Working on a T 34 M1940. Are the straps that hold the fuel tanks on the sides and the ones for the ice cleats metal or leather? I'd think metal but the molding on the kit looks like it has a buckle, like it's leather.

Here's Eduard's take on this :



The PE parts look close to the 1:1 ones :







H.P.

b2nvi,

The straps securing the ice cleats are probably a woven fabric with leather reinforcements.

Frenchy,

Thanks for sharing the photograph. You always share the most interesting pix.

Thanks, All. The photos of the M1940 prompts another question. How common was the antennae pot? I know radios were a rarity in Soviet tanks and most of the photos I've seen seem to show no pot.

For the -76 tanks not having them would be the rarity.
The earliest examples of the T-34/A-34 would have the radio in the turret with the pot on the roof above it. When the radio was relocated to the hull a positionable pot was added on the front right side. It remained there until the introduction of the T-34-85.
For a short period of time, during the desperation days of 1942, the pot was omitted from some tanks, sometimes completely, sometimes patched over, and sometimes the mount would be sealed with a conical plug.

Hope this helps.

BTW, be leery of using that "Model '40" as any kind of guide. It's a mock-up based on some original Model 40/41 parts welded to what I believe is a T-34-85 hull.
I'm not even sure if the turret is "real"

I'm no T-34 expert...According to this website , "This is an early T-34 hull. The turret, mudgards and some parts are reproductions" Let's hope at least the fuel tank straps are accurate though....

Disclaimer : I don't know what version is pictured below



Full size

Here's a close-up of the ice cleats straps on the T-34-76 Model 1942 from the late Jacques Littlefield's collection :

http://svsm.org/gallery/T-34-76_little/P1140112

H.P.

The photo of the one in a ditch is a M1940. Big give away is the L 11 gun. Looks like a cast turret. Still has the periscope in the hatch, so earlier production. One interesting thing I spotted was the AT hit that just chipped the paint and blew the back end off the rear fuel tank. Doesn't look like the hit put any sort of divot in the metal. The fuel tank straps look metal. Something like the mount for the fire extinguisher in my Jeep. As for radios, all I've ever read is only platoon leaders (and other higher ups) had radios ... so , 1 in 4 ? Platoon leaders used flags to signal the other tanks in the platoon. And early T 34s barely had room in the turret for the two crewmen. I don't think a radio there would have been an option until the 34/85s came along.

Mostly true. As the war wore on and supplies of radios improved a larger proportion of tanks were fitted with them. (I "think" that by late '43 early '44 the 9R radio may have been standard on all T-34's? Not sure, I'll have to look that up.)
In any case the vast majority of tanks were outfitted at the factory with all the hardware to take a radio whether they were installed or not.

As to the turret mounted 71TK-3 radio, again a feature of the A-34 and initial T-34, the turret bustle had ample room for it, heck, it was designed with the radio installation in mind!
The radio was moved to the hull not so much because of limited turret space but because it overburdened the tank commander who, at that point, had to play the role of commander, gunner, AND radio operator. Wildly inefficient.