Hi
I am not usually a soviet armour builder. However i would like to build a diorama of the Kursk battle. Therefore I was wonderng which T-34 kit would be the best to use for the battle of Kursk.
Thanks, Nick

Hey Nick,
Any T-34/76 mod. 43 kit would be the type to use.
The old Tamiya kit would do (with lots of After Market PE & resin stuff added on) or maybe one of the Dragon kits with a AM hexagonal style turret.
If you can find it, the Italeri/Zvezda T-34/76 mod.43 would do in a pinch.
There's probably other choices but you'd end up paying through the nose to improve them.
Cheers

jjumbo

Nick- T-34,s at Kursk. From what I have read, and photos I have seen, you can use the T-34/76 mod 1942 - T-34/76 mod 1943- T-34/76 ChTZ. Most of the photos from Kursk are German( the Soviets were not big on photos). Most photos are of T-34,s in a thousand pieces,or in flames!! I hope this info helps. Any Soviet photos taken at Kursk would be of knocked out Tigers,Panthers etc. Cheers-

Rob-

MiG-17

Za Rodinu !

There's at least one photo of a T-34 at Kurst with the rectangular rear final drive access hatch.

David

Hi Guys thanks for your responses. I have found the Zvezda T34/76 model of 1943

Is this a good kit. Sorry for all the questions. Thanks very much. Nick

The Zvezda T-34 is an okay (but not great) model, apart from the tracks which not even the most devoted rubber-bander could love. Accuracy isn't much better than Tamiya's (apart possibly from the turret), at least it was never intended for motorisation.

The markings shown on the boxart aren't appropriate (sadly) for Kursk, but belong to a tank unit in the Leningrad region.

David

I have build it - twice actually. It is a decent kit that will build into a nice model except for the tracks. Either you need some replacements, some mud (which was not really that widespread during the Russian Summer at Kursk) or prepare youself to be very "uncritical".

Yeah, the tracks for the Zvezda kit are awful and need replacing.
If you can find them (and if they're still in production), RPM made a set of individual link tracks for the T-34, SU-85 and SU-100.
I got a couple of sets from Squadron about 8 years ago.
Not as nice as Model Kasten's ILT's but they're CHEAP.
It doesn't make sense to pay $30 for the kit and $50+ for the tracks.
Cheers

jjumbo

Hi guys
thanks fo the Heads up on the tracks. Nick