A T34/76 Russian Tank model kit

Over the month of December, I spent a few weekends putting together this smart kit from Tamiya: T34/86 Russian Tank Model 1941(Cast Turret) 1:48 Scale I'll never say a bad word about military modellers ever again! Not that I've ever said anything bad about them in the first place, but... Building these and building robot kits like Gundams are like two different worlds. Both are challenging but for different reasons. Tank kits are relatively simpler than a robot kit. Less moving parts for one, and almost no polycaps. A polycap is a soft PVC part used to simulate joints and are often used in a ball joint setups. No, the wheels and tracks do not move. The turret can swing and aim the gun up and down though! A tank will generally consist of the chassis, the top, the turret and the wheels/tracks. That's simple enough. That builds the core of the tank. Then there's the detailing like spades, jerry cans, fuel tanks, ammo boxes, chains, lights, handrails, other details and so on and so forth. These require tweezers and good eyesight. I chose a 1:48 scale model because it's one of the larger models you can build (there are larger and more expensive kits like 1:35 scale), but alas even then the detail elements are so small that even tweezers weren't much help. One thing I like about a lot of these elements is that a number of them like the spades, pickaxes, tent rolls, and various liquid cans are optional details that you can heap onto the kit any in way you like. You can use as much or as little as you want. There are two other things that set these sort of military kits apart:

1. They are usually not coloured Even then, most robot model kits don't come with all the parts moulded in the right colours, and will require some paint to achieve accuracy (unless you're going for a custom build.
2. Glue/Cement MUST be used to fix everything together Most modern robot or sci-fi kits have been built for snap-together construction and the use of cement is often optional. (Though lately I find myself using it even with snap-together kits - it makes them hold together so much better)

I don't think I'll really be getting into scale military models, but it was a good learning experience after all. Modellers are modellers regardless of what they build. Bridging the gap between the two types and using what you learn from both sides can result in something even more beautiful. As for the T34/76 kit itself, why did I pick it? I suppose I could've gone with a flashy modern tank like the A1 Abrams or maybe any number of the German Panzerwagens that are in abundance in model shops that stock military model kits. But I thought I'd give this kit a go. Partly because it's rather a neat looking machine, and partly due to a reference from an Anime I watched earlier this year called Those Who Hunt Elves. One of the supporting casts members is a T34/76 that's possessed by the soul of a cat. One other indirect reason for wanting to buy a tank kit was to see how the tank body would do as legs for one of my Armored Core sets: Kotobukiya haven't released any Armored Cores with tank legs as of yet (nor the reverse joints or hover legs), so I just had to give it a go. Works okay, but a tad on the small side. May have to try it again with a much larger kit, and with a more centralized turret. An Abrams might work.