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Soviet Union's T-34/76 Model 1942 medium tank,
T-34/76B medium tank¹²,
T-34/76C medium tank¹³,
T-34 06. 42. medium tank¹³

1/72 Diecast Models of T-34/76:
Dragon Armor			Easy Models
60165: 60166:	60208: 60214:	60224: 60237:	36264:

Design

There were three compartments, the driver's, fighting area, and the engine.¹²

Crew

The driver sat on the left with the hull gunner / radio operator on the right.¹² The seats were padded with arms and the back rests folded but they weren't adjustable.¹²

The driver had his clutch pedal on the left, the foot brake in the center, and the accelerator on the right.¹² The steering levers were on each side with the gear changing lever to the right.¹² There was a rear hinged access hatch in the front glacis plate.¹² There were two vertically mounted episcopes.¹² The optic glass was rather poor so visibility was poor when the door was closed.¹²

The hull gunner's MG was mounted on an armored hood with an internal ball.^1,12 To the left of the seats were ammunition drums.¹² In company commander tanks wireless equipment was installed on a pannier to the right of the gunner.¹² There was an escape hatch in the floor in front of his seat.¹²

The commander/gunner sat on the left in the turret and the loader on the right.¹² The breech of the main gun separated them.¹² The seats had backrests and could be adjusted vertically and adjusted frontwards and backwards.¹² There was a steel tube that went around the breech that had a canvas bag to catch the shells.¹²

In front of the commander was a periscopic site.¹² On his left he had the hand wheel that traversed the turret.¹² This was in a poor position as most commanders reached across their bodies with their right hands to operate it.¹² There was a power traverse control on top of the motor casing on the gunner's left.¹² There was a hand wheel that controlled the elevation of the gun to the right of the commander.¹²

Turret

The new turret for the T-34/76 Model 1942 weighed 4.32 tons.¹ Its ring diameter was 4.6' / 1.38 m.¹ The turret was cast hexagonal in shape and could hold two crew members.^9,12 There were some rolled plates in the roof of the turret.¹² The rear rolled plate could be removed by removing a set of screws.¹² This was to allow a fitting of a rear machine gun but it wasn't used in the T-34/76.¹²

Early models had a large forward hinged turret hatch.¹² When opened it inhibited forward visibility so the commander had to peer around the sides.¹²

There were two episcopes in the side walls of the turret, one for the commander and the other for the loader.¹² Below these were pistol ports.¹² It was closed by a steel plug that had to have a hard blow to open.¹² There was another pistol port in the rear wall of the turret, but typically, machine gun magazines blocked its use.¹²

A few models had a small hatch above the loader to be used for a signal flag.¹²

Most of the ports were not installed in later versions of the turret to simplify production.¹²

The seats were secured to the turret ring and rotated with the turret.¹²

Main Armament

The gun's breech mechanism was either hand or semi-automatically operated.¹²

There were four cast iron blocks (~168 lbs.) that were on the underside of the cradle to reduce muzzle heaviness.¹² However, crews still reported muzzle heaviness when in use.¹²

The 76.2 mm gun could be fired by foot or by hand.¹²

Machine Guns

The 7.62 mm MG was designed by V. A. Degtyarev in the 1930s.¹² It was gas operated and fed from a drum type magazine.¹² Each magazine could hold 63 rounds.¹² The DT MG could fire about 600 rounds a minute at a sighted range of 1,000 m.¹² The MG could be dismounted from the tank and used as a ground weapon as there was a bipod included in storage.¹²

Suspension

The suspension was derived from the original Christie design.¹² The wheels were independently sprung.¹² The tracks had guide horns which ran between the pairs of wheels.¹² This made it so no return rollers were needed.¹²

On the leading wheels there were two coil springs.¹² These were housed inside the hull plates.¹²

The track pins were rounded on the inside facing side.¹² This allowed for no retention device being need to keep them in place as there was a plate at the rear hull of the tank that when the pins started to work their way out, they would hit against the plate and be driven back in.¹²

Towing

There were two towing / lifting hooks welded to the front plate.¹² There were two towing eyes near the bottom of the rear hull.¹² There were usually two towing cables attached to the hull.¹²

Other Improvements

Had a commander's cupola added.⁹ A few had welded turrets.⁹ There were also improvements in the range, air filters, transmission, and in the techniques to produce them.⁹

