Introduction..

At the danger of sounding positively 'evangelical' over braille-scale, for me at least, it is something of a return to my modelling 'roots'. Beginning as many of us did with the old 1/76th Armor 1/76th kits in the 1960s, the current crop of 1/72nd scale kits has as much in common with those as a dumptruck to a Lamborghini...

First impressions.

DRA7259 - T-34/76 Mod 1941 is a 1/72nd scale model of one of the most popular armor subjects. Consisting of 80 light-grey plastic parts, a length of (metal) cable, a diminutive PE screen for the engine grille and a pair of 'Dragon Styrene tracks, the first impression is good. Little flash is apparent in most of the parts, with the little there is, simply cleaned off with a sharp X-Acto blade. The amount of detail apparent in areas such as the road-wheels, the upper hull and (in particular) the gun-barrel, is impressive, with DML having used slide-moulding to good effect...

The build...

Suspension

The lower hull is a one-piece moulding with lower detail included. The wheels are frankly impressive although a 'purist' might wish to drill out the holes on them...
The suspension went together in minutes with the minimum of fuss or even cleaning up...

Tracks

The tracks are the 'rubber-band' type, moulded in 'Dragon-Styrene', this is a mixture of styrene and vinyl which will attach with normal cement. However, I used superglue, gluing down the track in sectionsto get the 'sag' I wanted. I also cut off the end piece and glued the track 'end to end'. Not the best part of the kit by any manner of means...

Hull

One of the nicest aspects to the hull is the PE engine grille. This fits perfectly onto the rear engine hatch.and the finished cover fits neatly onto the hull. Some nice hinge detail is present. A 'solid' plastic alternative is priovided (see photo).

All the essential details are present on the hull, spare track links, stowage boxes, and, as is customary, a METAL tow-cable which is as good as some of the AM ones...

There IS a rather annoying space between the front glacis plate and the hull which does require some careful application of filler as do the front idler sponsons. The deatils such as light etc. are very nicely executed although the 'carpet-monster' will devour many of these without considerable care...

Turret

The turret is superbly detailed with a partial interior and a wonderfully detailed gun-breech and recoil mechanism. The mantlet is well executted also giving a good representation of the original. The barrel (as we have come to expect) uses slide-moulding to acheive an 'open' muzzle to good effect.

The negative side of this are the two rather 'obvious' lugs which fit into the fromt of the turret - these require covering with putty and smoothing over as they are somewhat inaccurate... The construction of the turret does require some careful work, as it is not quite as 'Shake ' bake' as the rest of the kit... Some subtle 'texturing' would not be out of place as the turret is a little too smooth to be entirely convincing.

Decals The decals are superb and come close to the quality one would expect from the 'better' AM companies. Three basic decal options are given:

Eastern Fron (Unspecified Unit) 1942

1st Guards Tank Brigade, Moscow 1942

130th Tank Brigade, 21st Tank Corps, Southern Front 1942

In addition, a number of additional decals are provided for some fairly (extravagant?) patriotic slogans along with 4 regimental symbols....

conclusions

This is an excellent and faithful reproduction of an interesting subject. However, I would mention the following areas... DML are doing a superb job with giving us a superb range of T34s. That said, some of the areas in construction, whilst superbly detailed, do seem a touch 'over-engineered' I'm not sure that a one-piece moulding wouldn't have been sufficient for the rear exhausts/covers - slide moulded exhaust tubes are also present..
I don't particularly like the tracks, which though well-moulded are a touch 'fiddly' to fit. The fit of the turret is not the most brilliant either. None of these problems are insurmountable although waht does become clear, is that the (relatively) few parts conceals a sophistication which is frankly impressive. Certain areas goe together quickly, other areas such as the turret and the hull details will require a modicum of patience, dry fitting and (occasionally) some filling. Incredibly sophisticated, which indicates that the producers are taking 1/72nd scale every bit as seriously as 1/35th...

VERY Highly Recommended

My thanks to Dragon Models Limited for the review sample...