T-34 Tank Keychain

After much time spent fruitlessly searching, I realized there are no good tank keychain models out there that are both realistic and durable. Of course, this is an obvious need, so I tried to rectify this a little while ago with my Tiger II tank keychain. Unfortunately, just like the real Tiger II, the design proved a failure for its intended purpose. The wheels broke off, the gun was split in two, and the tank was too small to be cool-looking. So I went back to the drawing board and completely redesigned a brand-new tank keychain based off of the legendary T-34 tank. The T-34 works great as a keychain for a few reasons, but first and foremost is the fact that the simple design of the tank's barrel allows it to be shortened and thickened considerably without affecting the overall look of the tank, meaning you can add a LOT of durability and strength to what would otherwise be the weakest part of the vehicle. I modified @Jerryie's amazing T-34 tank design (keep making your tanks @Jerryie, they are AWESOME!), simplified its parts for printing at a small scale, and modified the entire turret and gun barrel to make sure that it would hold up to the rigors of being a keychain. The gun may still break occasionally, but this keychain is much much stronger than my Tiger II keychain, and unless you have a habit of dropping your keys from second-story balconies on a regular basis, the design should hold up well. Of course, this doesn't mean your tank is invincible, but if your tank is taken out by a bazooka-wielding family member or your Panzer-driving cat, each part can be reprinted in under an hour, meaning that your keychain can be easily repaired in the snowy Siberian tundra...or wherever you have your 3D printer.

The T-34 is a legendary tank. First designed in the late 1930s, its brilliant use of sloped armor and powerful 76mm main weapon would prove to be deadly to the German Panzers later in WWII. In addition to its armor and weapon, the T-34 also featured a powerful V-12 engine that could propel the vehicle to speeds of over 30 mph, meaning that it was also extremely mobile. The early T-34's only detriment was the tank's extremely cramped turret, which restricted the vehicle's effectiveness. This problem was remedied in late 1943. Russian engineers, rushing to create an effective response to the phenomenal new German tanks---the Panther and the legendary Tiger I---completely redesigned the old T-34's turret and upgunned the tank with an all-new 85mm main weapon. The new tank, designated T-34/85, featured a larger turret that dramatically increased crew comfort, but more importantly, the 85mm gun could destroy the mighty German Panther, whose sloped armor and 75mm weapon made it vastly superior to any other Allied weapon. The T-34 was the most produced tank of World War II, with over 80,000 tanks produced of all variants. These vehicles served the Russian military into the Cold War, and some countries still use T-34s today.

As a side note, in the 2015 movie Ant Man, Hank Pym carries a shrunken-down T-34/85 on his keys that he "liberated" on a mission to Russia during the Cold War. And yes, this is part of the reason I wanted a T-34 keychain in the first place. Feel free to repeat Hank Pym's legendary line as he unshrinks his keychain to escape from the Yellowjacket: "It's not a keychain."

I hope you enjoy this keychain. It is the result of hours of design work and I hope it brings you a lot of joy to see it on your keys! As another side note, please follow the settings I've listed here, they will truly make your keychain stand out.

Print Settings

Layer Height: 0.08 mm

Infill Density: 20%

Supports: Yes

Assembly Guide

1. Press fit the turret rotator piece into the provided slot. This fit will be very snug so you may need to rescale this piece in the slicer to your needs.

2. Glue the front and rear body pieces together. The pieces are small enough that you shouldn't need to clamp them into place, but you might want to lightly clamp them to ensure they stay stuck together.

3. Press fit the wheels into the tracks. The fit was nice and snug for me, but if they are too large you may need to glue them into place. 

4. Press the turret onto the body. It should firmly stay on the rotator piece, but be able to still rotate.

5. Glue the tracks onto the body and you're done! I hope you enjoy this tank keychain as much as I enjoyed creating it!