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Russian Armor: A brief overview

When Germany first invaded Russia in 1941 most of the Soviet armor was able to handle the German threat. The problem was that the Soviets had a very poorly organized armored division. The mainstay of the force consisted of the T-34/76 battle tank. It was a very good design with an awesome combination of firepower, protection and mobility. Its 76mm gun was able to defeat most German armor and its armor could hold its own against the German guns well.

Keeping with the Russians view of using cavalry in battle came the designs for light tanks, such as the T70. As the war raged on, the Germans came up with better armor and better guns. The T34/76 could no longer outclass German tanks such as the Tiger I or Panther. These tanks had almost impenetrable armor and guns that could take out the T34 at over 2000 meters. So the next step for the Russians was to upgrade to the 85mm gun.

The Russians also kept ahead of the Germans in mobility. Their combination of armor, firepower and mobility went unmatched throughout the war. This kept them in competition with the Germans and allowed them penetrations of the Tiger and Panther series of tanks. These tanks were some of the most maneuverable, best armed, and best armored of the time and served well in the post war battlefield.

David Clarke's Method (T34/85)

Clarke said he used Woodland Scenic mesh " Thinned slightly for a flimsier appearance" He also said that the dented look came by accident "while handling the model during painting and detailing, my fingers pushed the mesh into a distressed appearance".

After assembly was completed he sprayed the model with a Russian dark armor green, and then used a lighter shade of the green to over spray and pick up that highlighted look. He then applied a dry transfer for the numbers, which have developed on cracked look. Next came dry brushing with a yet lighter shade of green causing the rough, cast texture of the armor plate to really stick out. After this, a rusty brown color was used to add rust stains to the ends of the grab irons and the plugs on the turret. This was done by "dry brushing a rusty color using downward motions at most of the weld points and plugs in the turret". Dry Brushing is done by taking a paint brush full of paint and knocking most of it off onto a paper towel, piece of cardboard, or even your hand, until it just deposits on the high spots when you run your brush over the area to be dry brushed. This method is excellent for adding rust stains and bringing out detail on the surface of the model.

Clarke also had an interesting method for applying mud to the undercarriage and the spare track links. He claims that "pastels that are ground up and then mixed with Tamiya thinner make great looking mud once slopped on and allowed to dry. On to the tracks.

He decided to replace the kit link by link non-working track with ModelKasten working track. "The detail in the tracks is unmatched and it adds something special to the model," he added. The track is put together link by link, taking a single-track link and pinning them together with another link using small plastic pins provided in the track set. When finished the track links move like the real track, therefore giving your model tracks that behave like the real thing. The links themselves are very highly detailed, one of the best moldings I have seen from an injection molding machine. "I love the look of the ModelKasten track but I'm a little upset that it tends to come apart so easily," continued Clarke.

It is fair to mention that the pins provided with the set are sometimes not long enough to make a strong joint. Hence if they are pulled they come apart quite easily. To counter this problem I find that using fine gauge brass wire makes an excellent pin. I find that .015 is a good gauge, but depending on the track you may need to go bigger or smaller depending on the type of track. Just jam the wire in as far as it will go, clip off the excess, apply a small drop of super glue and then your ready to move on to the next link. They are a great way to give your next model an extra "spark".

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