In box Review of Tamiya 1/35th Scale
Russian T-34-76 "CHTZ" 1943 Production Tank
Kit no. 35149
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: 19.31 Euro on up to 24.08 Euro, depending on where you shop in Europe or 22.50 Yen from Hobby Link Japan.
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: 19.31 Euro on up to 24.08 Euro, depending on where you shop in Europe or 22.50 Yen from Hobby Link Japan.
HISTORY:
Soon after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa (campaign against the Soviet Union), intelligence officers in the operation room of the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht (OKW) received papers in succession which reported German victory over the Russians. The officers going through the papers looked full of self-confidence and men operating typewriters were elated with the victory.
Everything in the room seemed to be lighted up with joy. They found strange characters "T-34" in all the papers they recieved but did not know what the three characters meant. The "T-34" contained a grievious cry of fear and distress that German tank officers and men who struggled and died on the field raised from the bottom of their heart.
Now the story comes back to the 1930's in the Soviet Union. Recognizing the need of tank forces, Joseph Stalin and the brains of the Red Army decided to develop high-speed light tanks and attacking heavy tanks, after the example of the United Kingdom that had acquired a position as a leader in the theory regarding tanks, and tank tactics. The Russian authorities introduced into this the idea of the "Operation Plan 1919" of Fuller who ws said to be a genius in tank tactics.
As part of the plan, the Russian authorities bought in 1931 two Christie tanks from the United States. They found the particular invention created by this eccentric American usable s a basis of their new high-speed tanks.
Thus were born Russian BT tanks, which developed from the first model 1 through the model 7/2 into the last B7-7M (BT-8). In the meantime, the Russians improved on the Christie suspension which had proved to have some disadvantageous points, and repeatedly put it to practical tests.
The shape and construction of the BT tanks indicated the basic design of Russian tanks to be developed later. The features of the BT tanks included sloping armour plates on the body, characteristic cylindrical turret which projected rearward to contain projectiles, and diesel engine employed in the last model. These features were all inherited by later Russian tanks, which developed into modern tanks.
The A-20 and T-32 tanks, successors to the BT tanks,were designed by a team which consisted of M.E. Koshkin, who served as chief designer and young able engineers from the Leningrad Technical Institute who ranked beside Kotin, designer of the KV tank.
In 1938, Koshkin's design team was ordered to design a new medium tank. Unlike the A-20 and the T-32 which used both wheels and tracks, the new tank was to be a full-tracked fighting vehicle. It was to have a weight of 25 tons, armour thickness of 45 mm maximum, a 76.2 mm main gun, Christie-type suspension, and Russia's proud V-2 diesel engine which proved successful in the BT-7M.
Design work was completed as early as the beginning of 1939, because in basic points the team had only to follow the design of the T-32 which they previously made.
From the end of 1939 to 1940, the Russian authorities put the pilot model to severe tests including the well-known winder 3,600 km trial run. Thereafter, the new medium tank T-34 was officially accepted for production and appeared as one of the important weapons to decide the fate of World War II.
In the meanwhile, the design team met with misfortune. Chief designer Koskin, the pillar of the team, died of tuberculosis at the age of 42 in prime of life. This was because he worked too hard. His machines, however, ran about the mother earth of Russia and saved the motherland by destroying the invading forces. They contributed toward remaking the map of Europe after the war.
The victory of the T-34 owed much to a combination of the priority principal which the designers basically followed to facilitate production and the unique production system that producers employed.
The T-34 was the very fighting machine. No contemporary tank of other nations had so small number of parts as the T-34. Of course, no other tank had unnecessary parts, but the T-34 had reduced the number of necessary parts by unifying them under happy ideas.
To cite an instance, pins connecting track links together had no cotter pin or clasp. This was made possible by a bright idea. Connecting pins shaped like bolts were inserted from inside (body side) to hold track links together, but they were liable to come off because of the rough movement of the tank. To prevent it, an ingenious device was used. A semicircular guide plate fixed near the rear end of each track near the sprocket wheel was designed to automatically push back connecting pins which were coming out of the rotating track. Such happy ideas were found also in other details.
In reply to the efforts of the designers, Russian production engineers developed new production processes with "More an Faster" as their motto. One of them was "chilled casting" which took the place of conventional sand-mould casting.
CHTZ is the abreviation meaning the tractor plant in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.
The chilled casting employed metal molds and could be called a kind of die casting. It was used in making large castings for the diesel engine, the heart of the T-34 tank.This process, unlike the sand-mould casting, required little skill which could be attained in a very short time.
