Hand Rails

[William Lewis]

I am trying to decide which size diameter brass rod to buy to make the hand rails on my T-34 /85 hull sides. I was thinking between 2.5 and 3.0 mm diameter. I tried measuring the hand rails on a 1/16 scale T-34 that I have, which measured 1.4mm and I believe that converts to 3.7mm in 1/6 scale. I don't think that is right, it seems to thick.
Anybody know what the proper size should be?
Thank You
William Lewis

[Ian Rodney]

Hi William,

Received your message via Armortek today, and believe your looking for the right diameter thickness for the T34/85 Hand Rails. I made mine all 2.5mm thickness, which to me seems about the right size, and visually looks about right!
3.7mm seems to me to thick for the hand rails?

My hand rails were made out of aluminium rods which I bought at local B & Q….Do it your self place….

And just to make sure I got the measurements right, I re-measured my hand rails and put down the lengths and depths of the rods etc.

For the turret I made 3 hand rails, (length 90mm long).
For the Upper side hulls I made 6 hand rails, (70mm long). for either sides.
Some T34 tanks might have 7 or 8 hand rails, depending what you are adding to the upper side hulls.
For above the engine decks I made 2 hand rails, (60mm in length)

See below my rough diagram of hand rails.

Hope all these measurements and diagram helps you out to make up your own mind.

Looking forward to seeing any pics of your own T34 on the Armortek Forum!

Cheers
Ian

[William Lewis]

Thanks Ian

This is exactly the information I was looking for, I really appreciate the effort you made with the drawings. I have been relying on a 1/16 scale T-34 model for measurements, but that does not seem to always work out. This was a perfect example as handrails that are almost 4mm in diameter seemed way to large. As soon as I make a little more progress I will post some pictures.

Thanks Again
William