Building a 1/35th Tamiya T34

A short post on the making of a Tamiya 1/35 scale T34/76 for a potential Battle of Kursk game that we are working on:

This is a classic Tamiya kit first produced in, I believe, 1975! A real veteran of the military modelling hobby. A number of us are working on running a Kursk game in 1/35th scale, so we are concentrating on equipment available in mid 1943, hence why I have gone for the T34/76 1943 production model.

I am no expert in this sort of detailed modelling, but the the kit comes with comprehensive plans, decals and well produced sprues with zero flash.

It was easy to assemble by following the instructions closely. As a wargamer, I don't tend to bother with too many of the fiddly, overly complicated or delicate bits, but this model doesn't come with many anyway! Indeed the larger 1/35th scale is a joy to work with.

The trickiest part of the process is actually joining the upper and lower chassis together - they don't fit together particularly well. Nevertheless, I can fill the small gaps with grout easily.

They are sprayed with black primer, painted in Vallejo Olive Green/Russian Green and dry brushed with Flat Earth for low body and US Field Drab for upper body.

If I was rating this kit, I would give it 9 out of 10. It is highly accurate, gives you some different options in terms of the precise model and crew figures and looks great when finished. What's more, I bought three of them online, working out at £17.00 each, including P&P, which is very reasonably priced when compared with 28mm or even 15mm equivalents.

As someone who is new to 1/35th scale, I would highly recommend it. You do get a lot of 'bang for your buck', they are easy to assemble and they paint up well. 1/35th also provides a welcome change from the ubiquitous 28mm wargame scale.

On manoeuvres with some 1/35th Tamiya and Zvezda infantry: