Trumpeter

Kit Number 0904

1/16 T34/85

First Look by Jack Bruno, #25313

MSRP: $167.95 USD

In January of 1944 the German Army was hit with wave after wave of a new breed of T-34 Tank from the Soviet Arsenal. The new T-34/85, with the powerful Zis S-53 85 mm gun, met the German spear point head on with fire power enough to destroy the dreaded Tiger and Panther tanks that opposed them and the motherland. It could penetrate armor of 4 inches from 3,280 ft. Over 11,000 T-34/85 tanks were produced that year and drove the invader from the steppes of Russia. An interesting note is that this tank’s design was kept in service, well into the 1980s, by some third world nations.

Holy Cow, what did I get myself into? About 20 years ago I purchased the old Bandai Tiger II and Panther G tanks in 1/24 scale. They were monsters but detailed pretty well. These new offerings in 1/16 scale from Trumpeter are outstanding in every way thus far. As you can see from the size of the box, compared to my 5 year old son, Mike (Ugly Mike to those that know the story) the kit is huge and features a complete interior with link to link tracks, photo-etching and a nice, easy to read instructional booklet.

This version of the T-34/85 represents the vehicle that was produced by Factory (Zavod) #174 during 1944. It featured, among other things, the angle jointed turret and early split-style commanders hatch.

The box art is magnificent depicting a river crossing with infantry in tow. The box top is also a great help in future painting!

The hull, turret, tracks, and wheels are all in their own separate box. There are another ten full trees (some doubles) in shrink wrap just waiting to get unleashed. I'm very impressed with the packaging, artwork and instruction. Now to get started...

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