	T-34/76B12, T-34/76 C13, T-34/76 19422
Crew	Commander/gunner, loader, driver, hull gunner/radio operator12 42,3,12,13
Physical Characteristics
Weight	26.3 tons1, 27 tons12, 28.5 tons2, 30 tons6, 30.2 tons13, 30.9 tons3 31,390 kg3, 26,720 kg1
Length w/gun	20' 3"1, 21.6', 21' 7"3,12, 24.65'13 6.1 m, 6.19 m1, 6.58 m3
Length w/o gun	19' 11"12, 20'3 5.92 m, 6.09 m3, 6.1 m2
Height	7' 10"1, 8'12,13, 8.45', 8' 5"3 2.39 m1, 2.45 m2, 2.57 m3
Width	9' 7"1, 9.8'13, 9' 9"3, 9' 10"12 2.92 m1, 2.98 m3, 3 m
Width over tracks	9' 6"12
Ground clearance	1' 4"12 0.4 m2
Ground contact length	12.2'13
Ground pressure	9.1 psi12, 10 psi 0.64 kg/cm2, 0.68 kg/(cm2)2
Turret ring diameter
Armament
Main	76.2 mm F-34 1942 L/41.23 76.2 mm1,2 76.2 mm L/41.212,13
Secondary
MG	1: 7.62 mm MG13 2: 7.62 mm DT MG2 2: 7.62 mm MG1
MG - coaxial	1: 7.62 mm Degtaryev DT MG3,12
MG - hull	1: 7.62 mm Degtaryev DT MG3,12
Side arms	Hand grenades
Quantity
Main	4513, 76, 771 19 AP: BR-350A1 53 HE: F-354 or OF-3501 5 Canister: SH-3501 77 (AP, HE, Shrapnel)12, 1002
Secondary
MG	2,000 - 3,00012, 2,39413, 2,400, 3,150-3,6002
Side arms	2012
Armor Thickness (mm)
Hull Front, Upper	47 @ 60°12 473, 602,13
Hull Front, Lower	45 @ 60°12
Hull Sides, Upper	40-452,13 45 @ 41°12
Hull Sides, Lower	47 @ 90°12
Hull Rear	20 @ 90°12, 452
Hull Top	15 - 20, 18 - 2213, 19, 201,12
Hull Bottom	15 - 202, 18 - 2213
Turret Front	20 - 7013, 602, 653,12 Mantlet: 20-46 curved12
Turret Sides	522, 6512
Turret Rear	3012, 47, 522
Turret Top	15 @ 85°12, 162, 19
Engine (Make / Model)	V212, V-2-3413, W-2-342,3
Bore / stroke	4 stroke2
Cooling	Water12
Cylinders	1213, V-122,12
Capacity	38.9 liters12
Net HP	50013, 500@1,800 rpm2,12
Power to weight ratio	17.5 hp/ton2, 17.9 bhp/ton12
Compression ratio	15:1 articulated rods12, 15.8:1 master rods12
Transmission (Type)	Dry multi-plate main clutch, mechanical gearbox 4 forward, 1 reverse12
Steering	Clutch and brake12
Steering ratio
Starter
Electrical system	24 volt starter12 12 volt lighting12
Ignition
Fuel (Type)	Diesel12,13
Octane
Quantity	135 gallons12, 177 gallons; 2 fuel tanks: 45 liter each, 11.8 gallons each 540 liters2, 673 liters
Road consumption
Cross country consumption
Performance
Traverse	360°12, electric or hand12, 24°/sec
Max speed	25 mph3, 30 mph6,13, 31 mph1, 32 mph12 40 kph3, 53 kph2, 50 kph1
Cross country speed	25 mph12 40 kph
Road radius	170 - 260 miles13, 190 miles1, 268 miles3, 270 miles, 280 miles12 300 km1, 400 km2, 432 km3
Cross country radius	120 - 220 miles13, 228 miles3 368 km3
Turning radius	25'12
Elevation limits
Fording depth	4.3', 4' 6"12 1.12 m, 1.31 m
Trench crossing	8.2', 9' 8"12
Vertical obstacle	2' 4"12 0.9 m2
Climbing ability	35°2,12
Suspension (Type)	Christie12, coil springs12
Wheels each side	5 pairs12, rubber tired12
Return rollers each side
Tracks (Type)	Cast manganese steel12
Length
Width	1' 7 "12, 1' 7.1"13
Diameter
Number of links	7212
Pitch	6 7/8"12
Tire tread	Rubber12
Track centers/tread	8' 1"12
Track contact	12' 2"12

Sources:

1. Russian Tanks of World War II Stalin's Armored Might, by Tim Bean & Will Fowler, 2002
2. Russian Tanks and Armored Vehicles 1917-1945, by Wolfgang Fleischer, 1999
3. The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles - The Comprehensive Guide to Over 900 Armored Fighting Vehicles From 1915 to the Present Day, General Editor: Christopher F. Foss, 2002
4. Panzer Truppen The Complete Guide to the Creation and Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1933-1942, Thomas L. Jentz, 1996
5. Panzer Truppen The Complete Guide to the Creation and Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1943-1945, Thomas L. Jentz, 1996
6. Tanks of the World, 1915-1945, Peter Chamberlain, Chris Ellis, 1972
7. The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Chris Bishop, 1998
8. Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles The Complete Guide, Leland Ness, 2002
9. Tanks of World War II, Duncan Crow, 1979
10. Battle Winning Tanks, Aircraft & Warships of World War II, David Miller, 2000
11. Tank Data, Aberdeen Proving Grounds Series, 1968?
12. Armour in Profile #9: T-34/76, J. M. Brereton, ?
13. Airfix Magazine Guide 22 Russian Tanks of World War 2, John Milsom and Steve Zaloga, 1977

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