Soviet T-34 Model 1941 Cast Turret in 1/35-scale resin (CMD-40)

by Frank De Sisto

Contains 11 resin parts, one turned-aluminum gun tube and two pages of instructions. Price: $18.00 USD, plus shipping.

Hot on the heels of CMD’s recent cast turret for the 1940 version of DML’s outstanding early T-34, comes this version for the even better 1941 kit. This turret differs from CMD-40 in that it is set up to take the later F-34 gun and mantlet. The main visual differences are the two flanges welded on either side of the turret front, which prevent splinters from entering behind the later mantlet, from the sides. The other difference from CMD-40 is, of course, the later F-34 76mm gun, which is supplied as a turned-aluminum part. This is a drop fit into the DML kit’s mantlet.

As we have come to expect from CMD, the design and casting of the resin parts are state-of-the-art. There is virtually no flash, the parts do not have casting blocks that require careful or laborious clean-up, and the details are superbly rendered. The turret is a one-piece casting with walls of near scale thickness, featuring delicate cast texture and mold seams, as well as nicely represented weld beads on the turret roof plate. There is a separate turret race ring, which drop-fits the entire turret assembly onto the DML hull. The smaller parts are crisply cast and after clean-up of the miniscule mold pour pips, they will fit readily to the turret.

The turret is finished off with DML parts for the main hatch and it’s associated bits, the lifting eyes, periscope covers, and of course, the gun mantlet. All of this is detailed in the extensive double-sided instruction leaflet. This combines text, a photo and check-list of the CMD parts, and drawings showing how the turret and the DML parts all go together. Although this conversion is really quite simple as it basically consists of swapping CMD parts for DML parts (which means that instructions are not really needed), there is nothing left to chance. This is simply an indicator of CMD’s dedication to producing a quality product.

Highly recommended.

Chesapeake Model Designs’ products are available direct from the manufacturer, and can be obtained worldwide by contacting them at: www.chesapeakemodels.com. E-mail address is: bill@chesapeakemodels.com. Telephone/Fax: 410-357-5496.