This series of photos are of two T-34-85's presently at the US Army Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland; and were taken by my friend Adam Wilder in 1999. I am not positive of how the US Army came by them but I suspect they were captured in Korea.
1. This photo is of the front right quarter of what appears to be an Angle-Jointed turret of Zavod 174 or a step-jointed Zavod 183 turret. Note the vague casting line coming back from the mantlet and angling back. Visible on the right (starboard) side is the pistol port and above that the loaders vision slit (not present on the port side). The turret lift point is a hook type typical of the 1944 and later turrets. The mantlet is a Zis-S-53 type. Note the significant gap between the gun barrel and the armored sleeve of the mantlet allowing the gun recoil back into the turret. Also note the four large bolts at the base of the barrel sleeve. The large hole left of the mantlet sleeve is for the 7.62-mm DT coaxial machine gun.
2. The left (port) side of a Step-Jointed turret of Zavod 183: observe the casting line proceeding back from the middle of the mantlet and then dropping down in a 90 degree angle as with a step. This casting line on this particular turret would likely be pretty vague or invisible at a distance. This is a good example the rough-cast texture common on Soviet turret castings of this time period, in KV and IS turrets as well. The turret lifting point visible at the upper right-hand corner of the photo is a welded-on hook as in the turret above. At the lower right corner of the photo we can see the armored fillet added to the top of the glacis plate, after the 1943 turret. The hole in the mantlet is for the gunner telescopic sight.
3. A good view of the Zis-S-53 gun mantlet belonging to the same T-34-85 as in Photo II above. Interesting is what appears too be a screw head near the crest of the mantlet's barrel sleeve. Barely visible at the top right is the loader's Mk 4 periscope.
4. This is a photo of the rear of a T-34-85 turret showing the turret roof's twin armored ventilation covers. The crude welds on the vents are very interesting. Welds like this I have rarely seen duplicated on either 1/35 and 1/72 scale models. The object at the far left is unbeknownst to me. At the bottom of the photo we can see two of the six U-shaped lash points for stowage on the rear of the turret (three on the top row and three on the bottom row). Below the hooks are what appears to be casting numbers [LEVA Productions is the only small-scale model company I am aware of that molds in casting numbers]. The position of the cupola-view port visible in this photo has always puzzled me. What can the commander really see with the vents and other fitting in the way?
5. The turret's commander's cupola located on the port side of the turret roof. This is a single hatch cupola of the 1945 and later turrets. The hinge on the right has the stop that keeps the hatch vertical when open. Atop the cupola is the open-top Mark-4 periscope. The open-top periscope is what is featured on the Eastern Express 1/72 model. All the other injection molded and resin turrets in small scale have a closed-top Mk. 4 periscope. This hatch, atop the cast cupola, can be rotated so you may see the hatch open off the left or right as well as to the front. The hatch in this photo is rotated slightly to the right of center. This photo also shows us a great view of the bulge on the turret's left side in order to accommodate the larger cupola of the 1945 and later turrets. I have not seen this feature accurately portrayed in any of the small-scale models. This photo, and Photo #4 above give us good examples of Soviet welding of this period, at least at this particular Zavod (factory) at this time.