T-34 from Stalingrad tractor plant

[Exzitus]

Hello everybody!

I want to show everyone a model of the t-34 tank produced at the Stalingrad tractor plant.

The model was originally given to me by my wife for my birthday.
It was a t-34-85 model from Trumpeter. The model had a long history of modernization (for a while there were even 3 engines to move, the tank easily drifted on a smooth surface).
From the original model, only the body remained, and that with significant alterations.
The model in this form was specially prepared for performances in the Museum dedicated to this tank.

[c.rainford73]

Fantastic! I'm looking to build one of these myself out of an old WSN piece. Where did you source those wheels?

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[BarryC]

Where did you source those wheels?

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Yes, inquiring minds want to know.

Barry

[General Jumbo01]

A lot of T34 parts are available from the many 1/16 Trumpeter kits. No idea where these wheels come from though.

[BarryC]

Looking at the "Box Art" of the Trumpeter T34/76 Model 1943 it appears to have 3 axle sets of the steel wheels.



Barry

[Exzitus]

I designed the wheels myself to fit on a bearing with an outer diameter of 10 mm.
I used drawings from books, data on dimensions and photos of real tanks during the design process.

Then printing on a 3d printer from abs. The outside is treated with a solvent to give smoothness. On the rubbing part of the wheel applied self-adhesive aluminum foil.

There are two wheel models in the photo. Rubberized wheel-early type (1940).

[c.rainford73]

Very nice work

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[Exzitus]

Once upon a time, when I was just learning to model, this tank had this experimental transmission. There are 3 motors installed here. Two for normal traffic. The third transmitted torque to both tracks at once with great speed and power. The speed was incredible! The handling was very good.

[tankme]

You can actually order sprue's from Trumpeter's sprue replacement program, but you have to Email them since their website is broken. I got a sprue from the M1A2 Abrams shipped to my home for $13.00 total cost and it was a large sprue. They only accept Paypal as far as I know. Email is joanna@trumpeter-china.com. I was very specific as to which kit number and which sprue letter I wanted when I Emailed them. I bought one of those T34/76 1943 kits and was able to turn some ABS plastic bearing holders on my lathe that I inserted into the Trumpeter wheels to get them to mount up to my Taigen metal T34 lower.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uWnE3bGk9X8nA9PF6

[sassgrunt]

Exzitus, your build is just beautiful, and I hope not to take anything away from it by sharing some info for people who are asking about the wheels. I struggled to find this type of roadwheel for my captured STZ build as well. Shapeways offers them here: https://www.shapeways.com/product/23RZ9 ... 8&li=shops They are very nice, but for me, the cost was prohibitive as I would have needed to buy several sets. The Trumpeter kit No. 00903 shown above seemed to be the cheaper option, although I did need to buy two kits to get enough of the all-steel wheels. I found a 1/35 STZ build that said that the all-steel wheels were more narrow than the rubber-tired ones, and by golly, you can see it in photos of the real thing. Both the Shapeways and Trumpeter wheels are the same width as the rubber ones, (about 0.850"), so I went through some effort to narrow the Trumpeter ones (to about 0.0650"). They look better to my eyes, but it was a LOT of work and I'm not sure it was really worth it.
I also had difficulty trying to make the shovel-nosed straight mantlet, and ended up buying a resin STZ turret from eBay. I have mixed emotions about it; it looks good and is hollow inside, but the upper hatch does not open; which seems like a drawback in this scale.