I mean I don’t think Gaijin would deny it, they only denied the other Finnish KV-1 suggestion I recall you doing because there wasn’t any evidence to support it actually entering Suomi service. And considering the support for other uparmored Finnish vehicles such as the T-26, StuG, and the T-50 in this suggestion, I’m sure people will be happy to support.
Eh, that one was fair but considering their stance and the times I’ve been told by Smin that the KV-1B will not ever go to Finland has discouraged me. I may eventually finish the suggestion but i just dont have the will.
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It’s alright, I do feel like I’ve seen one image, but I might just be misremembering things.
Ive tried looking, there may be a armored version with a unique design but i feel we would’ve seen it. I do wonder if the T-50’s ever got the concrete armor like some T-34’s were tried with. I doubt it given their role as Infantry support units.
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I feel like the Soviet t-50 would have gotten an armor upgrade if it weren’t for the fact that only 69 (nice) ever existed, I’m honestly kind of surprised the finns managed to capture one considering that they were so rare.
Well the Fins did manage to encounter a KV-2 when they were becoming rare. They dealt with it by place 10kg of explosive on the back of the turret at night after beating the machine guns until the couldn’t fire.
Only photo of the KV is the roof since it was blown to hell.
The Finnish front was difficult place for tanks and the Soviets didn’t have time to develop new more effective ways to use tanks in defence. As a result tanks were often used in very small groups. Two T-50s are known to have been operated and lost there.
- This tank stuck on roadside somewhere on the long road between Sortavala and Petroskoi (Petrozavodsk). Due to it’s good external condition, it is a likely candidate as Niki.
- Non-photographed tank at Petroskoi. Finns also recovered the KV-1B from there, most likely via railway.
Remember the total number of completed T-50s was 69 hulls and only 48 with armament. In addition to Niki and the second survivor in Russia, about 10 different T-50s can be found from internet.
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There are definitely some gaps in Niki’s history.
First photos of the tank are from 5.2.1942.
The winter paints are also said to from spring 1942, though I haven’t found them from SA-kuva or other proper sources.
Next photos are from from parade at 1.10.1942.
From 1943 there is nothing. We have to go all the way to 30.1.1944 and after that blinding smoke grenade tests at 18.4.1944.
That exact same camo from 1944 remains at least until 1945. I think I have seen only one other photo of Niki with the white and blue roundel. The paint was still the same from what I can remember.
I don’t know where to look for old photos from the museum. At least 2006-2024 it has remained like this.
Few interesting photos from Parola. The last two also include Niki. Unfortunately there is no date, though all other photos from the same photographer in the archive are from 1960s and 70s.
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Do you know what the remaining hulls without armaments were used for??
Some of them became noncombat vehicles. If I remember correctly, some of them were just empty hulls and were used as armored sledges or as bunkers.
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At 0:47 there is a post-war photo of Niki at an unknown location. The absence of headlights hints the vehicle hasn’t been in use for some time already. Few barely visible paint lines seem similar to the 1944 scheme.
The colour in these photos seems to fit perfectly between the 1960s dark green and the sand like worn colour of present day. I don’t think the museum painted it during all those years.
Spoiler
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thanks for digging this up, it was interesting even though i already knew about some of it.
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Lol it seems the finns loved capturing russian tanks and slapping more armor on already armored tanks.
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It’s still not 100% certain if Niki was upgraded by Finns. Simply put, we don’t have proof if Soviets had armor upgraded T-50s. Usually a photo or blueprint drawing is required to add a new vehicle into game and we don’t have such.
Similarly we don’t know if Finns up-armored any of their T-26s themselves. Soviets mounted few different looking add-on armors on T-26, but so far I haven’t seen one matching Viku.
However we know Finns used T-28E as a model to up-armor several normal T-28s. Likewise they up-armored their StuGs. For the concrete they likely used German plans.
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-1 T-50 is already bs to fight
That is your fault, learn the weak spots and exploit vehicle’s weakness. Mantlet is a flat slab of 37mm, pairing with slow turret traverse the T-50 is not hard to fight against.
This vehicle will be a great and balanced addition to the game, so your opinion because of your lack of knowledge will not matter nor taken seriously.
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+1, maybe Finland can finally get its Rank II vehicle it should have had since the introduction of the sub-tt. Make it 3.0-3.3 and it will be quite balanced (even with extra weight it will be better in mobility than T-126)
Btw, what is the spg like object behind the pz4?
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It’s a T-38-34. They build a structure on T-38 to make it look like a T-34 for training usage. It’s not in the museum anymore, so I guess they took apart the construction and put T-38 in display in it’s original form.
There was also a T-38-KV.
Spoiler
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