Home > Reviews > Russia WWII > Royal Model No. 368, Soviet T-34/76 Mod. 1940 in 1/35-scale photo-etched brass

 


Royal Model No. 368, Soviet T-34/76 Mod. 1940 in 1/35-scale photo-etched brass

by Frank De Sisto

Contains three frets and instruction leaflet in four steps. Price: $38.00 USD, plus shipping.

This is a rather complete set for the recent DML kit of the T-34 Model 1940 and could also be easily used with the later Model 1941 kit.

Fret “A” contains full front, side and rear fender/mud guard assemblies, replacing those in the DML kit. It also includes shovel head, completely new storage boxes with separate lids and handles, as well as hinge and lock details. There are grills supplied for the upper deck, left and right sides of the engine compartment and the screens for the main engine deck air exhaust hatch. Several smaller detail parts such as periscope covers, headlamp mounts and panoramic sight covers for the turret hatch complete this fret.

Fret “B” contains 12 ice cleats and all of the smaller hooks and cleats used to hold various items of stowage to the fenders and hull sides. There are also several triangular plates used on the interior parts seen below the various intake and exhaust grills. Other parts help detail the fenders.

Fret “C” contains many of the small straps and hinges used on various parts of the vehicle, as well as the frames for the engine exhaust hatch screens. It also contains the movable louvers seen not only below the exhaust screens, but those seen below the intake grills as well. This is the first time I have seen this particular detail attended to in an after-market etch set.

The quality of the etched brass (which is plated) is excellent. There are bend lines where appropriate and there are also several places where the parts are designed to be burnished from behind, to represent reinforcing ribs. Unfortunately, this last step is never called out in the instructions, so the modeler really must know what he is about when tackling this set. The instructions are rather crammed with information and would be easier to follow if they were broken down into a few more discreet steps. However, a careful modeler should be able to get through. A novice may easily go astray. Also, due to the length of the fender parts (nearly 5.5-inches) a purpose-designed photo-etch bending tool is strongly recommended to ease the process and avoid unsightly kinks in the parts.

Altogether, this is a well designed and thought out set and should provide everything a modeler would wish to add to the already outstanding DML kit.

Recommended.

As well as manufacturing their own line of resin kits and conversion sets, Chesapeake Model Designs (CMD) is the US Importer and distributor of Royal Model products, and will ship worldwide. For more information see their web site at: www.chesapeakemodels.com. Phone/fax number is: 410-357-5496, email: bill@chesapeakemodels.com.