T-35 (Early)
Comments
James CI made a start on this big, ugly beast a couple days ago. It's been sitting in my stash for a few years now as a birthday gift from my brother... whom has been bugging me to build it ever since. I had been reluctant to make a start on it due to it's size (and the amount of track links required) but after completing the French Char 2C, it doesn't appear to be as unappealing anymore. 😄
zakboom0815Great start! It's actually the same with the turrets: just when you think you've finished them all, another one appears 😉
James CHehe, thanks zakboom0815 🙂 You can never have too many turrets 😉👍
Only a little progress made yesterday with the rear drive and front return idler wheels now installed along with some more detailing to the rear engine deck. With the lower hull now mostly assembled, I'll switch from the kit components and get the replacement metal track links put together and test fit in position while I still have full access to the running gear. Pics to follow...
James CI got the replacement Friulmodel tracks assembled and mounted for a test fit today. 132 links per side for 264 links total. I may end up adding an additional link to the right side though, otherwise I'm very happy with how they look. Also managed to avoid stabbing myself with the drill bit this time, so that was a bonus! 😄
James CWelcome aboard guys 🙂
I'm hoping to knock off the rest of the plastic assembly in the next day or so, then look at applying the photo-etch, which there is a fair bit of included with this kit. Will see how it goes, as I struggle a lot with folding and placing it, and therefore rarely use it on anything other than engine grills/covers etc.
JohnLooks great James. 👍 Tracks turned out really well, perfect slack to them. Glad there were no injuries this time!
James CThanks John and welcome Jan 👍🙂
A little more progress made with the plastic assembly mostly finished now after installing the sponsons.
Next up is the P/E which I'm not looking forward to. 🤔
James CThanks Roland 🙂 ...and welcome to the dark side mate! 😛
I've since given everything a coat of Stynylrez black surface primer and intend to start shooting the base colour of 4BO green later today.
James CWelcome mate 🙂
A little more progress made with the base colour of 4BO Russian Green (A.Mig-019) now applied, and permanently attached the wheels and side armor.
zakboom0815It's a pleasure to watch the beast come to life 🙂 really like the 4BO and shading.
James CCheers Rolf, likewise mate! 🙂👍
I've since permanently installed the tracks and remaining photo-etch braces, and given it a gloss coat in readiness for applying the decals. Will update the album when there's a little more to see.
James CThanks Jos 🙂
A little update showing current progress with the tracks installed and decals applied.
Just need to seal them now, then can think about weathering and dirtying up the beast.
James CNo, I will leave the dioramas for those with more talent (and display space) but I do intend to dirty it up a little though 😉
James CI finished this one off finally a couple days ago but hadn't been able to take any pictures of the finished build before now.
This was a great kit, with very good detailing and clear, easy to follow assembly instructions.
I didn't encounter any numbering discrepancies during construction either.
The kit gives you the choice of several circular aerials to attach to the turret, but doesn't indicate what the difference is between the two. (I presume they represent different radio transmitter/receiver sets installed etc)
The only visual difference I could see is that one has 8 attachment brackets (to the main turret) and the other has just 6.
The kit also offers a reasonable amount of photo etch detailing, as well as clear parts for the headlights and twisted wire for the tow cables.
I'm not a huge fan of photo etch and wire cables, as I personally struggle with it due to poor eyesight and dexterity, but I don't see that as a valid reason to bag the kit itself... but in saying that, it would have been nice to have the option to use molded plastic parts instead, and in some instances would have been a far better alternative, especially in regards to the L shaped brackets that attach from the top of the sponsons to the vertical side armour.
The decals in the kit were very thin and laid down nicely without any silvering, but care needs to be taken when positioning them over the raised bolt detailing as they have a tendency to catch on, and tear very easily.
A liberal application of decal setting solution (or water) will help prevent this.
The Friulmodel track links I used to replace the plastic link and length tracks in the kit were fantastic and fit perfectly around the teeth of the rear drive wheels, but were a tight fit where the individual guide horns slipped down between the upper roller wheels, and especially so after painting. It may pay to file the inside edges between the two wheels of each set of upper rollers to allow for a little more "wiggle" room.
All up, a great looking kit and definitely recommended.
Youtube Video
Slavo HazuchaCheers James! Useless weather in NZ so we don't get the usual package of black table, sun & contrast pics?
Big thing came out great, probing again thad mild vs wild often brings the better result in shading, weathering and all-over finish (a principle I need to remind myself of more often! 😄) - looking realistic but nowhere nesr boring at the same time! 👍🏻
Gary CurlingWell done a lovely model and photos. What is next? or will you put your feet up for a while.
