discussion T 38 Amphibious Tank 1/35 scale by PARC models.

[Guest]

Hi while the varnish dries on the BA-64 and I get outy to find a frame to use I decided to crack on with the

T 38.
A
Like other light tanks of its time, the T-38 was designed for reconnaissance and infantry support roles. As a scout tank the T-38 had the advantages of a very low silhouette and good long-range mobility through its ability to swim. The T-38 was also intended to be air-portable; during the Kiev maneuvers in 1936, the tanks were transported by Tupolev bombers, mounted under the fuselage. Infantry battalions were each issued 38 T-38s, with 50 being designated for each airborne armored battalions. However, the thin armour and single machine gun armament made the tank of only limited use in combat. A lack of radios in most T-38s was a serious limitation for a reconnaissance vehicle. The T-38 also struggled with carrying any excess cargo across water. In fact two infantrymen of 120-150 kilos would cause the commander's hatch to flood, sinking the vehicle ! These flaws were to be fixed by the T-38's successor, the T-40

A total of 1,228 T-38 tanks were built from 1936 to 1937, with an additional 112 made in 1939 after a two-year break in production.

Designed by Nicholas Astrov and N Kozyrev and built at Factory No 37 Moscow.
Weight was 3.3 Tonnes.
Powered by a Gaz
AA 4-cylinder inline gasoline engine
40 hp (30 kW). it could reach speeds of 40 km/h
3.78 meters in length and 3. 33 meters in width it was nearly square in shape.
Height was 1. 63 mtrs, so very low.
The armament was a 7.62mm DT machine gun.

So the box .


Sprues and instructions a piece of paper with some doubtful drawings on. Sprues are not numbered as such but you refer to the piece of paper which is not too bad. But the drawings are of no help when attempting to fir some parts as you will see.




You start with the first page, this part is quite self explanatory.


I decided to leave all those bits that get knocked off until the tracks are on and I'm ready to paint, the only parts fitted were 2 x of No 30, as some idlers are mounted on them.
This is where the abrupt end of modeling took place. Parts 23 are supposed to fit where the lines go, but I have no idea where on the moulding on the body they go. At this point I shall have to upload this and then post some camera shots explaining the problem.

 

[Dave Ward]

John,
The bottom run of track should run from the centreline of roadwheel #1 to the centreline of #4. This gives you the spacing of the bogies. You will then have to use a return roller hole to position a bogie in the fore and aft or, by scaling the distance from drive sprocket to idler on the drawing to the actual model
Dave

 

[Guest]

Back.
Hard to explain but there is no point that I seem to able to line the bogies up to is it to the top of the square on the side or as you can see from photo 3 where the pin hole is, as in photo 4.




:smiling3:



Well as you might be able to see there is no connection point at the top of the bogie should I rill into the round looking moulding mark ?
John.

 

[Guest]

John,
The bottom run of track should run from the centreline of roadwheel #1 to the centreline of #4. This gives you the spacing of the bogies. You will then have to use a return roller hole to position a bogie in the fore and aft or, by scaling the distance from drive sprocket to idler on the drawing to the actual model
Dave

Dave , hi , confused as you might see, does the second post make it clearer for you to explain please.
John.

 

[Guest]

Think I can see what you mean from this drawing.
John .

 

[Dave Ward]

You may be able to work out the vertical position from the position shown on how much of the bogie is showing above (below ) the hull



If possible, I'd add a pin, to give a positive location. I'd be inclined to leave off the bogies, until you trial fit the tracks - that will give you the correct height
Dave

 

[Guest]

You may be able to work out the vertical position from the position shown on how much of the bogie is showing above (below ) the hull



If possible, I'd add a pin, to give a positive location. I'd be inclined to leave off the bogies, until you trial fit the tracks - that will give you the correct height
Dave

Dave thank you splendid idea. On ward then with the tracks !!!!!

 

[Mini Me]

JR, I'm giving you an A for your effort so far and the Kit maker an F for you know what upped!

 

[SimonT]

Morning John,
another top quality model from Parc then :thinking:

You are a glutton for punishment - can't help but think that you would have been better off with the Hobbyboss version


still, this side on view should give a good idea of the relative positions of the suspension

top of the red bit is basically level with bottom of hull

Good luck with it

 

[Steve Jones]

You don.t do things by half do you mate?? :smiling5::smiling2: Not only do have grief with the boggies but now you are doing tracks!!

I think you would be better off just scratch building the whole thing:tears-of-joy:

Such a shame as it is a wonderful subject to build. After your masterclass on the BA I am sure you will soon knock this one into shape. Good luck mate

 

[Guest]

JR, I'm giving you an A for your effort so far and the Kit maker an F for you know what upped!

