Soviet Bridge Launchers

More Soviet WWII tank collection photos.

I did a massive upgrade on my T34/76 Roco tanks.

I cast replacement hatches, and roadwheels, and bow machine guns.

Many were missing parts or had droopy cannons, and upside down cannons!

I also made a few more bridge launchers.

I made a simple bridge and added supports to the top of the vehicles, and a life ring on this platoon.

Russian JS II Tanks

The previous tanks stored away in their box.

More Soviet WWII tanks.

This time a mixture of types.

They include M4A2 diesel engine Sherman tanks.

And a few Lend Lease White Scout Cars.

Polish Red Army JS-II and T-34/76 tanks.

AVLB & ARV

These Roco T34 have had their turrets removed and replaced by the hatch from a Roco M106 mortar carrier.  It makes a Soviet recovery tank.  I added a few detail bits like some resin cast road wheels.

Large Soviet units often had these tow truck tanks to help them get tanks that were damaged or stuck in the mud.

Mir used to make a T54 with bridge launcher.  I back-dated it with a Roco T34 as the bases.

Unit mobility requires both recovery vehicles and bridge launchers.

Roco T34 Tanks

The Soviet Collection has been getting a lot of work this past year.

The BT-7 tanks have had the flash cut off, and they have been primer painted.

The Roco T-34/76 tanks have been repaired, and painted.

About 200 of them are done.  And a few bridge launchers, and the T-44 tanks also.

Still more work to do yet as well.

T44 Soviet Tank

This is the ancient Roco T-44.  It often was sold with the Roco T54 turret and T44 turret together.

 The standard hull is the post-WWII version.  Mostly the fenders and fuel tanks need to be modified.

So I dragged a few out of storage and using a razer saw buzzed down the fenders.

 Since during the Great Patriotic War the Soviet Union usually organized tanks in companies of ten, I got ten of them ready for modification.

 Evergreen plastic sheet and angle pieces cover the sawn away areas.  I used some JS-II parts from Paul Heiser Models to make the tank tracks and fuel tanks.

A brush bristle and a small resin tarp go on the turret as seemed typical for the wartime T44 tanks.  They had various mechanical problems that were never really solved although they were sent to training units in September 1944, they never served in combat and even postwar they were limited production.  Still, had the Soviets suffered reverses, fixed the problems or got an order from Stalin the could have been used in combat well before the end of the war.

T-34 Tank Repair

My T-34 collection has vehicles in it that are as much as 50 years old.  Some are in poor condition.

Some I got new, and some I got used.  Many are missing the bow MG, a missing turret hatch, and other problems.  I found one with M110 howitzer tracks, half a dozen had wooden hatches.

I replaced the wooden and missing hatches with new ones made out of styrene plastic.

I repaired broken bow machine guns with wire and replaced missing machine guns with resin casts ones that I made.

The whole Russian collection needed work, and I am getting it done.