East Prussia 1945

World War Two, 1945 in eastern Germany.

T-34 converted to a tank recovery vehicle.

A T-34 tank has a destroyed turret, but the hull is still fine.  Gut the interior and put a box on the hull top and add a winch.

They can carry a limited amount of supplies since trucks are scarce it helps keep the tanks moving.  This is a Roco Minitanks T-34 with the turret removed and then a box built up out of styrene sheet plastic.  T-34 tank turret hatch repurposed to make a hatch for this vehicle.  Supplies are on sheet plastic and are removable.

Tanks move into the city.  A panzerfaust may be lurking behind every window.

Tanks are stopped by a tram car pulled across the road and filled with paving stones.  Tank recovery vehicles move forward to try and pull it away from the road.

Tanks stay on the alert, with guns facing down every side road.

Each tank as a white rectangle painted on the turret and the numbers painted over the white for better visibility.  In this case, they are actually red number decals printed on white decal paper.

These tanks are what the US Army called speed numbers.  A simple consecutive number for the specific unit.  In this case they all start with 2 and are then sequentially after that, they are the second battalion.

These are T-34/85 tanks, a common late World War Two tank produced by the Soviet Union.  Tens of thousands were made and production continued after the war in several Eastern European nations.  Some are likely still in service in various parts of the world.

Aerial view of the city.  Six 122mm guns in soft metal by Lyzards Grin, long out of production.

Buildings are resin from several companies in the UK, I got them about 30 years ago.  They got primer painted about two years ago.  I anticipate detail painting them in the year 2037.

T-34/85 plastic model tanks by Mir, made in the old Soviet Union.  Back in the Cold War I traded Tamiya airplane models with several guys in Czechoslovakia for Mir HO scale WWII Soviet tanks.  When the Iron Curtain fell so did Mir and they are lost to history.  Tank Recovery vehicles are old Roco Minitanks with the conversion to recovery vehicle done about 20 years ago.  I used the turrets for armored trains, and gunboats and still have a few standing by for new projects.

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