Trevor Aldred's models

Trevor Aldred has ransacked his collection of T-34 MBTs and derivatives and produced this photo spread

The photograph shows a model of the T-34/122 of the Egyptian army, made more of less out of the box from the Maquette kit. I added their engine and transmission set, so that I could position the engine grill open. I also used one of the PE sets to add a bit of extra detail - which was nice for doing the engine grills, and the fuel drum retaining straps, when the fuel cell itself has gone. The smoke canisters came from the spares box. The track is also Maquette - I was running a bit low on track, so there isn't much track sag!

This photograph shows my model of a T-34/100 also of the Egyptian army. I made this by reference to an excellent article by Peter Rasmussen, which appeared in Fine Scale Modeler magazine (December 2000). I combined a Zvezda T-34-85 kit with an ICM Soviet 100mm anti-tank gun kit, and built the turret from scratch. I chose this kit because it has the flat disc wheels I wanted, the right turret, and the smoke canisters. I replaced the poor kit tracks with Maquette items. Peter's article provides some indispensable templates for the necessary turret pieces - but it was still a pig to make!

A Syrian T-34/122. I wasn't impressed with Maquette kit of the Egyptian version, so I tried to have a go at a limited scratch build for this one, rather than buy the Maquette one. The hull I think is a Tamiya item - which has the flat disc wheels, with a Tank Workshop driver's interior added. Skif produce a kit of the D-30 122 mm artillery piece that can be used to construct the main armament of the vehicle. The special ammo boxes on the hull side, the turret ring shield and the gun mounting shelf will need to be scratch built - but this isn't too difficult, especially if you go for the configuration depicted by Maquette. I'm particularly pleased with the scratch-built engine grill cover - which took a lot of faffing about to get right. The muzzle baffle also needed to be changed, as the gun kit comes with the later version, and not the early perforated type. However, it's possible to buy the perforated muzzle brake from Accurate Armour for a fairly modes t price - I paid £2.50 for mine, plus P&P. Again the track is by Maquette.

The next three photographs show my 'fleet' of Egyptian T-34-85. I built these to show the wide ranging appearance of T-34-85's utilised by the Egyptians - mostly late models, but with almost any wheel type you'd care to mention, and in a whole range of camo schemes. They are made from a number of T-34 kits. I think the first one (plain sand) is made from a Tamiya kit (the one with the flat disc wheels) and a replacement resin turret. I used the kit tracks, but might get around to changing them when I get a minute. I don't like the kit tow cables either, and may replace them too. The Czechoslovakian hull fittings are scratch built. I cheated and didn't fit the scalloped exhaust shields.

The second one (sand with dark green stripes) is a Zvezda item, but with replacement starfish wheels from a T-55 kit (not 100% accurate but near enough for me). The stowage boxes on the hull sides, and extra long exhausts are all scratch built. I think I actually used the kit tracks for this kit. A big mistake! - They are really bad and desperately need to be changed - even the Tamiya tracks would be a big improvement. The markings are hand made from bits in the spares box.
The third item, (sand with grey/brown stripes), with the spider web wheels and indy link track, is built from the Dragon kit - and what a really great kit it is! - Probably the best kit on the market in my opinion. The only thing I added was the Maquette engine/transmission set.

pic 7

This photograph shows my T-34 Flak 38. A conversion that I carried out in a similar way to the German army. I used a standard 34 kit - I think it was a Tamiya - and the Flak 38, also by Tamiya. I replaced the tracks with the Maquette one, and scratch built the turret and other details. These parts were based on scaling up the Military Wheels 1/72 scale kit of this particular vehicle, which provided some useful guidance, but which is not a great kit - apart from the Eastern Express hull provided within the MW box.

This image shows a model of a T-34-85 in Syrian service. (It's going to go with my Hummel, Panzer 4, Jagdpanzer 4 and StuG 3 - also in Syrian service). It's built more or less out of the box from the Maquette T-34-85 kit, but with a scratch built mount for the AA gun, made from bent wire.

I think I might have used the hull from a Tamiya kit, so that I could use the flat disc wheels. The model is waiting to be finished with its bits and bobs of stowage, following by a good weathering. The markings were taken from a Dragon kit, (I think the Jagdpanzer). They went on pretty well, but they're large decals, and there's a lot of decal film that may need a bit more work to remove the shine that its left on the model.