Soviet Medium Tank T-34/85 - Project CLOSED!

[ripley]

In the drawing of Plant 112 Jan - Feb 44 turret , notice both roof hatches are located forward on the roof , this was because the turret only had a two man crew as it used the original T-34 76 turret ring . There was  no room for a third crew member or radio which was located  in the hull just like the 76 model   .  The Feb - Mar 44 picture shows the hatches relocated aft as the larger turret ring was now being manufactured  giving more room for the three man crew and radio . The gunner's vision slit on the early Plant 112 turrets was a hold over from manufacturing the T-34 Hex turrets , when the turret design was finalized it was removed . In Pinky's photo it shows an early Jan 44 turret , notice how far forward the commanders hatch is  .  A good cheap reference book ( under $ 20 ) is the Squadron / Signal  T-34 in Action book ( No 20 ) . It shows most of the turret types and various changes in all the T-34 models . Lots of clear photos and drawings . In fact Pinky's tank is shown with about  20 others of the same  regiment on parade , all having 4 man crews .

[Rubicon Models]

Thanks Ripley!  Don't think we can do much "major" rework of the design on the D-5T gun; but we still want to keep it as an cosmetic option for players.  At present, we are already in the sprue layout stage, but we still have time to make final adjustments to our 3D model before the mould making phase!

Base on our available references (without newer references) plus yours (and Pinky's), may be the best option is to remove the cone-shaped ventilator and replace it with the smaller one plus the antennae mount (that is the bottom turret reference - Plant No 112 - Mar/Apr 44 style).

Any comments?

[ripley]

I would say leave the double dome fan alone , true its a little too far back but we can live with it , I mean other companies have a lot bigger problems on some their kits and most gamers don't care , or maybe they don't know . lol  . You mention the cone shaped ventilator , I think you mean the cone/ pear shaped periscope cover , it was an intermediate type used on the early 85s , so I would still keep it , just add the antennae mount behind it.  Many pictures I have show both types of periscopes on one tank  ( T-34 / 76s as well ). I guess the factories just used whatever they had in stock at the time , there was a war on you know . lol  Aside from that , both roof styles look great , and  yes, the 2 piece hatch cupola was a smaller diameter than the one piece version , so your right on the money there . Sorry , don't mean to nit pick , so if I get out of line , send me to my hobby room . I  spend way to much time on the computer as it is  and I really should be  building more Russian tank riders   

[Rubicon Models]

Ripley: Thanks for the comments!  This is the type of customer interactions we would like to see.  We might be good in creating products, but we are no "professional" military enthusiast that know everything!  Customer input is important throughout the different stages of 3D model design.

This forum is create not just to show off our WIP projects, but a platform to exchange ideas and discuss features... We do learn from our past mistakes and will try to minimize obvious possible errors during the work process.

[Pinky]

I would fix the ventilators, if you can.  They may be primarily wargaming models, but it's worth trying to get the smaller details right - especially if you're going to go to the trouble of making relatively similar variants like the 1943 and 1944 versions of the T-34/85. 

I would also agree with Ripley to keep the conical periscope on the 1943 turret, although it was much closer to the cupola than on your prototype.  But I wouldn't add an antenna mount to the roof of the 1943 turret - the antenna was mounted on the right hull side on all but the last vehicles produced (you might as well make the 2 versions as different as possible).

I think the cupola on the 1944 turret might be a bit far forward - it seems as though it should be almost touching the ventilators.   

One other suggestion - since these kits are going to appeal mostly to wargamers, I think you should mould the machine guns and tools a bit more overscale.  It will make them more robust, and they'll fit in better with 28mm minis. 

[Rubicon Models]

Pinky: We are already working on the minor changes:
1) The ventilator position had been adjusted on the D-5T turret top.
2) The conical periscope on the D-5T turret top had been moved back a little bit towards the copula.
3) There are some minor position adjustment on the ventilator on the S-53 turret top as well.
4) The visual difference on the two turret top features is mainly because the front armour top plate is not extending far enough.  We have extended it a little bit to give depth to the overall look of the turret.

Here is a reference drawing for our revised D-5T and S-53 turret top:



We will look into the over-scale machine gun suggestion with our newer releases.  As of now, projects that we have shown in our forum WIP section are already in the mould-making phrase; so nothing drastic we can do right now...

