Tanks Tanks and more Tanks

Over the years I have amassed a large collection of 1/35 Russian tanks. Most of my German tanks are mid to late war (at least the ones I have in my shop to photograph). All of these models are from shelves in my store, quickly photographed this morning... so please excuse some dust... Most of the kits are OOTB unless noted.

Heller's old French Hotchkiss H-39 built in the 1980s and converted to a German version with a cut down commander's cupola dome and added hatches. Captured tanks were used quite often in the East not so much for front line fighting but for police duties, fighting partisans, etc.



This tiny tank is a crude model of the T-40 amphibious tank by Fort, a Russian outfit. The weathering was done with Mig pigments, both applied as a powder and also mixed with Testors Clear Flat Lacquer and airbrushed.



Zvezda does a reasonable T-26B although the rubber tracks are 1" too short, so this one is fitted with RPM/Mirage indi links. Markings are for the Kiev military district war games.




RPM/Mirage's poor T-26 remanufactured tank. It is supposed to represent a T-26B with the more modern sloped turret... The model is basically a cosmetic conversion of a Polish 7TP... lots of hacking, sawing, cutting, sanding and scratch building.



BT-5 Fast Tank by Zvezda. Not a "bad" kit but a bit clunky. The engine deck covering was all scratch built from plastic and nylon screen. The kit part looks like a loaf of bread... Russian roof top aerial recognition symbols are complicated and their meanings are not known today. They vary in shape, color, etc. This tank may have had a pink or yellow circle in the white triangle.





Skoda 35(t) by CMK. I think this was CMK's first real plastic kit of any quality. Its simple and all the small details like mud flaps, wire along hull side, marker lights, fuel can holder etc were scratch built.



Trumpeter's enormous Sturer Emil 12.8cm self propelled carriage. The Germans only made two of these beasts and one was lost in combat and the second was captured intact at Stalingrad and is on display today in the Moscow Kubinka Museum. Trumpeter's kit is a copy of an older resin kit but is quite nice.



Tamiya's Tiger I early version. The Tiger made its combat debut near Leningrad early in the War agianst Russia.



Fort Models Russian ZIS-42 half-truck. A very crude but interesting kit. The model also includes skis you can fit under the front tires for a winter version. Even the canvas cover has some animation in the sculpting, but the fit and molding of the kit is awful...



The Russian T-28 medium tank was used against Finland and Russia. This is AER's crappy kit. Tracks are pieced together from several Italeri Panzer IV kits as the kit links are repulsive.



ICM's T-35 is a much nicer if less detailed model. It has a rudimentary interior and engine if you care to open the hatches. Lots of individual track links here... The T-35 was well photographed during the Blitzkrieg and at least one was taken to Germany for evaluation, but none were actually used in Combat. They were all destroyed by dive bombers, artillery, or just abandoned by their crews.



Tamiya's old KV-2 152mm self propelled howitzer. Not the best kit by modern standards (Trumpeter's is vastly better) but it makes up quickly. The fender supports were replaced with plastic, a new headlight was added from MV Products, and some spare Dragon Stalin tank tracks were added. Tamiya's tracks are worthless and the Stalin tracks, while not identical, are a huge improvement. The base painting was done with Tamiya spray cans.