Welcome to part 2 of Building Italeri’s Battle of Berlin Set. The first models that I build and painting from the battle set are the Russian T-34/85 tanks. The set came with two ‘fast assembly’ T-34/85 tanks, which are also sold in a two tank set. The ‘fast assembly’ T-34/85 tank kits have 14 parts and are designed for those who want to have a good size tank force ready for the tabletop with the minimal amount of prep work. The ‘fast assembly’ build is ideal for someone like myself, who prefers painting models over building model kits.
Italeri ‘Fast Assembly’ T34/85 sprue: side 1
Italeri ‘Fast Assembly’ T34/85 sprue: side 2
Unfortunately, with the ‘fast assembly’ kit, optional components were not included on the sprue to customize the tanks. However, the T34/85s came with a decal sheet, which provides a way to give each tank an unique look (alternately, you could paint ‘winter whitewashing’ on one of the tanks, as seen on the photo from the T34/85 box). I decided to paint my T-34/85 with the standard Russian factory green and apply decals to differentiate the two tanks.
T34/85 Tank (1): front
T34/85 Tank (1): back
T34/85 Tank (2): front
T34/85 Tank (2): back
The T-34 is the most mass produced tank during World War 2, with some 84,070 T-34s produced. The T-34/85 is distinguished from the original T-34/76, with a larger turret and a more power gun (the T-34/85 is armed with a 85mm ZiS-S-53 gun, whereas the T-34/76 is armed with a 76.2mm gun). Moreover, the larger turret in the T-34/85 allows the tank to have a crew of 5; the T34/76, in contrast, has a crew of 4, whereby the tank commander also serves as the gunner. 48,950 T-34/85 variants were produced.
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