…armour kit in 25 plus years since I built the Monogram Patton tank.
Zvezda 1/35 scale T-34/76 Medium Tank 1942
http://www.megahobby.com/t-3476mediumtank19421/35zvezda.aspx
OR
Tamiya 1/35 scale T-34/76 Medium Tank 1942
http://www.megahobby.com/russiant3476tank1942135tamiya.aspx
Undecided on which brand to get though. [^o)]
!http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/smileys/fainting-smiley.gif?129286759Zvezda (as rare birds go) can be unpredictable… or so I’ve heard.
The main gun on my Eastern-Express BT7 was more like a blob than a barrel. Wound up making my own and (if you don’t mind fixing a kit before you build it) overall it turned out just as good as the $50 plus Tamiya BT7 kit.The EE kit was ok other than that… but you just never know.
A lot of these kits are reboxes of other (and older) kits.
So - since you have the choice, you might want to do that T34 right the first time… it’s less frustrating when you can concentrate on building it instead of dealing with correcting issues of manufacture.
Personally (if you have the bling) I would recommend theTamiya 1/35 scale T-34/76 Medium Tank 1942…
Otherwise you could take your chances with the Zvezda kit.
.
The Zvezda T-34s are not bad at all. I have built a few of them, their worst feature being the tracks, which are very stiff vinyl and best replaced. The Tamiya kit is quite nice for its age and comes with a good amount of spare parts and optional features. I have built a few of them as well. If you dont care which version of T-34 you build either will do. But each has its’ own advantages in it’s favor for particular variants.
The Zvezda T-34/76 is by far a more accurate kit than the Tamiya T-34/76. Tamiya had to develop their kit to accept their motorized gearbox and batteries. Some details had to be beefed up to survive being handled when the hull was opened to change batteries.
Having said that, the Zvezda kit is not as well engineered as the Tamiya kit. The Tamiya kit goes together easily without fit problems. As Stik says, the stiff Zvezda 2-piece vinyl tracks are not ideal; T-34 tracks have a pronounced sag to them; hard to do with stiff vinyl.
If it was my hard earned money, I’d search for one of the numerous Dragon T-34/76 kits out there. I own just about every one, half of them are built. A cursory search on eBay turned up quite a number of them under $20.
AFV Club makes a nice one too; I just got the clear one with interior a while back.
If you search eBay and see the Italeri kit, in 1/35 it is the Zvezda kit and in 1/72 it is the old Esci kit. The Eastern Express/Maquette kits are quite rough/primitive/flash filled, but otherwise accurate.
My apologies if my advice is unwanted and considered rivet counting. I will delete it if anyone finds it offensive and feels it belongs in the trash. In order to appeal to the wide variety of modelers, I will just tell you to buy the one you want and build it out of box and have fun.
This guy on M-L has both the Tamiya and Dragon T-34 kits for sale. It would never hurt to make him an offer less than what you’d pay at the online shop. He might accept it and you save some money.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47214/thread/1406260937/FS-+1-35+Armor+%2B+accessories
Rob - no need to apologize. This is want I want to hear - opinions of Zvedza kits since I never done one of that brand considering they’re Russian brand kits. I will definitely check out the link you provided.
I don’t know about accuracy,but the Dragon T-34’s build up great,not as complicated as some Dragon stuff,and the Indy Magic Tracks are real easy on a a T-34
!http://www.thestylemachine.com/smileys/ok.gifAdvice from Rob is always a benefit here.
Sorry, but I was mistakenly under the impression that you wanted to choose specifically between the Zvezda or the Tamiya kit.
Now that I see you are open to other suggestions…
!http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/yes/ok-hand-smiley-emoticon.gifI totally agree with the Dragon solution.
Zvezda is mainly a reboxing model company, but they do have a selection of their own original model kits, mostly Soviet WW2 stuff. I know their T-60 was a terrible model, mine came with an actual Soviet Guards insignia cap device. Their T-34 and IS-2 Stalin are original as is their T-26 Soviet light tank. Their T-90 MBT is one of their latest original kits. I believe they also have a handful of Soviet WW2 towed artillery pieces.
A lot of their kits turn up in Italeri boxes and vice versa because of some sort of cooperation/distribution agreement. Other than the T-90, if you see a Zvezda modern Soviet armor kit, it is a reboxed Dragon/DML kit from the late 80s-early 90s. Same with their WW2 German armor, most of it is older Dragon/DML armor that Dragon has replaced with newer tooled kits and sold off the molds. Zvezda often replaces difficult Dragon individual link and link & length tracks with stiff silver 2-piece vinyl tracks.
Basically if you can’t find a review of a Zvezda kit, look for a review of a similar Italeri or Dragon kit.
As far as my apology, the last time I gave my honest, personal opinion of a kit, someone told the original poster to ignore my advice, insulted me and then gave the exact same advice I gave. So I will attach the disclaimer so you or anyone else can chose to ignore my advice.
The only unedited advice I will give in this forum is to buy it, build it out of box and have fun.