James CThanks for looking in and commenting guys, very much appreciated as always 🙂
This will be my last build for a little while now due to the onset of winter and the cooler temperatures that come with it.
Additionally, one of the reasons that this build took a little longer to complete is that I had been side tracked while house hunting on the local real estate market.
We were on the lookout for something a little smaller, but more modern than our current home, and finally found one a little north of Auckland that met all of our needs and wants, and for the right price. Our bid on it has been accepted, and so we expect to make the move some time in late July all going well.
I have a few kits planned for once we get settled in, but too early at this stage to make a definite decision, so will have a good think about it until then.
Bruce HuxtableI hope all goes well for finalising the house purchase and move to your new home, James. I hope nothing gets lost or damaged in the move!
Mr James10 out 10 for the paint job and weathering. You set a high bar my friend...
JohnGreat result James. What a beast! Good luck on the move, one of my least favorite things.
James CThanks guys 🙂
@ John - Yeah, It's taken me several days just to pack my unbuilt stash of kits and accessories into cartons.
Not looking forward to emptying the display cabinets with the fragile completed builds inside.
The settlement date has been brought forward, so the move will now be taking place at the end of June instead. 😮
CaptGPFOut of morbid curiosity - just how long does it take to build one of your beauties?
James CDepends on the kit and how much free time I have. For tanks I generally complete assembly inside of 3 days, but filling, painting, decals and weathering will take several weeks or more doing a little at a time. So, approx. a month for a tank build, but probably twice as long for modern aircraft due to the extra time required for filling the joins and clean-up etc.
CaptGPFInteresting, I would have thought it would be the other way around - with armor taking more time than aircraft due to the weathering effects! Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing more of these beauties in the future. 😀
Album info
Background:
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited production and service within the Soviet Red Army. Often referred to as a "land battleship", it was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to go into production. It was designed to complement the contemporary T-28 medium tank; however, only 59 units (plus several prototypes) would actually be built.
Ultimately, the T-35 would prove to be too slow and mechanically unreliable to warrant continued production at the start of hostilities in WW2, with superior designs in the form of the KV-1 heavy and T-34 medium tanks already beginning to enter into service.
Development work on the first T-34 heavy tank began in 1930 by the OKMO design bureau of the Bolshevik Factory in St. Petersburg, Russia.
By July of 1932, the first prototype of a 35-ton tank with a 76.2 mm main gun was completed. This first prototype was further enhanced with four smaller turrets.
Two with 37 mm guns, and two with machine guns. Unfortunately, this first prototype was found to have severe defects in its transmission and was considered too complex and expensive for mass production and therefore further work on it was halted and a new, more simple prototype was constructed instead.
This new prototype received a new engine, new gearbox and improved transmission.
The decision was also made to standardize the turrets used on the T-35 with those employed on the T-28 (a triple-turreted medium tank already in service)
The small machine-gun turrets were identical on the two tanks. The large main turret housing the 76.2 mm gun was also nearly identical, but those used on the T-28 had an additional, rear-facing machine gun.
On the 11th of August 1933, the T-35 was accepted to go into production, and manufacturing was shifted to the Kharkov Locomotive Factory located in Kharkiv, Ukraine where two batches of ten vehicles were initially constructed.
Specifications:
Mass: 45t (49.6 short tons; 44.3 long tons)
Length: 9.72m (31 ft 11 in)
Width: 3.20m (10 ft 6 in)
Height: 3.43m (11 ft 3 in)
Crew: 10
Armor: 11 - 30 mm
Main armament: 76.2 mm (KT-28) main gun
Secondary armament: 2× 45 mm 20K guns and up to 7× 7.62 mm DT machine guns
Engine: Mikulin M-17M V-12 petrol engine producing 500 hp (370 kW)
Power/weight ratio: 11 hp/tonne
Suspension: Coil spring
Operational range: 150 km (93 mi)
Maximum speed: 30 km/h (19 mph)
Combat History:
The T-35 served with the 5th Separate Heavy Tank Brigade in Moscow, primarily for parade duties, from 1935 until 1940.
In June 1940, the question was raised as to whether to withdraw the T-35's from frontline service, with the option to either convert them to heavy self-propelled artillery, or to reassign them to the various military training academies.
The decision was made to throw them into combat instead, and all operational machines were collected together into the 67th and 68th Tank Regiments of the 34th Tank Division, which served with the 8th Mechanized Corps in the Kiev Special Military District.
On 1 June 1941, the Red Army had only 58 T-34's at its disposal; and of these, only 48 were in a "combat-ready" condition.
The first known combat engagement of the T-35 tanks took place sometime in late June of 1941, during the broader fighting in the vicinity of Lviv, known as the Battle of Brody.
