History:  In pre-war Russia, the concept of the light amphibious tank was very popular, due to the lack of roads and many bodies of water. In 1938, in an effort to improve on earlier vehicles such as the T-37 and T-38, designer Nickolay Astrov began work on a more boat like vehicle that became designated the T-40. It was larger, more comfortable, better armed, and more reliable than its predecessors but still remained easy to build because many truck components were used. It was armed with a 12.7mm and a 7.6mm machine gun, and was powered by a 6-cylinder engine that yielded 85 hp, which produced a top speed of 44kph on land and 6.5kph in the water. The tank weighed 5.5 tons and used torsion bar suspension.

In a search for more firepower, the T-40 was actually preceded by the T-30, which was very similar, with the same hull, but with a turret that housed a 20mm gun, like a T-60. Unfortunately, the turret with the larger gun, was much heavier, and therefore caused some difficulties in the water. It was then decided to adopt the lighter design of the T-40. Production started in 1940 with fewer than 300 units being manufactured, but by 1942 the tank was already outdated, so an up armored version was produced. However, the increased weight of this vehicle caused it to loose its amphibious capabilities.

The Kit:  This is a Russian produced kit from a company called Start. From my references, it appears to be pretty accurate, however the molding and detail is rather simplistic, and the kit out of the box has a toy-like appearance. Another annoying thing about the kit is that locating pins and holes in the suspension are scarce, so that it is hard to get a strong parts bond. Because of this, all of the suspension parts were drilled and pinned with stiff wire to get more strength, and to prevent parts from breaking off later. Besides these negatives, the parts fit is actually very good, and a nice model can be built from this kit. It just needs a little help.

The first thing to go was the molded in radiator grill. It was removed with a sharp #11 blade leaving the support bars, and a piece of etched mesh was cut to fit and placed over them. Then thin plastic strip trimmed the outer edges for a neat fit. Beneath this, a fake radiator was constructed in case you really want to look. The next thing that needed work was the fenders. Besides being too thick, there was tread plate detail on each fender that just didn't cut it. So the fenders were thinned out from the bottom, and on the top, all of the detail was removed, and the ridges were replaced with plastic strip and the tread plate was replaced with parts cut from a Tek Star tread plate sheet. Below the fenders, on the hull sides, there is a plate seam that was missing. The seam was scribed in the appropriate place and Grandt Line rivets were placed in pairs on both sides.

Speaking of Grandt Line products, their nuts and bolts were applied in several other locations on the kit, and greatly helped improve the toy-like appearance. They were used on the idler mounts, the tow hook mounts and the tail light mount. While the tow hooks were constructed, they were detailed with short lengths of fine chain. The next issues were the view ports on the turret and the sides of the super-structure. The kit parts are too thick and just not good enough. They were replaced with parts that were made from an empty Eduard fret. Rivets were then added to dress up each view port. The splash deflector and the main gun guard were also much too thick, and were replaced with parts made from sheet styrene, and both gun barrels, and the exhaust pipe were drilled out.

While building the kit I found myself wondering what I was going to do about the tracks. The kit tracks would have worked as a final alternative, but they would have required a lot of cleanup, and after that they would still be just OK. It was about this time that I discovered that Friulmodel made a track set for a T-60. Hummm... My research suggested that the tracks for both vehicles should be very similar, if not the same. After all, the T-60 was a descendent of this tank. After getting a set and comparing them, I was sold. Problem solved.

With the major construction done it was time to think about the accessories. The kit came with a shovel, pry bar, and a jack. As with the rest of the kit, these parts were kind of thick, but with a little work the jack looked OK so it was used. As for the others, the pry bar was replaced with a piece made from metal rod, and the shovel blade was thinned and the molded on mounting bracket was removed, and the handle was cut off and also replaced with metal rod. To mount them, clasps and brackets were made from more leftover Eduard fret. In my references, the tail light lens resembled one from a GMC truck. It just happened that I had an extra Eduard GMC tail light lens in my spares box, and it fit the kit tail light perfectly! Finally, MV lenses were installed for the headlights. On to Paint!

The kit was primed with Model Master flat black, and then colored with Model Master dark green. I then switched from my Paasche H to an F model and lightly sprayed a highlight on the corners and raised surfaces. This was followed by a clear coat, before applying the kit decals. They went on nice and flat, but they did silver, so I ended up painting in the box around the "2". The tank was washed with acrylics, and then dull coated with Testors lacquer. Then I dry brushed and blended with lighter shades of Model Master enamel, and weathered with rust and greasy black.

References: Russian Tanks and Armored Vehicles 1917 - 1945, Wolfgang Fleischer, Schiffer Books, 1999 Soviet Tanks Vol. 1 1940 - 1941, I. Drogowoz Wydawnictwo Militaria, 2000 Astrov's Children, Cookie Sewell, Military Modelling Magazine Vol. 31 No. 4 - 2001