.P.

Frenchy,

Yes, thank you. It is one of three views, left, right and top. Not the best, but the only change from a normal T-34 is the gun and the ring on the recuperator cover.

One source states that there were 3 1943 T-34/57's at Kursk, but they did not get into combat for some odd reason. They did shoot up some captured German tanks to show how good the gun was. Sounds a little suspicious to me.

None the less, I think it's too bad they didn't make more of these tanks.

I got the Panzer Art gun to use on my 1943 version and it comes with a mantlet. So...

I decided I might as well make the 1941 version, and picked up a Dragon cast turret 1941 kit.



I'm still working on molding up my inserts (mold problems) and opted to start the build on the 1941 T-34/57. The hull in this kit is not warped like both of the 1943 kits I got.

Fit is good at the rear, but not perfect.



A few things to sort out at the front, but at least it's straight! I plan on using the vent insert on this build, but need to get the molds sorted out before I decide to cut out the vents. I'm waiting for more casting supplies.

Progress on the 1941. The Panzer Art mantlet does not have an attachment to fit it to the turret. I cut the base off the kit plastic mantlet and attached it to the resin part. It still needs some filler.

It's been a pleasure to work on a kit that is more or less square.



Checking the reference on the 1941 T-34/57 I have learned there are only one good set of pictures of this tank type. That is tank 20. Tank 20 has the transitional chassis with the curved hull fitting at the rear, the new horn tow cleats and new tracks.

I already ordered the original type tracks to use on the model, so I'll stick with the plan and built a generic 1941 version.

Neat project. First time hearing of this variant. Did find this, can't vouch for the accuracy of the site but did have some interesting pics
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/soviet/t34exterminator

Chris,

It's one of the few sites where you can get information about this tank. From all that I've found there were between 130 and 300 of these made. Of these only 10 of the 1941 version were used in combat, and only 1 can be definitely identified, with another possible.

I like the looks of the long thin needle barrel. It's too bad they didn't make more of them, but the 85mm gun was a better all around weapon, so they went that route. I've got an early T-34/85 planned for the resin campaign.

The 1941 turret is finished.

I'm still waiting for some casting supplies. The UPS tracking went from out for delivery to "scanned" in the last hour or so. Seems like the driver isn't capable of using map quest. The last time those morons did that, it took another week to get me the box.

I finally got my casting supplies in, but I have never had so much trouble with mold rubber! I made some molds just like I have always done and they did not set up properly. Luckily the important one is usable, and another I made up for myself. I also worked on the bow MG cover, moving the sight hole down and making the hole smaller. We'll see how it casts up after the next cursing of the molds.



I like the mouse ears T-34's and discovered all the parts are there in the cupola kits for a mouse ear turret, except the top plate. Why the xxxx didn't Dragon just put the darn thing in the kits like Tamiya did? I would get the "right" kit but they are harder to find and cost more than the cupola kits.

Rant over, the rear insert looks ok. Once the resin sets up for a few days I will paint it and get it installed.