CMK 3006 1/35 T-34 Transmission Set
For the Tamiya Kit

The Tamiya T-34 is a beautiful kit and it's almost a shame to cut it open, but this resin set for the transmission more than makes up for it. There's a bit of work in using it though. Before you even get to the resin parts you have to remove several bits of plastic from both the upper and lower hull as well as cut an opening in the rear plate. You also have to fill in the notches on the inside of the lower hull and add strip stock along the edges of the lower hull. Finally, a hole needs to be drilled in the lower hull and the transmission mounting brackets located at a precise distance from the edges. Only then do you actually get to the meat of this detail set.

And what a set it is, too. The gearbox is molded as one piece, with separate pieces attaching to the lower hull walls. It wuold probably be best to fit those parts to the hull and then fit the gearbox, shimming or trimming it down until it fits perfectly. The rest of the set fits onto this main assembly, and there's quite a bit to add in. The steering mechanism is made up of nine separate parts for each side, some in photoetch and some in resin. The gearshift mechanism has eight pieces and looks confusing until you've looked at it a while.

The master clutch is nicely done, with the main gear assembly being split into two pieces. The blades on the rear part are paper thin and CMK has packaged that one piece separately to help avoid having any of them break off.

The final step is to add the exhaust manifold and upper decking. The rear part from the Tamiya kit gets a photoetch circular opening, but the actual hatch itself isn't included. Overall this is an excellent way to spruce up the Tamiya T-34 and the diorama possibilites are endless. If you want to do a little extra to the Tamiya T-34, be sure to give this set a good look.