Also, large presses were employed to stamp out armour plate for the T-34 tank. They were able to stamp iron plates with thickness up to 45 mm and produced mainly turret roofs and side armour plates in large quantities. These production processes ere based on the Russian priority principal and symbolic of thorough-going Slavic rationalism.
On the other hand, the V2-34 diesel engine, the heart of the T-34 tank, compared favouribly in precision with engines manufactured in West Europe. German engineers were supprised at the precision of the diesel engine when they inspected captured T-34 tanks. It is said that they took their hat off to Russian engineers who made parts of light aluminum alloy used in some components of the diesel engine.
The tank gun which constituted the main armament of the fighting vehicle was the best one in those days. The high-velocity 76.2 mm gun was originally 30.5 calibres long, but later became 41.2 calibres long and much improved in performance. The gun was able to penetrate 54 mm armour plate at a distance of 1,600 metres.
The T-34 tank was the product of Slavic rationalism. It was powered by the excellent engine, armed with the powerful gun and protected with stamped thick armour plates welded onto the body in a rather unsightly manner. Thus, the T-34, unlike West European tanks, did not have a polished shape at all. It, however, was superior in fighting power to any tank then manufactured by any other nation of the world. The T-34 was a real fighting vehicle and great tank.
Soon after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa (campaign against the Soviet Union), intelligence officers in the operation room of the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht (OKW) received papers in succession which reported German victory over the Russians. The officers going through the papers looked full of self-confidence and men operating typewriters were elated with the victory.
Everything in the room seemed to be lighted up with joy. They found strange characters "T-34" in all the papers they recieved but did not know what the three characters meant. The "T-34" contained a grievious cry of fear and distress that German tank officers and men who struggled and died on the field raised from the bottom of their heart.
Now the story comes back to the 1930's in the Soviet Union. Recognizing the need of tank forces, Joseph Stalin and the brains of the Red Army decided to develop high-speed light tanks and attacking heavy tanks, after the example of the United Kingdom that had acquired a position as a leader in the theory regarding tanks, and tank tactics. The Russian authorities introduced into this the idea of the "Operation Plan 1919" of Fuller who ws said to be a genius in tank tactics.
As part of the plan, the Russian authorities bought in 1931 two Christie tanks from the United States. They found the particular invention created by this eccentric American usable s a basis of their new high-speed tanks.
Thus were born Russian BT tanks, which developed from the first model 1 through the model 7/2 into the last B7-7M (BT-8). In the meantime, the Russians improved on the Christie suspension which had proved to have some disadvantageous points, and repeatedly put it to practical tests.
The shape and construction of the BT tanks indicated the basic design of Russian tanks to be developed later. The features of the BT tanks included sloping armour plates on the body, characteristic cylindrical turret which projected rearward to contain projectiles, and diesel engine employed in the last model. These features were all inherited by later Russian tanks, which developed into modern tanks.
The A-20 and T-32 tanks, successors to the BT tanks,were designed by a team which consisted of M.E. Koshkin, who served as chief designer and young able engineers from the Leningrad Technical Institute who ranked beside Kotin, designer of the KV tank.
In 1938, Koshkin's design team was ordered to design a new medium tank. Unlike the A-20 and the T-32 which used both wheels and tracks, the new tank was to be a full-tracked fighting vehicle. It was to have a weight of 25 tons, armour thickness of 45 mm maximum, a 76.2 mm main gun, Christie-type suspension, and Russia's proud V-2 diesel engine which proved successful in the BT-7M.
Design work was completed as early as the beginning of 1939, because in basic points the team had only to follow the design of the T-32 which they previously made.
From the end of 1939 to 1940, the Russian authorities put the pilot model to severe tests including the well-known winder 3,600 km trial run. Thereafter, the new medium tank T-34 was officially accepted for production and appeared as one of the important weapons to decide the fate of World War II.
In the meanwhile, the design team met with misfortune. Chief designer Koskin, the pillar of the team, died of tuberculosis at the age of 42 in prime of life. This was because he worked too hard. His machines, however, ran about the mother earth of Russia and saved the motherland by destroying the invading forces. They contributed toward remaking the map of Europe after the war.
The victory of the T-34 owed much to a combination of the priority principal which the designers basically followed to facilitate production and the unique production system that producers employed.
The T-34 was the very fighting machine. No contemporary tank of other nations had so small number of parts as the T-34. Of course, no other tank had unnecessary parts, but the T-34 had reduced the number of necessary parts by unifying them under happy ideas.