Thanks Rick.

Morning John,
another top quality model from Parc then :thinking:

You are a glutton for punishment - can't help but think that you would have been better off with the Hobbyboss version


still, this side on view should give a good idea of the relative positions of the suspension

top of the red bit is basically level with bottom of hull

Good luck with it

Morning g to you Simon, yes another masterpiece of crap, still apart from the bogies which had more flash on them than plastic the rest is clean and the hull section went together with out a problem . ! No , not that bad but each gap between the spokes was full of flash .
I only bought it because it was cheap at £ 8.50 and hadn't seen the Hobby Boss version .
Thanks for the photo, now with this and Dave's help I should manage to cock build it after a fashion.

You don.t do things by half do you mate?? :smiling5::smiling2: Not only do have grief with the boggies but now you are doing tracks!!

I think you would be better off just scratch building the whole thing:tears-of-joy:

Such a shame as it is a wonderful subject to build. After your masterclass on the BA I am sure you will soon knock this one into shape. Good luck mate

:smiling3::smiling3: mate, you know me, it will either get built or flames might appear, but as I want this in water I would like to be able to do it . On the other hand it could end up as a burnt out wreak in water, now that would look good ...........

John

Will see what the track day brings, might be tears , I have the Tamiya tape ready, my little jig so will let you know later .

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Evening from a slightly annoyed and dismayed with a silly mistake member of the Rabble.

I will explain,----------------------- all seemed to be going well , I had the tracks on, a couple of links missing on the bottom, I had damaged several removing them form the sprue, so no big deal there.

Tamiya tape used as suggested and the small links glued and wrapped round the idler and toothed sprockets.
Then I looked, relief was transformed into horror. WERE the tracks were on the wrong way round, I must have mistaken the front for the rear. doesn't look right to me.

Those with a previous tendency to mental breakdowns please look away now. Help lines are open for those seeking help.


Management took a look and said put it in the water , no one will be any the wiser , but its no good , so I attempted to remove the tracks, well as can be imagined it ended in a disaster.

Right in the bin it went, now this for me is not something I would normally do, about 30 mins later it was recovered and the remains put back in the box
:anguished:


A wreak it will turn into at some point, fully rusted and with impacted hits.
A shame, but as it coast so little not worth worrying about, as management said " Its only a bit of plastic and no one was killed " " make it into a wreak " so some fun with rusting at some point.

Thanks to Dave and Simon for their help, at least I managed to get the tracks on !!! and to those who have followed.
John.:anguished:

 

[Jim R]

Hi John
Sorry this went t*** up. Until the tracks you actually had it sorted thanks to Dave and Simon. Still it will make a nice wreck.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Bad luck John , could you have added a heavy mud effect to the tracks as it exited up from a river bank? I reckon you could get away with it then.

 

[scottie3158]

John,
Sorry to hear about the demise of the build, as until you binned it the tracks actually looked very good. But it will make an interesting wreck for another build.

 

[SimonT]

OOPS!

Not just you John - check out this museum exhibit

Their change of direction went a bit better than yours though


I think you should do as management suggests and turn it into a swimming version. Looking at the box of bits you still have all that you would need :thumb2:

 

[Guest]

Hi John
Sorry this went t*** up. Until the tracks you actually had it sorted thanks to Dave and Simon. Still it will make a nice wreck.
Jim

Cheers .
Oh Jim you can imagine how I went from one extreme to the other, and they looked ok ! Bloody things, oh well another lesson learnt:smiling2:.

Bad luck John , could you have added a heavy mud effect to the tracks as it exited up from a river bank? I reckon you could get away with it then.

Thanks Brad . Quite possibly I would, but knowing it was wrong would have bugged me so much .

John,
Sorry to hear about the demise of the build, as until you binned it the tracks actually looked very good. But it will make an interesting wreck for another build.

Thanks Paul, just one of those stupid errors, I'm sure it won't be the last either, still every cloud has a silver lining and wreaks are something I can enjoy .
John .

 

[Guest]

OOPS!

Not just you John - check out this museum exhibit

Their change of direction went a bit better than yours though


I think you should do as management suggests and turn it into a swimming version. Looking at the box of bits you still have all that you would need :thumb2:

Simon, thanks , and what a find, this is of course what I can blame !
What finish it in deep water, now that's a thought
John .

 

[SimonT]

They sit so low in the water that you only need a short length of upper track run on each side

No bogies required and the lower hull could be cut down to reduce height and therefore the amount of water needed......

 

[Dave Ward]

Bad luck, John - I have to admit that I have put the tracks on backwards, on several models - but done it on both sides, so at least it looked the same. Now I check, not only the instructions, but 'net pictures to make sure they're correct!
Dave