COBI T-34-85 Set 3092

COBI's T-34-85 is a 1:72 model built from 110 blocks, 10 cm long, with rolling wheels and a turret that rotates. Red Army markings are printed onto the blocks.

The real improvement was a third man

The obvious difference between this tank and the earlier T-34/76 is the gun, and it is not the important one.

The 76's turret held two men. The commander aimed and fired the gun himself, which meant that during every engagement the person responsible for seeing the whole battlefield was looking down a gunsight at one target. German tanks had three men in the turret and their commanders could keep their heads up, and that difference cost the Soviets very heavily in 1941 and 1942.

The T-34-85's larger turret fitted a dedicated gunner and a loader alongside the commander. He could finally do his own job. The 85 mm gun mattered too — it could hurt a Panther — but the crew layout is what turned the T-34 from a tank that was better than its opponents on paper into one that beat them in practice.

Production ran to 1958 and the type served with dozens of armies long afterwards.

In the COBI range

Part of the 1:72 mini series. Set 3088 is the earlier T-34/76.

Specifications

Pieces: 110 · Scale: 1:72
Model dimensions: 10 × 4.5 × 4 cm (3.9 × 1.8 × 1.6 in)