To cite an instance, pins connecting track links together had no cotter pin or clasp. This was made possible by a bright idea. Connecting pins shaped like bolts were inserted from inside (body side) to hold track links together, but they were liable to come off because of the rough movement of the tank. To prevent it, an ingenious device was used. A semicircular guide plate fixed near the rear end of each track near the sprocket wheel was designed to automatically push back connecting pins which were coming out of the rotating track. Such happy ideas were found also in other details.
In reply to the efforts of the designers, Russian production engineers developed new production processes with "More an Faster" as their motto. One of them was "chilled casting" which took the place of conventional sand-mould casting.
CHTZ is the abreviation meaning the tractor plant in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.
The chilled casting employed metal molds and could be called a kind of die casting. It was used in making large castings for the diesel engine, the heart of the T-34 tank.This process, unlike the sand-mould casting, required little skill which could be attained in a very short time.
Also, large presses were employed to stamp out armour plate for the T-34 tank. They were able to stamp iron plates with thickness up to 45 mm and produced mainly turret roofs and side armour plates in large quantities. These production processes ere based on the Russian priority principal and symbolic of thorough-going Slavic rationalism.
On the other hand, the V2-34 diesel engine, the heart of the T-34 tank, compared favouribly in precision with engines manufactured in West Europe. German engineers were supprised at the precision of the diesel engine when they inspected captured T-34 tanks. It is said that they took their hat off to Russian engineers who made parts of light aluminum alloy used in some components of the diesel engine.
The tank gun which constituted the main armament of the fighting vehicle was the best one in those days. The high-velocity 76.2 mm gun was originally 30.5 calibres long, but later became 41.2 calibres long and much improved in performance. The gun was able to penetrate 54 mm armour plate at a distance of 1,600 metres.
The T-34 tank was the product of Slavic rationalism. It was powered by the excellent engine, armed with the powerful gun and protected with stamped thick armour plates welded onto the body in a rather unsightly manner. Thus, the T-34, unlike West European tanks, did not have a polished shape at all. It, however, was superior in fighting power to any tank then manufactured by any other nation of the world. The T-34 was a real fighting vehicle and great tank.
THE KIT:
Tamiya is a old prolific model company based in Shizuoka City, Japan. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows two T-34-76 "CHTZ" production tanks passing a knocked-out factory in the background and an abandoned Soviet Degtyarev heavy machine gun DShK 1938 in the foreground. The lead tank is overall dark Russian green with a white diamond divided in two with a horizontal line through the center. In the upper half of the diamond is letter A and in the bottom half is the no. 24.
The second CHTZ tank is overall dark Russian green also and unmarked.
There are 4 Russian infantrymen advancing beside the tanks. They all wear fur lined hats and quilted jackets,.
This box art is not Tamiya's usual practice of posing the kit subjects against an all white background. They don't use scenery much for their box arts and I think I only own about 2 or 3 Tamiya kits that have scenery.
One side panel of the box has a color 3-view of the box art scheme with a one paragrah history of the tank.
The other side panel has color illustrations of a Degtyarev anti-tank rifle PTRD 1941, a Degtyrev heavy machine gun DShK 1938, a Sudeyev sub-machine gun PPS 1943 and a two-man crosscut saw with teeth protector. These are included in the kit. They are followed by features of the kit, Tamiya's location in Shizuoka is called out.
A black label with white lettering on it gives Model Rectifier's location in Edison, NJ. They were the U.S. importer and distributor for Tamiya.
Tamiya is a old prolific model company based in Shizuoka City, Japan. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows two T-34-76 "CHTZ" production tanks passing a knocked-out factory in the background and an abandoned Soviet Degtyarev heavy machine gun DShK 1938 in the foreground. The lead tank is overall dark Russian green with a white diamond divided in two with a horizontal line through the center. In the upper half of the diamond is letter A and in the bottom half is the no. 24.
The second CHTZ tank is overall dark Russian green also and unmarked.
There are 4 Russian infantrymen advancing beside the tanks. They all wear fur lined hats and quilted jackets,.
This box art is not Tamiya's usual practice of posing the kit subjects against an all white background. They don't use scenery much for their box arts and I think I only own about 2 or 3 Tamiya kits that have scenery.
One side panel of the box has a color 3-view of the box art scheme with a one paragrah history of the tank.
The other side panel has color illustrations of a Degtyarev anti-tank rifle PTRD 1941, a Degtyrev heavy machine gun DShK 1938, a Sudeyev sub-machine gun PPS 1943 and a two-man crosscut saw with teeth protector. These are included in the kit. They are followed by features of the kit, Tamiya's location in Shizuoka is called out.