T-35 tanks belonging to the 34th Tank Division (trailing their unit lead elements due to poor tactical mobility) encountered advancing German armor on the unpaved road between the towns of Verba and Ptycha. The battle was documented only by photographs taken in the aftermath, and shows seven destroyed Soviet tanks, including four T-35's (two of these vehicles having suffered catastrophic ammunition explosions) and three German tanks destroyed.
The T-35 wrecks show evidence of hits by 37 mm cannon fire, but the vehicles could have also been engaged by towed German 8.8 cm Flak guns brought in to deal with heavily armored Soviet KV tanks that were also known to be active in this sector at the time. A Soviet report from the period identifies four T-35s lost on 30 June, with the loss of 15 crew.
During Operation Barbarossa, the majority of the T-35's lost by the 67th and 68th Tank Regiments were not as a result of enemy action, but through either mechanical failure or immobilization, which resulted in these vehicles being abandoned and destroyed by their own crews.
The most common causes of breakdown were transmission-related, however the T-35 proved to have greater automotive reliability than both the T-34 and KV tanks deployed at the time, with most of the failures arising from running the tanks beyond their normal service intervals, due to very little in the way of field repair or vehicle workshops being available and almost no spare parts support.
Some T-35's involved in the long marches, delaying actions, and retreats which characterized the beginning of the campaign, saw well over 500 km driven on unpaved roads and even off-road, before experiencing any significant failures.
The last recorded action involving the T-35 took place during the First Battle of Kharkov, where four tanks undergoing repairs at their home factory were made roadworthy, re-armed and hastily pressed into service in the defense of the city.
At least one captured T-35 was shipped intact to Germany for evaluation at the Kummersdorf military proving ground.
This tank (serial number 715-62) was meticulously inspected and showed widely divergent armor thickness values used in its construction, likely the result of poor quality control of the armor plate supplied by the steel mills.
In April of 1945, this tank, now stripped of most of its armament and immobile, was assigned to Panzer Brigade 150 and towed into the town of Zossen where it was used as a fixed fortification and barricade.
The T-35 is sometimes cited as having participated in the Winter War against Finland, but according to Soviet sources it did not. In fact, (in addition to the T-28's deployed) two other prototypes of multi-turreted heavy tanks had been sent to the front for testing: the T-100 and SMK.
Single turret KV-1s also took part in the same test at the Battle of Summa.
The SMK tank was disabled by a Finnish land mine and all attempts to recover the 55-ton behemoth failed.
Finnish photographs of the previously unknown tank were mistakenly designated "T-35C" by German intelligence.
Only one T-35 tank survives today, and is preserved in running condition at the Patriot Park near Moscow. It was one of four T-35 machines that were used at training facilities located at the Soviet rear lines. The Kubinka collection also includes a prototype SU-14, a self-propelled gun based on the T-35 chassis.
In January 2016, the Russian metallurgical company: Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) announced the re-creation of a complete replica T-35 tank using historical Soviet plans. The tank is to be placed in the Museum of Military Equipment of the UMMC.
The Kit:
This is a great kit, with very good detailing and clear, easy to follow assembly instructions.
I didn't encounter any numbering discrepancies during construction either.
The kit gives you the choice of several circular aerials to attach to the turret but doesn't indicate what the difference is between the two. (I presume they represent different radio transmitter/receiver sets installed etc) The only visual difference I could see is that one has 8 attachment brackets (to the main turret) and the other has just 6.
The kit also offers a reasonable amount of photo etch detailing, as well as clear parts for the headlights and twisted wire for the tow cables.
I'm not a huge fan of photo etch and wire cables as I personally struggle with it due to poor eyesight and dexterity, but I don't see that as a valid reason to bag the kit itself... but in saying that, it would have been nice to have the option to use molded plastic parts instead, and in some instances would have been a far better alternative, especially in regards to the L shaped brackets that attach from the top of the sponsons to the vertical side armour.
The decals in the kit were very thin and laid down nicely without any silvering, but care needs to be taken when positioning them over the raised bolt detailing as they have a tendency to catch on, and tear very easily. A liberal application of decal setting solution (or water) will help prevent this.
The Friulmodel track links I used to replace the plastic link and length tracks in the kit were fantastic and fit perfectly around the teeth of the rear drive wheels, but were a tight fit where the individual guide horns slipped down between the upper roller wheels, and especially so after painting. It may pay to file the inside edges between the two wheels of each set of upper rollers to allow for a little more "wiggle" room.
All up, a great looking kit and definitely recommended.
Youtube Video
Completed 12th May 2023
