PSC T34-76 and T34-85 options

When in doubt with what to do with your time, simple male a fast build T34/76 (or T34/85) from the Plastic Soldier Company WWII 20mm Soviet range (see below, just a little pottering and you can have this little beauty): 

Sharing the common body the T34/85 turret (see below, very nice when you get two models for the price of one - mid to late war Soviet tanks sorted): 

All I really have to decide is what paint scheme to choose ;) 

More 15mm Russians - PSC T34/76 and T34/85

The last "batch" of Russian vehicles were put together,the ubiquitous T34/76 (and T34/85 option). Something to stir fear and dread into any German Tanker or Landser (see below):

These 15mm kits go together so sweetly (and quickly) I am starting to curse my 20mm myopia for the last twenty years (see below):

It remains to be seen how quickly I can paint them. Given the option between Zvezda and PSC, I would say quality (detail) wise Zvezda has the drop on PSC but PSC has more durable 'harder' plastic. Zvezda "snap together" very sweetly, no glue strictly needed although I use liquid poly for "insurance purposes".

The "Tank" that scared me as a kid: T34 (Airfix classic 1/72 T34/76 and T34/85)

The assault on the unmade kit boxes continues. From "box 3" I present an Airfix T34 tank:

As a kid I didn't get my hands on one of these until my mid-teens. For some reason they never seemed to be in my model shop or I was plain unlucky and always last in the queue. 

For a mold that dates back to 1968 it is not bad at all, in fact very good. In fact the 85mm gun version (see below) is IMHO nicely to scale and is my 'preferred' model. 

So yes as a little 'present' to myself I got one, just for old times sake ;)

The best thing about the Airfix kit was that you got two tanks in one, the early war 76mm version to terrorize the Barbarossa Germans (see below):

Why did it scare me? Well it was because of a certain war comic called "Battle" that had an eastern front strip about a German tank commander. 

The Germans always got beaten up by the T34's with their low velocity PzIV 75mm's (aka my Airfix Pz IV's would be no natch for it). The German tanks were always getting stuck in the snow and became sitting ducks to Ivan.

The T34 was also far better than anything the western allies had at the time too and it seemed just "too good".  It didn't seem fair as they had hoards of them running over poor hapless German infantry. 

The only thing that could stop them was a German 88mm gun (aka from the classic Airfix flak kit) but unless it was in a Tiger it wasn't going to last long

Plastic Soldier Company: T34 Boxed Set

The good thing about the model tank sets you get from PSC is that they always give you three of the best, in this case a T-34 76mm (1943) ready to fight the fascists (see below):

But in a blink of an eye they can turn into a T34 85mm (1944) which is a "Panzer IV's" nightmare to face (see below):

Nice to see they have remembered the Airfix "two for the price of one deal" (one early/mid and one late war) that was so beloved of little boys like me everywhere ;)

Plastic Soldier Company T34/85 and T34/76 (1943)

Cue "Great Patriotic War Music"  as the T34/85 rill onto centre-stage (see below):

The robust "Panzer Killer" with pointing tank commander (see below)

And slightly over sized barrel? (see below):

Fully "accessorised" with stowage and fuel tanks (see below):

A nice feature being the interchangeable 85mm and 76mm turrets akin to the old Airfix model, which effectively gives you two models for the price of one (see below):  

Like the real T34 the utilitarian design adopted by the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) of just a few parts makes a quick build that pays tribute to this little war winner. A recommended purchase, three for the price of one with other manufacturers offering many more parts but no discernible improvement in details. I need to get cracking    

ArmourFast T34-85

Will this show of raw naked plastic ever end? Perhaps not, this time it was two banged together T34-85's from ArmourFast.

The T34-85 in its late-war guise needs numbers to intimidate. The ArmourFast boxes help by giving you two at a time, costing out in bulk the cheapest but as good as my Fujimi and old Airfix versions. It is a useful tank to have as its active life-span stretches well into the latter part of the twentieth century.

These I think are simply destined to become part of the late-war Red Army. 

 https://www.onthewaymodels.com/reviews/Armourfast/Armourfast_T3485.htm

In summary an easy build that I enjoyed doing :)