1:16 T-34/76 wz.1943

A marking mask for the T-34 with the hexagonal turret

The T-34 medium tank of the 1943 pattern received a cast turret of hexagonal plan, which for its shape was called the nut. It was an answer both to the cramped conditions inside the older turret and to the need to produce faster: the surface of the casting stayed rough, with marks from the mold and with bubbles nobody bothered to sand away. It is exactly this coarse skin that causes the greatest difficulty when building in one sixteenth, because a decal will never settle on it without silvering.

What the sheet contains

The package carries one mask of national insignia measuring 160 by 205 millimeters. In a large scale such an area is necessary: stars, numbers and lettering on a one-sixteenth model are of a size at which every imperfect edge shows at first glance. The cut goes through the adhesive layer only, so the individual elements are lifted out of the sheet with tweezers without tearing.

How to proceed

The protective green has to be fully matured, or the mask will tear it off when removed. Place the elements dry and check the position against the welds of the turret, then press them down and run a blunt tip along the edges so that the film is pushed into the hollows of the casting. Spray perpendicularly and lightly, in several steps, because paint runs under an edge more readily on a rough surface than on smooth metal. Remove the mask shortly after the last coat. Hand-painted markings on these machines were rather careless, so by all means break the result up with light sanding and with dirt that holds in the marks left by casting.