From July 1941, the factory began producing the Soviet T-40S. The rear of the vehicle body by a flat piece of armor plats (no sag to install propeller generated), front and side body armor enhancements to 15mm, turret front and side reinforced to 20mm, fully welted tanks made. This design is informally known as '030' or T-30. From September 1941, a number of T-30 tanks equipped with ShVAK 20mm automatic cannon (Beitan 750 rounds), this is the last kind of development model.

History taken directly from the kit box. Ed.

This is another rather neat and lesser known pre-war Soviet tank. It as designed to be amphibious to an extent, but many were built without the nautical equipment. With a hull measuring about 4.5 inches in lenght, it is not a large vehicle. This boxing also does not have an interior. The suspension bits are very nicely molded as are the rest of the kit parts. The majority of the parts count is in the individual track links. Hobby Boss provides a track guide in some kits to help out, but not in this particular boxing. Still, the links are well done and should be easy to assemble. You are provided with quite a few of them and I am sure there will be spares if needed.

As I've seen with some other armor kits, there are bolt heads molded onto a stretch of sprue for use on various areas of the it. There are not a lot of them and their inclusion is a nice touch. Bolt on armor sections are provided for the upper hull and the engine intake area has separate vanes for the intake. The photo etch fret is used for the engine intake screen, some bolt areas along seams and for various handles and brackets, including those that hold the head lights. The rear fender guards are also in photo etch.

The turret assembly is also very nicely molded and comes with a separate upper hatch so that if you have a figure you can pose it in the hatch. In addition to the plastic gun barrel, a metal one is also provided. There is a co-axial machine gun to install in the main gun mantlet. Pioneer tools are provided for the short front fenders.

Instructions are well drawn and you have options for the mantlet and gun design as apparently these changed over the years. There are two color options. One is in overall green as shown on the box art, while the other is a variegated pattern of brown, green and sand that looks quite fetching. As with all Hobby Boss kits, a full color markings and painting guide is provided. A decal sheet (not shown) is provided for tank numbers.

I said it earlier and can only repeat that I think it is great that these pre-war Soviet tanks are being produced. The Soviet Union was a major developer of tank warfare that fell into stagnation thanks to Stalin's purges of the military in the late 1930s. To have quality models of these vehicles is something that modelers should appreciate and support.

The kit box

June 2014