Shenanigans 2: T-34 Bail Out

[Deleted member 6559]

Having been re-bitten with the armour bug, I've decided to have a go at something in 1/35.

I've had my eye on the Masterbox Bail Out set of figures ever since I first saw them a few years ago. They represent a Soviet tank crew escaping from their knocked out tank with one of them blazing back at the enemy with a PPsH. Dynamic poses and a lot of action.

To give them something to escape from I've ordered Tamiya's oldest T-34 kit (because it was the cheapest!). I know that there are going to be inaccuracies with such an old kit, but as long as it looks reasonably like a T-34 I don't mind - it's the scenario I'm interested in.

I'm not sure what, if any, obvious damage I'm going to inflict on the T-34. I was thinking of something as simple as a broken track, but with good old vinyl versions that may be difficult. Any suggestions?

 

[Deleted member 6559]

As the T-34 hasn't arrived yet (so much for next day delivery), I will make a start by building the figures. Instructions and sprue shot:

 

[JR]

Wow , Mr Day doing armour again .
Seat at the table please , this I can't miss .
T34 Russian Eastern Front , has every thing .
Suggestions .......... Apart from a track ripped off, saves the struggle with joining the dam things , you could have a hit to a drive sprocket, and a few hits to the tank body. I make mine with a hot soldering iron.
John

 

[Jakko]

PPsH

Nitpick: PPSh, for Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina, “Shpagin Machine Pistol”, or ППШ in Cyrillic (And thus, not “Pee Pee Ess Aich” but “Pee Pee Sha”.)

I'm not sure what, if any, obvious damage I'm going to inflict on the T-34. I was thinking of something as simple as a broken track, but with good old vinyl versions that may be difficult. Any suggestions?

A broken transmission would perhaps be most realistic (well, for earlier T-34s than this, anyway), but hard to show except as a maintenance scenario A broken track is easy and immediately obvious to anyone looking at the model. You could also go for a couple of holes in some obvious location on the tank. Here’s what it looked like on the turret of an earlier model of T-34, for example:

(Source)

Given how neat most of these holes are, this should be easy enough to replicate using a slightly undersize drill (for example: 75 mm is 2.1 mm in 1/35 scale, so using a drill just under 2 mm) and then roughing up the edges slightly with a knife. But it’s probably a good idea to try this out on a spare part first

 

[Durk]

Hi Peter, figures look good from the sprue pictures, nice folds and creases in the clothing. Would probably take me about half a year to complete, but expect you'll have assembly done and first paint on by this afternoon (joking only, take your time). Are you replacing heads with better resin examples?

DIRK

 

[Deleted member 6559]

John - Thought you'd like this. Broken tracks are probably the answer.

Jakko - Apologies re the machine gun - I'm not a Russian speaker obviously. As for the damage, many thanks for the suggestion and the photos. A couple of hits to the turret may be in order.

Dirk - Hi. The figures are OK, but tricky to put together and fit is an issue, as I've found before with MB kits. The faces are very good, so I will use them.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Just remember that if you have penetrative hits there probably wouldn’t be anyone alive to bail out....,
I would go with ditching or transmission damage for the scenario you are going with.....
Great idea by the way.....

 

[JR]

like it I love it

 

[Mr Bowcat]

For the cause of knocking out the tank, how about a landmine? Bit of a crater underneath a broken track/sprocket. Crew shaken, but alive.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Tim - Yes, I reckon the crew of the tank with the hits to the turret were probably killed - hot metal flying around and setting off the ammo etc etc.

John - It may all change....

Bob - Another good idea - I'll see what the kit allows.

In the meantime, the figures have been put together:



As mentioned above, the fit can be a bit iffy with these MB figures, and as you can see, I did need to use quite a bit of filler. The heads were tricky, as the helmets fitted around the faces in three parts. However, they look OK now that they're assembled.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Peter
I’ll be seated also to watch anyway you chose I’m sure it will turn out good

 

[Mickc1440]

Another must watch, I think a broken track would look good, those turret hits look too much like crew kill shots.

 

[Jason Crausby]

Looking forward to this one!
The driver appears to be the most injured... so maybe the damage should be in his area???
Jason

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Lee - Thanks for having faith in me. I just dropped the tray holding the figures and had to re-construct two of them.

Mick - Yes, I think the turret shots would have killed the crew.

Jason - I agree that as one of them is injured it should perhaps be a hull shot. I found these pics:



The first shows a hit near the front, but again probably fatal to the crew. The second, a couple of hits to the engine, perhaps a better scenario.

 

[Steve Jones]

Glad you have caught the armour bug. Really looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. Here are some knocked out T34's to give you some inspiration. Good luck sir!!

 

[Steve Jones]

 

[Jakko]

Tim - Yes, I reckon the crew of the tank with the hits to the turret were probably killed - hot metal flying around and setting off the ammo etc etc.

Ammo usually only explodes after a little while, when a fire takes hold in the propellant and eventually detonates the remaining rounds. Many tank crews could escape after being hit but before the tank blew up. The main immediate danger is being hit by the shell as it enters the vehicle or after it’s bounced around, but a penetration would certainly not be instantly fatal to everyone inside.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Steve - Thanks for the pics my man. Lots of food for thought there.

Jakko - I think I'm going to go for a couple of fairly low calibre hits to the rear hull side - enough to knock out the engine.

 

[scottie3158]

Peter
Count me in on this.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Welcome aboard Scottie. The T-34 still hasn't arrived, dammit (''We missed the post''), but it should be here tomorrow. I don't feel like painting the figures at this stage.