T-34/85 with Clark TK-50

[Jarlath]

The replacement recoil unit is a Jarlath compact unit. I drilled out the IR emitter hole to make it a little larger and added an extension tube to the emitter to comply with club rules. I reinstalled the Taigen high intensity flash unit.

Ahhh the butchery! Glad to see you made it fit the Taigen metal turret. Excellent!

I built a simple servo mount from styrene and used the channel on the side of the Jarlath compact recoil unit for the elevation.

Yeah, that was one of the reasons I made sure to re-add in the side elevation "slot". For factory side elevation units and for servos just like you have put in.

[tankme]

The replacement recoil unit is a Jarlath compact unit. I drilled out the IR emitter hole to make it a little larger and added an extension tube to the emitter to comply with club rules. I reinstalled the Taigen high intensity flash unit.

Ahhh the butchery! Glad to see you made it fit the Taigen metal turret. Excellent!

I built a simple servo mount from styrene and used the channel on the side of the Jarlath compact recoil unit for the elevation.

Yeah, that was one of the reasons I made sure to re-add in the side elevation "slot". For factory side elevation units and for servos just like you have put in.

Now the real test is whether I can get the other one to fit in the early 76mm turret...

[43rdRecceReg]

I salute the neat and elegant internal arrangement.

I'm going to have a go at building the Trumpeter/Taigen (ABS/Alloy hull) T34/75, much as Raminator did in his exemplary thread.
However, I have the Torro (metal ed.) T34/85, and I love the rock-solid feel of it. IMO, it's a cut above most of their products- Taigen/Torro, that is.
I bought it in 2017, and so an MFU update should bring it back into peak condition. It will also make it move in a more authentic manner, and sound more credible too. As far as I can tell, apart from regimental markings, the Taigen and Torro metal editions are identical.

Torro metal Ed T34/85 and Cromwell Mk IV

Here it is alongside my Cromwell project, which was still largely unfinished.

[tankme]

Quick tip for you, your club or others that buy the TK50...don't use the Taigen 3W speaker if you are going to run it at full volume. I think I just blew up a Taigen 3W speaker...

I was playing with the sound and I turned it all the way up. It was fine for about 30 seconds and then the speaker started to distort really badly. Soon enough the speaker stopped working. So I built a small speaker box out of some 1/8" PVC sheet and installed an FRS7 speaker in it. I swapped the Taigen with the FRS7 and the sound is back so I think the 3W Taigen speaker (square one) is toast. With the FRS7 15W 8ohm speaker this thing is LOUD. The TK50 has a 7W sound output (TK40 is 3W) and I didn't think that would be enough to kill the 3W speaker, but it seems it did. After verifying the sound the board was good I put the old speaker back in and still no sound.

Didn't think that little difference would matter as I once put some old 70's 5W cabinet speakers in series with my 200W Cerwin Vegas at the time and those little 5W speakers took a lot of volume before blowing out. But I guess it was probably the distortion and not so much the watts that killed the Taigen unit.

[tankme]

Also made some progress on the T-34/85. She is all prepped for paint. I did remove the tracks and the outer rubber wheel covers before priming and laying down a basecoat. The base is a little lighter than I would like and a little more yellow/green, but once it's weathered I think it will be fine. Russian green varied a lot back then.

Added some wear and tear from the last time, but not too much.







I did mount the Tamiya battle system through the gunner's hatch as I didn't want it to get in the way of the apple. Didn't want it in the commander's hatch as it sits up way to high then IMO.

[tankme]

Been trying to get this one ready for a battle day in about a week. Got her painted and some of the storage added. Still need to do some possible chipping and some weathering. Shown with it's big brother the IS-7...

[tomhugill]

The straps are actually leather. I found a place that catered to scale horses so I ordered some of the leather straps and buckles they had. So the straps and buckles are actually functional. The straps were a little thick so I hit them with my mini belt sander to thin them down. I will remove them before painting. Just wanted to see how everything looked before doing the finishing work. Maybe not entirely accurate, but I think they were a nice addition. It's a pet peave of mine to see stuff just hanging on a tank with no visible means of attachment...

https://www.riorondo.com/hardware/buckles/index.html

2 – LL116d – Leather Lace – Dun Color – 1/16" – Yd – $1.00 x 2 = $2.00
2 – B1330s – Square Buckle – Silver Color – 1/16" – 30/st. – $4.25 x 2 = $8.50

Now that is a great find!! I was after something for my thermal sleeves and these look perfect!

[Jimster]

That’s a beautifully painted and well detailed tank! I bet it gets super dusty while battling. Are the battles at high speed with fast turns or operated at more realistic speeds? I’ve never battled but thought it would be cool to see prototype speeds enforced. Probably too slow and boring for most.

[HERMAN BIX]

Agree, very well finished Mr Tankme .
The stowed ammo crates are a nice touch too.
What did you use for the markings ?

[tankme]

Thanks guys.

That’s a beautifully painted and well detailed tank! I bet it gets super dusty while battling. Are the battles at high speed with fast turns or operated at more realistic speeds? I’ve never battled but thought it would be cool to see prototype speeds enforced. Probably too slow and boring for most.

Speeds really depend on the club. Our club is pretty loose when it comes to that sort of thing. Danville has been known to enforce scale speeds depending on the club that is battling there. That rule does tend to limit the number of participants. The tanks do get dusty while battling, but not as bad as you might think. They don't really go fast enough to kick up huge rooster tails of dust. I have been trying to at least mimic the scale turning mechanisms of the real tank. So my KVs and T34s will only skid steer. The neutral steering modes are turned off.

Agree, very well finished Mr Tankme .
The stowed ammo crates are a nice touch too.
What did you use for the markings ?

The markings are dry transfers from Archer. I thought they were decals when I bought them, but the worked anyway. I touched them up with a little white paint once applied and had a matte clear coat over them. I've never been a huge fan of the "slogans" on the tanks, but that's just a personal preference. The crates are resin so making them look like wood is a bit of a process. I think they turned out pretty well.