1/16 T34/85 build ,or Oh my god what was I thinking - Finished

[Darius359au]

Tax refund ,early birthday present for myself is the most insane model I've ever built - suckers going to be over 50cm long when it's finished

big box


big box in the big box


youngest son deciding he wanted to keep the big box to sit around in...


what's in the box






some size comparisons to get an idea of the size of this thing
hull of a 1/35 M4 sherman my eldest son's building inside the 1/16 hull of the T34/85


Turret next to a 1/35 Tiger


enough of a photo dump for now and actual build shots next

[Yurtles]

I thought I knew that it was kind of big. But it turns out I had no idea at all.

[Darius359au]

I thought I knew that it was kind of big. But it turns out I had no idea at all.

Yeah ,had the same thing then I opened the box.....

[Otto-matic Reiffel]

That looks like it's going to be highly entertaining to watch you build

[Disco]

Holy hell, make sure to post lost of pictures of this build

[Darius359au]

And we're off

1st up spring units for the working Christie suspension


started fitting them in place


quick test fit with the upper hull and suspension in place


suspension arms for the road wheels fitted into the hull and springs

[Disco]

It's gigantic I'd love to build some models.. it just seems so pointless unless you buy an airbrush and compressor though and I don't know if I could justify that

[Otto-matic Reiffel]

You can do a reasonable job with paintbrushes. Also a lot of hobby stores have spray cans of the appropriate colours which are fine unless you want a complicated camo pattern.

[Makena]

That's huge and awesome, I look forward to seeing the complete thing

[Darius359au]

@Disco as @otto-matic reiffel says you can do a good job with brushes and there's additives like levelers that help in hiding brush strokes , also most modern paints especially the Tamiya acrylics are pretty forgiving!
If you want to try modelling maybe pick up a 1/72 scale kit , easier to build than larger scales ,(and cheaper so if something goes wrong it's not a ton of money down the drain ), and paintings not so critical ,though the weathering techniques are basically the same no matter the scale.

This guys a good one to checkout , he's great at explaining how to do things in building and painting/weathering
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChnAge ... ftbfJY8zNA

[Darius359au]

And now the fun part starts with the engine..

pretty simple ,1 cylinder bank for the V12 engine done


Now there's a small problem..the fuel pump sits on top of the crankcase and the fuel line's from the pump to the injectors need to be added..this involves a number of small holes , a pin vice and a bunch of swearing followed by some brass wire,(the caliper's showing the drill size )


holes for the injectors in the rocker covers




end result


finished and painted (the round thing in the middle of the engine that looks like its a circle of bolts on it is a compressed air manifold for the cold weather starter ,there should be pipes coming from it to each of the cylinders but it wont be seen and I'm not that crazy to model those aswell as the fuel lines!)

couple in daylight

dings in the covers turned out well

[Mythor]

Wow, working suspension! That's a neat detail to include.
The engine looks super fiddly, but the end result seems worth it? Looking forward to seeing more progress pics.

[Disco]

This is sick

[Darius359au]

Todays instalment is something simple..Seats

Seat's came with no backs so a piece of styrene sheet and some acrylic putt fixed that



and finished painting the hull gunners seat (drivers the same except it doesn't have the compartment so the brake and accelerator rods can go under it) , combo of black and burnt sienna oil paint for a worn look - need to touch up and final weathering happens when i finish the crew compartment.

[Disco]

Nice

[Darius359au]

ok been a bit slack and haven't done much on my T34 but ive started back into it ,(I've gone and busted my left foot so i'm going to be spending more time working on my kit and going mad because I want to go and do shit )

Assembling the photoetch magazine pan storage for the bow gunner - top ,bottom ,sides and back are all on piece to be folded together and glued the the shelves are all individual.


painted and glued in place

I'm doing some base weathering as I go because of the size of the thing and difficulty getting to spots when things get set in place

bow gunner and drivers seats in place


overview front to rear


and for a bit of fun my eldest son is building a german 1/35 Sturmtiger which in real life was over twice the weight of the T34/85 (68 tonnes vs 26.5 )

[Disco]

Looks badass still

[Darius359au]

Finished up the drive train , just need to paint and weather the whole lot
gearbox/transmissions been painted aluminium , the rest needs to be done separately ,(you can get an idea of scale from the centimetre grid on the cutting mat )


Dry fitting it all in place - not a lot of room if you needed to do maintenance..


going to be starting on the turret soon so quick test fit on the hull and you can really see the size of this beasty , hull's around 39cm and the turret and gun will bring it out to around 50cm

[Disco]

Looking cool man, was that a Spyderco I saw in the first pic?

[Darius359au]

sort of , it's a byrd meadowlark 2 , their made by spyderco but a budget line - only real difference is the thumbhole shape , a slightly different steel and made in china,(spyderco does the quality control not the chinese factory) https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/category/byrd

[Darius359au]

bit of a photo dump , I'm calling the lower hull interior done

drivetrain all weathered up







whole hull


close up of the engine in place


fighting compartment looking back


transmission/gearbox looking forward


close up


figured I'll leave the rear plate unattached to show off the transmission steering brakes atleast but the rivet counter in me wont let me do that without adding the holes for the bolts that hold the plate in place - gotta make holes in the plate that only look like their all the way through and leaves the bolt heads on the other side so it looks bolted up with the plate closed

[Darius359au]

been awhile with any progress shots so it's photo dump time

The interiors fully finished and weathered up now
turret floor/ammo bins




attachment lip for the rear armours done ,just need to paint it up and fix it in


external fuel drums done and in place ,(one drums missing ,looks like it was pretty common to lose 1 or or more drums to be lost or damaged)


one home made power pole unditching log


and for some size comparison shot's of the P1000 Ratte Super Heavy I'm doing next

The JagdTiger is the same scale as the Ratte at 1/72

71ton JagdTiger fits easily on the engine deck of the Ratte


And compared to the 1/16 scale T34/85

[Disco]

Sweet Lord have mercy

[Darius359au]

Quick progress pic of both my 1/16 T34/85 and my 1/72 Ratte Landkruizer - got a little bit a a display space issue due to the size of both models
got a little more interior work on the t34's turret before i call that done then just painting and weathering and it's done! , the Landkruizer needs wheel units and tracks (6 runs of 176 each for workable tracks..) , secondary weapons finished then painting.


I'm thinking of going with the camouflage used on the Norwegian Skjold class corvette's for the Ratte , just change the gray for green and lighten the tan and red brown abit!
Skjold on patrol

[Darius359au]

Been awhile since I updated my T34 build ,didn't touch it for awhile but got off my butt and got motivated , officially I've finished the building phase,(other than adding some small parts that will get painted separately),next stage is painting and weathering
The Hull's been painted in the base russian green I'm using , just need to basecoat the turret then the fun bit starts with the weathering














oh and a quick Ratte shot , painted the hull and turret , started the camouflage on the hull and need to start the turret pattern,(fyi the masking for the hull camo took most of a day to do , still need to add the dunkelgelb stripes but the masking for that will be simple compared to the first lot )