"…this does take an older kit and make it better…"

< full review here >
- Cookie Sewell

"it's one that all T34 enthusiasts should get on their workbench as soon as possible...."

<full review here>
- Jim Rae

The T-34/85, arguably the best all round tank of WWII, has fought in numerous conflicts all over the globe. While the earlier T-34/76, was a capable tank, by 1943 its 76mm gun and two man turret, placed it at a disadvantage against the German Panzers. The T-34/85 with its larger gun and 3 man turret addressed these deficiencies and in early 1944 gave the Russian tank crew a well armed, robust standard tank, that was a strong challenger to the later production Panzer IV and StuG III which were by then the mainstay of the German armored units in the East.

CONTENTS

This model of a late WWII T-34/85 is from Dragon's Premium Edition range and features a significant number of upgraded and additional parts compared to the original release. Besides the 85mm tank gun its turret has a single piece commander’s cupola hatch and two ventilator domes at the rear of the turret roof, typical of its late war production period.

The layout is familiar with large single pieces for the lower and upper hulls and turret shell. The tooling for many parts such as the weld seams on the turret and the road wheels has been enhanced, while several small details are now in photo etch or refined such as the movable front machine gun and slide molded exhaust pipes.

Other features include:

· New one-piece turned metal barrel that is a drop fit into the mantlet. This barrel has the barrel end drilled out and there is the option of a one-piece injection plastic barrel.

· Newly tooled ‘Magic Tracks” which come loose and will save considerable time. The tracks alternate between links with and without guide-horns, so make sure you have an even number of links on each track. There are two slight injection marks on the inner face of each link, which could be sliced off or simply ignored.

· Improved road wheels with a crisply detailed open spoke pattern with rubber tyres. This pattern is more often seen on later wartime production vehicles and some post war T-35/85.

· New metal tow cable, which has plastic cable ends.

· Clear plastic lens for the headlamp.

· Two brass coloured turned metal ammunition rounds.

· Twelve plastic ice grousers with PE straps and tie-downs, which are stored on the right fender.

· One-piece tub hull with separate parts for the vertical suspension towers, which are fitted inside the hull and have the exposed (but obscured by the road-wheels) large coil springs.

· The new large photo etch fret is one of this releases major benefits. Parts include details, five screens for the engine deck, tool brackets, hand-saw (which looks great in PE) and the fuel tank brackets. For the rear engine deck screen the plastic screen will need to be cut out of the upper hull. The kit includes the three side fuel tanks, which have nicely detailed dents, but not the two rear smoke canisters for which PE straps are included; however these canisters are often absent in photos.

DECALS

A new 75mm x 100mm decal sheet by Cartograf is included with markings for six T-34/85. The painting guide illustrates each of these tanks with three or four views and the box has a colour side profile of each tank.

The tanks are 4th Guards Tank Brigade, 2nd Guards Tank Corps in Belorussia 1944 which is overall green; 55th Guards Tank Brigade, 7th Guards Tank Corps from Berlin 1945 which is green with a white center stripe; 3rd Byelorussian Front from East Prussia 1945 which is whitewashed; 3rd Byelorussian Front from Konigsberg in East Prussia 1945 which is also whitewashed; 22nd Guards Tank Brigade, 5th Guards Tank Corps, Prague 1945 which is all over green; and 63rd Guards Tank Brigade on the Eastern Front 1944 which is also solid green.

RECOMMENDATION

With the addition of numerous new features, Dragon has made the best 1/35 model of the T-34/85 even better, and a very good out of the box model. The extra parts, such as the PE, metal barrel and Magic Tracks will allow modelers to make an more impressive kit, while also improving the kits value for money. Definitely recommended.

- Neville Lord