Tuesday 19 November 2013

Review: Bolt Action T34/85



I recently assembled and painted one of the newish Bolt Action T34/85 tanks from warlord Games in 28 ml.






The box art gives a good idea of what can be done with the tank. Note that you get a decal sheet with a generous range of decals on.





These pics show the build instructions and sprues. Note that you get a tank commander included. Everything is in hard plastic. It's an easy build kit with the emphasis on robustness for game play. All the wheels are preattached and the tracks come in two sections.






The only issues I had assembling the model was that the rear of the tracks didn't quite meet and one of the arms wasn't quite in alignment at the shoulder when he was positioned to grasp the turret hatch. Both were easily fixed with Milliput.



Some more pics of the finished vehicle, sprayed, dirted and oil leaks streaked on. I am very pleased with this model. Plastic is by far and away the best medium for 28 mm vehicles. It is light and robust, which makes storage and transportation a doddle.

The letters apparently say something like "Death To Fritzes" according to a friend who speaks Russian (thanks Karen).

One little peculiarity. It is slightly bigger than the resin T34/76 from Warlord, reminding us that 28mm is a size, not a scale.


Unfortunately, my T34 had a bad first outing. We were running out of time in an evening game so I decided to rush a Tiger in a do-or-die banzai.

I died.

5 comments:

  1. Good to see your T-34 living up to the eternal rule that the newest painted, or most slavishly detailed, minis fare badly on their first outing on the tabletop!

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    Replies
    1. Why is that? Is it it proof that the universe is not only sentient but also malevolent?

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  2. Very nice, John; I am currently painting up some 28mm Warlord Germans; maybe I could get one these for them to practise on with their panzer fausts...

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    Replies
    1. If they can get close enough: hur, hur, hur....

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  3. Greetings! Found your page because I needed some reference for a T-34 that came in a ziplock. After reading about the gap in the tracks... I messed with them for a bit and realized that if you mix the tracks just right -- NO GAP!!!

    Thanks for the reference for the sprue and instructions and painted example! I'm hoping my first outing with a painted tank can skirt the curse! :)

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