Wiking 1/35
T-34/76 Finnish Army 1941-1944 Marks

I recently did an in-box review of the Toga brand 1/35th scale T-20 Komsomolyets Artillery Tractor. It can be found in the archives here. In that review, I mentioned that there were no decals provided. I also said that the instruction sheet showed an actual photo of a T-20 with the word “Harjoitusvauku” on the side and the numerals 452 on the front. I said that I wished that these marks had been provided on a decal and that I was unable to translate the word.

I subsequently got two e-mails from readers in Finland, that corrected the spelling of the word (it should have been Harjoitusvaunu). They said it meant “Training vehicle”. They also both told me of a decal firm, named Wiking, that I never heard of before. They said this firm did Finnish WWII armor decals in 1/35th. I contacted Wiking and sent them an e-mail asking how much a sheet would be, including postage. I mentioned that I did reviews for Cyber and never had heard of or seen any of their sheets. I did a build review of a 1/72nd scale BT-42 on Cyber by UM brand, a while back, and had to modify some German swastikas to use on it as the decals in the kit got lost someplace in transit.

I know of no other company that makes Finnish “Hakaristi” (their version of the swastika) armor insignia. (and believe me I looked and looked for some for the BT-42 build.).

Explanation of Finnish armor marking methods:

The Finnish army had seven T-34 tanks with the 76mm gun, in use during WWII. Five of them were war-booty ones. The first of these was captured in the autumn of 1941. In 1944, three were bought from Germany. Four of these tanks were of the 1941 model, one of 1942, and two were model 1943.

All T-34/76’s were used by the Pansaridivisioona (Armored Division), mainly by the third tank company of it’s first tank battalion, which used yellow turret numbers to identify platoon and tank.

The first T-34/76 was used against its former owners during the fighting in East-Carelia and especially in the capture of the town Karhumaki, in the summer of 1944. All seven were used on the Carelian Isthmus, where the Armoured Division was used against the Soviet offensive. Besides the Stug III Ausf. G assault guns, the T-34/76’s were the only Finnish tanks capable of standing up against the Soviet tanks and assault guns.

The T-34/76 was used to train the Finnish Army up until 1961.

Camouflage and Markings:

Originally, the T-34’s were received in their Soviet dark green color. After repairs, the tanks were painted in Finnish dark green, which was in use until 1943, when a three-color camouflage was taken into use. The colors were medium green, medium brown and brownish light gray. The scheme varied from tank to tank according to the tastes of the painter.

Finnish tanks were registered with a one to three digit number, which was usually painted in white on the bow armor plate and at the rear armor. This system was gradually replaced on tanks with the registration number like Ps. 231-4, where Ps means an armored vehicle, 231 is the code for the T-34/76 and 4 is the number of the individual tank.

Black and white “Hakarasti” (swastikas) were used as national emblems, usually painted on the turret sides and rear, the bow armor and sometimes also the turret hatch. It is to be mentioned, that the Finn’s used the swastika long before Hitler adopted it.

The sheet comes in a cello bag with the instruction sheet. The instructions consist of a 8 ½” x 11” sheet that is folded over into 4 pages. Page one begins with a black and white photo of an actual T-34/76 parked in front of a brick building with 2 crew members around it. It is in a winter white-wash scheme. This picture is followed by the history of the Finnish markings used on the T-34. Of the 5 decal sheets, that Wiking sent me to review, only two have this information in English. This is one of the two. The other three have this all in Finnish only.

Pages 2 - 4 give four marking schemes for the T-34/76:

1. A 4-view drawing of T-34/76 number 105 of Panssaripataljoona at Aanislinna, Autumn 1942, in overall medium green. The fourth view shows it white-washed with some medium green showing through.
2. A 3-view of T-34/76 number 155 of Panssaripataljoona at Aanislinna, Autumn 1942, in overall medium green.
3. A side view of number 155 again in three color camouflage with the yellow number 322 added to turret sides. This tank later became number Ps. 231-4.
4. A 2-view drawing of a T-34/76 number 111, during the summer of 1943, at Aanislinna, with a three color camouflage and yellow number 323 on turret sides. Later to be re-numbered Ps. 231-3.

Decals are sharp and in register. I could not get the white numbers to show up on my scanner, but…believe me….they are there.

I highly recommend these decals to modelers that want to put some marks on a T-34/76 other than some Soviet patriotic slogans.

I want to sincerely thank Mr. Olli Wikberg of Wiking-Decals for this review sample.

Wiking decals are not available in the U.S. and rather limited in Europe too, Mr. Wikberg says. The decals can be ordered direct from Wiking at:

www.wiking.fi

Their mail address is:

Wiking-Divisioona Oy
Elontie 97 B
FIN-00660 Helsinki
Finland