T34-76 Mod.42 TAMIYA 1/35
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/t34-76-mod-42-tamiya-1-35
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/t34-76-mod-42-tamiya-1-35
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Your should get rid of those front towing lugs, Tamiya copied them from a museum vehicle, the museum installed them to pull the T34, they weren’t original
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Hi Lee,
many thanks for your comment and I hope you liked it. I wasn’t aware of what you mentioned, but if you look at the photos of the original model that I’ve included at the end of the post, you can see two small handholds on the front plate of the tank (I think that’s what you’re referring to). And those photos aren’t from a museum, but of a real wartime vehicle that a member of another forum sent me when I asked about it.
Since I’m not an expert on specifications, I trusted him completely and that’s how it was presented. Cheers.
Francis 
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Nah, LeeDobson is right. No.112 Factory or any other’s T-34 tanks did not installed front towing hooks. The last photo you’ve mentioned is just AI generated image. But you made a great model. excellent.
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Hi PT-76,
many thanks for your kind comments, i’m glad you like it, appreciated mate.
As I said before, I’m not an expert on specifications; I usually build OOB kits because what I enjoy most is painting and weathering, even more so…lol.
The last three photos—that is, the first and second, where you can see a unique tank from the front and then from the back—were sent to me by a member of another forum, from whom I haven’t heard anything since, and who, interestingly enough, is Russian and a very good modeler.
He might have sent it to me in November 2022 if I’m not mistaken, a little before AI invaded us…lol
And lastly, the last photo, which is an artistic composition I like to end posts with if possible, isn’t AI-generated. It’s an “old-fashioned” composition; that is, I took a real old photo and another of my model (the header one), and worked on it with Photoshop, adding a filter or two. It turned out quite believable.
Anyway, if I decided to remove them, it would be easy, although I’m already “busy” with another kit…lol
Cheers.
Francis
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Congratulations on the assembled model. It’s truly a pleasure to see how models that many consider discarded can not only be put to good use, but also assembled and painted with such good judgment!
There were surely several thousand T-34/76 tanks produced, so I don’t see the point in arguing over a couple of handles that a mechanic in a maintenance unit might have liked and decided to add. In any case, they give the model an interesting visual touch, and from what Francis says, I suppose that’s what he was aiming for, and he achieved it.
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Hi Juanjo,
First, thank you for your kind comments, dear mate.
I completely agree with you. Any model (there will be some exceptions, I suppose…lol) can become something very beautiful to look at, even very accurate, if the modeler in question is a master of scratch building and PE parts (which isn’t my case)… Sometimes I see kits that are used for terrific scratch building, and then extremely difficult and expensive PE parts sets are added (sometimes more so than the original kit). And when they’re finished, the paint and weathering aren’t up to par with the previous work; at best, they’re just okay, spoiling all the wonderful work that came before… For my part, I prefer to focus on the painting and weathering, which will ultimately dictate how the model looks, trying to make the previous steps as good as possible. Without falling into the temptation of buying third-party add-ons, which would double or triple the price of the tank, IMHO it’s more sensible to buy a more expensive and better quality model, saving a lot of work in the future… I also strongly agree with the idea of field repairs by a mechanic, especially since it’s a tank built by thousands and a multitude of people… I’m attaching another original wartime photo showing the front handholds; I hope that clarifies things.
Cheers
Francis
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First, excellent model.
Second, the OP is referring to the hand holds on the outer edges of the upper glacis, while the comments about the tow lugs added by the museum are referring to the two “tabs” added the the front fillet.
So, apples and oranges.
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Hi rfbaer,
Thank you very much for your kind comments, and I’m glad you liked it, appreciated mate.
Good explanation about the matter. In my stash I have another T-34, more accurate (I hope), with a complete interior, but as I’ve already mentioned, accuracy isn’t my main objective; that is, the more accurate the kit, the better, but I dedicate my effort to another area, the point and weathering, where I feel in my comfort zone.
cheers
Francis
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