Thanks again for your feedback!  We really like the interaction, and hopefully more members will participate in future project discussions.

[Pinky]

These revisions look good.  I think the ventilators should be almost touching the cupola on the 1943 turret, but it's probably at the point where noone will be bothered if it's a couple of millimetres out.  I assume the angle of the hatches on the cupolas in these drawings isn't 'final', as they opened fore and aft (i.e. the way you had them before).

[ripley]

The roof top C looks good for a mid 44 pattern tank . If you use roof top A , a Jan - Feb 44 tank with the hatch situated forward , you will have to give both sides of the turret - vision slits , it will also need those U shaped lift rings , the radio is in the hull by the bow gunner ( same as T-34 / 76 ) , the body  will need round front fenders and the early dish style wheels to be accurate . Might be easier to make a roof with the two piece hatch located in the same spot as the large hatch . Add the antenna pot and the tear drop / oval style periscope and your good to go . These later tanks had various wheel types and square front fenders . In fact the factories that were building the tanks as well as the  SU - 100 SPG are the ones who started adding the square fender.  Some factories kept the round fender and dish wheels through out the war . There were about 8 factories building tanks , about 5 of the factories also made turrets so they shipped various styles to the other builders .So you could get a real variety of turret and body features , not to mention about 18 different styles of wheels and IRC about a dozen styles of T-34 track . 
What ever you end up doing will be a great improvement on the kits out here already . And those of us who want too , can add or remove the features that bother us . All ready going through the parts box looking for U shaped hooks ...

[Rubicon Models]

After much discussions and feedback from various forum members, together with our test fitting on the 3D prototype parts, we have refined our technical drawing on the T-34/85 design.  This is our final version of the T-34/85 tank!

This is the early version (1943) of the T-34/85 with D5T mantlet.  Note the position of the ventilator at the rear had been moved closer to the copula; plus the front pear-shaped periscope cover had been move backward towards the copula as well.  In addition, the top front armour plate had been extended to make the sloping angle of the turret looks more natural.


This is the late war version (1944) of the T-34/85 with S53 mantlet.  We have added a flamethrower gun to turn this tank into an OT34/85.  The flamethrower is backward compatible with our T-34/76 kit; hence all parts are interchangeable (except for the hull - turret ring is larger on the T-34/85)!


C&C are most welcome!  We will send the design to factory for mould making early next week!

[ripley]

If I knew how to find the icon , I'ld give you two thumbs up . Looks great !

[Rubicon Models]

Ripley: Had to thank you and Pinky for the feedback and advice!
Don't think there are Thumbs Up icon here, lol! 

BTW, we have included two types of "Turret Lifting Fittings" on the two diagrams... which one you think looks better?  Both are quite common on the T-34/85 turret, but we can only do one.

[ripley]

 Your welcome , glad I could help . I would say the hooks on the S53 version were more common through out WW2 tank production , in fact even the post war Polish manufactured tanks still had this type of lift hook . The U shaped hooks were only used by one factory at the very start of the T-34 / 85 production . And as I stated in an earlier post , those  tanks had lots of little details that were deleted to streamline production ie : gunner's vision slit , hull mounted radio , etc . 

[Rubicon Models]

Your welcome , glad I could help . I would say the hooks on the S53 version were more common through out WW2 tank production , in fact even the post war Polish manufactured tanks still had this type of lift hook . The U shaped hooks were only used by one factory at the very start of the T-34 / 85 production . And as I stated in an earlier post , those  tanks had lots of little details that were deleted to streamline production ie : gunner's vision slit , hull mounted radio , etc .

Noted with thanks! 

[Pinky]

These drawings look good.  This is shaping up to be your best kit yet.  I'll definitely buy a couple.

[Rubicon Models]

After much work, and working in secret about our added BONUS... The T-34/85 plastic kit is finally done!

Our 1/56 T-34/85 plastic kit can be assembled into either a Model 1943 or 1944 version of the tank. It comes with 2 turret top and 2 mantlet choices with oil drums & accessories included. You also have an option to built the tank as an OT-34/85 flamethrower tank too.

As an added BONUS, we have included a T-34/76 Model 1943 turret (commonly known as the Hex or Mickey Mouse turret) for those who had already brought our T-34/76 (280013) plastic kit!

Product Code: 280021
Number of Parts: 50 pieces / 3 sprues
Availability: Late March
























Enjoy!