T34 engine trouble #6

All that glitters is not gold

After a long summer break, I was anxious to get back to the T34. I usually try to attach as much as possible before painting, so it was time to break out the photo-etch.

The two sets used in this project are both from “Part”. I picked up both sets cheaply in a sale, but as neither was intended for the Italeri/Zvezda kit, some planning is needed. Set P35008 is a general detail set with grills, designed for Tamiya´s T-34, SU-85 or SU-122. Set P35087 was intended for Dragon models and included fenders, fender storage boxes and another grill for the back hatch.

The hull side and top grills have 3 pieces to make up each individual grill assembly, and are placed on top of one another to give a proper thickness effect. Great care is needed while handling and soldering the 3 pieces together, as they are literally paper thin. I used gator glue to attach the photo-etch to the kit for the first time, and thought it was excellent. It appears to be a fast drying “white glue” and because it is acrylic based, a wet cotton top can wipe away and excess. It also allows you that few extra valuable seconds to adjust placement, if needed.

What took the most time at this stage was scribing out the moulded grills. The plastic here was quite thick in places, which didn’t make life any easier. It was also clear at this stage, why one should not buy the etch intended for each particular kit. The grills were too small for the cut out holes. I glued some thin plastic strip along the inner edges, and putty in the corners to round them. I sanded this down and then painted over it with Mr. Surfacer 500, to ensure a neat fit. Lots of dry fitting was needed to ensure a good fit, but I didn’t go overboard either as the fit of the grills in reference images doesn’t look perfect either.