A black label with white lettering on it gives Model Rectifier's location in Edison, NJ. They were the U.S. importer and distributor for Tamiya.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
This kit contains 3 dark green trees of parts, a loose dark green hull tub and hull roof part, black vinyl wheel caps that are all in 2 sealed cello bags. There are 2 long runs of back vinyl treads, a length of brass rod with a steel screw and nut in a small stapled cello bag, the decal sheet, the instructions, a color catalog of Tomiya brand paints showing color swatches of the colors and their paint brush line.
This kit contains 3 dark green trees of parts, a loose dark green hull tub and hull roof part, black vinyl wheel caps that are all in 2 sealed cello bags. There are 2 long runs of back vinyl treads, a length of brass rod with a steel screw and nut in a small stapled cello bag, the decal sheet, the instructions, a color catalog of Tomiya brand paints showing color swatches of the colors and their paint brush line.
The instructions consist of a single sheet that accordion-folds out into 6 pages in &' x 11" page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white photo of the model and figures made up in the box art scheme, followed by the history of the tank in English, German and Japanese.
Page 2 begins with READ BEFORE ASSEMBLY instructiions in the 3 languages, above the first 2 assembly steps.
Page 3 through 5 gives a grand total of 9 assembly steps.
Steps 8 and 9 are for assembly of the figures, the machine gun and the anti-tank rifle.
Page 6 has the painting, marking and decaling instruction in the 3 languages. There are 4 side panels shown.
1. The box art scheme (already described above). It just says it is a tank in the Spring of 1943, with no location or unit mentioned.
2. A T-34/76 with a white no. 102 on the sides of the turret. It is overall Russian green. It says it shows the tank in Summer of 1943. Again no location or unit said.
3. A T-34/76 with a white no, 289 on the sides of the turret. It is overall Russian green. This one is shown as it was in the Summer of 1943 at Kursk, Central Russia, but no unit given.
4. A captured by the Germans T-34/76. It is overall Russian green with a German national cross on the sides of the turret.
There are no parts trees illustrations in the instructions. However, the trees do have a tab on them that alphabetizes them and there are number tabs next to the parts.
Dark green letter A tree holds: the rear hull wall, engine grill door, spare track links, tow cables, grab bars, exhuast shields, nose plates, tow hooks, fuel tank halves etc. (63 parts)
Page 1 begins with a black and white photo of the model and figures made up in the box art scheme, followed by the history of the tank in English, German and Japanese.
Page 2 begins with READ BEFORE ASSEMBLY instructiions in the 3 languages, above the first 2 assembly steps.
Page 3 through 5 gives a grand total of 9 assembly steps.
Steps 8 and 9 are for assembly of the figures, the machine gun and the anti-tank rifle.
Page 6 has the painting, marking and decaling instruction in the 3 languages. There are 4 side panels shown.
1. The box art scheme (already described above). It just says it is a tank in the Spring of 1943, with no location or unit mentioned.
2. A T-34/76 with a white no. 102 on the sides of the turret. It is overall Russian green. It says it shows the tank in Summer of 1943. Again no location or unit said.
3. A T-34/76 with a white no, 289 on the sides of the turret. It is overall Russian green. This one is shown as it was in the Summer of 1943 at Kursk, Central Russia, but no unit given.
4. A captured by the Germans T-34/76. It is overall Russian green with a German national cross on the sides of the turret.
There are no parts trees illustrations in the instructions. However, the trees do have a tab on them that alphabetizes them and there are number tabs next to the parts.
Dark green letter A tree holds: the rear hull wall, engine grill door, spare track links, tow cables, grab bars, exhuast shields, nose plates, tow hooks, fuel tank halves etc. (63 parts)
Dark green letter B tree is the black vinyl wheel caps (20 parts)
Dark green letter C tree holds: road wheels, return rollers etc. (28 parts)
Dark green letter D tree holds: turret parts, hatch doors, crew figures, a wood crate, machine gun and anti-tank rifle parts etc. (50 parts)
The length of brass rod and the steel screw and nut are next.
The kit decals for the versions mentioned above.
The black vinyl treads are last and there are 2 long runs of these rubber band type treads. These are the old type that needs to be super glued or heat welded into a loop. Not the newer glueable type seen in today's armor kits.
This is a neat version of the T-34/76. It will compliment the other two Tamiya T-34-76 kits that I have and the different pattern road wheels and turret shape are noticable.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
I bought my kit at my local shop years ago.