Hello everyone!

This is my first post so a quick backstory:
I recently decided to pick up this hobby again after an over 20-year break. Sadly the hobby ended in frustration when three (!) of my first properly finished works were either stolen from the scale modeling club I went to as a kid (Tamiya BMW R.75 with sidecar and a Tamiya Kettenkraftrad + troops) or accidentally destroyed by somebody else (1:72 Fokker Dr.I).

Now is the time to try again, and while I will start with something cheaper and simpler for practice, I always wanted to make a T-34-76 with the Latvian Riflemen text on both sides of the turret. I even have a diorama idea for one, but that is getting way ahead of myself.

I was wondering if any experts here have more information on this specific unit and especially if these T-34s with Latvian crews possibly had any other markings on them? According to one of the drawings I found, these Latvian Soviet tankers were part of 25th Guards Tank Regiment, 6th Mechanized Brigade. I failed to find any photos of other "official" insignia or markings though.

Edit: Also, would anybody have a recommendation on which manufacturer has the best T-34 mod 1942(or 3?) kit?

Hi Jere,

Welcome !
What scale will that be ?

Thanks! Excited to get started with this again. Currently collecting all the necessary tools to do everything more or less right.

Oh, and excuse me. I prefer 1/35 when it comes to any ground forces.

Hi,
I think there 4 very good choices, AFV Club, Tamyia, Dragon and Zvezda

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/zvezda-3535-t-34-76--1285875

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/dragon-6479-t-34-76-model-1942--108592

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-mm149-t34-76--132373

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/afv-club-af35144-t-34-76--170456

I worked with these brands several times, I love AFV Club and Tamyia kits, read as many reviews as you can.

Here's a list of most of 1/35th kits:

=Kits&q=T-34&fkTYPENAME[]=%22Full%20kits%22&fkSCALENORMALISED[]=%221:00035%22]T-34

I always liked Tamiya as well, and it was nice to see they are still in business.




Thank you. The AFV club one looks like exactly what I need.

The Zvezda one is also of special interest to me, as it seems to come with the "For Soviet Estonia!" decals. A rather poignant slogan considering what my Baltic brothers and sisters went through during their Soviet times...

Will probably have to pick up both.

By the way, are there any companies in the business who make subpar products that should be avoided at all costs? I think Revell kits at least are considered to be more like toys for children?

It's hit or miss with Revell. Their armor often has softer details, but their most recent M48 release wasn't too bad. I found the main annoyance was casting texture where none should have been, Their 1/72 Gato is a fine kit, (although it builds into a generic Gato - LOTS of research required to build a particular boat) and their 1/144 AH-64D has fine detail for a kit that small.
And I find their 1/72 Bradley series to be pretty nice as well.
The best thing to do is read reviews for specific kits you may be interested in.

Got it, thank you! I'll make sure to read reviews before buying anything, no matter who manufactured it.

The Tamiya kit is simple to build but very inaccurate and poorly detailed. It also has the wrong turret for the vehicle you want to model.

The AFV Club kit also has the wrong turret, is a bit hard to find, and I've heard it has many accuracy issues. I don't know firsthand as I've never owned it.

The Dragon kit is pretty good & has the correct turret.

The Zvezda hex turret kit is older, not a great kit...much worse than Dragon's.

On the other hand, the Zvezda uralmash kit is great when you are ready to do that one. Usually available pretty cheaply too.

*Furiously taking down notes*

Excellent. I'm not a proper "rivet counter" yet, so help like this is appreciated.

Thank you for the hint about the new Zvezda Uralmash kit as well.

i have built several of the t34 kits. the newer zvezda is one of the best building ones of them all that i have built.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Zvezda-3689-1-35-Soviet-Medium-Tank-Mod-1943-URALMASH-T-34-76-Plastic-Model-Kit/392741669811?epid=20031270340&hash=item5b713a4bb3:g:n7wAAOSwugJefszc

the icm is also very nice
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-35-ICM-35365-T-34-76-Early-1943-Production/372979990288?epid=2283110382&hash=item56d756ff10:g:NiMAAOSwnqteZYcY

i think the icm built up easier than the zvezda. the icm had some slight warping, very slight. i just needed to put a bit of masking tape to the tub and by the morning it was good

with that being said, i hated the building of the dragon t34. i think they try to make as variants and they toss all the different sprues in there, making it very difficult to find the right piece. the instructions are also very flawed in that they put the entire build in 8 steps.


if this is the first build in 20 years, i would probably go after the newer zvezda or the icm.

by the way, the older zvezda is not supposed to be nearly as good as the new mold that i mentioned in my post

i got about halfway through the afv club one before putting it back in the box. i hated the "working" suspension.

Some more info:
http://tankfront.ru/ussr/names/colums/latishskiy_strelok.html#!prettyPhoto

What about this kit? It is of good quality, you have the choice of three sets of roadwheels (or mix them), two types of fuel tanks (boxy or barrels), bow machine gun or flamethrower, and two turret roof versions (with or without commander cuppola). The tracks are link and lenght. And you can get it for a good price.

https://www.scalemates.com/de/kits/academy-13505-t-34-76--1097227