Alongside the 1940 T-34, the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex also restored its most widely produced variant, the 1943 model with the new cast hexagonal turret.
The hull and running gear were acquired from the Belarusfilm studio, where a T-34 fitted with welded-on pieces of metal had once stood in for a German Tiger during filming! Our staff discovered the abandoned workhorse of a tank at the studio's facility in Smolevichi. The vehicle was, of course, in a sorry state, which made it easier to arrange its transfer to Stalin Line.
To create a monument to the heroic tank crews, our team of restorers from Shklov restored the hull and running gear and fitted a hexagonal turret. The turret had a gun, but lacked a gun mantlet and commander's hatch. The driver's hatch was also missing from the tank's hull. However, the craftsmen at Stalin Line restored the T-34 to its complete configuration, and the legendary vehicle was mounted on a plinth in 2008.
In 2012, it was decided to use the hull and running gear of the memorial tank to create an operational T-34, for which another turret was found — this time a pressed-steel one. A replacement hull was made for the memorial tank. It was assembled from two badly damaged hulls, one of which can be seen in photograph No. 8. This is why the memorial tank looks different in the photographs taken in 2008 and 2013.
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