Dave Ward's Zvezda 1/35 MSTA-S 152mm SPH

[Dave Ward]

Taking a short break from applying rib tapes to my SSW D.III I'm lining up for my next build......................[ATTACH]311572[/ATTACH]
I'll put up some detail shots:
Suspension mount[ATTACH]311558[/ATTACH]
Final Drive mount[ATTACH]311559[/ATTACH]
Upper Hull edging[ATTACH]311560[/ATTACH]
Drivers' hatch
[ATTACH]311561[/ATTACH]
Side hatch - moulded in place[ATTACH]311567[/ATTACH]
Top of the turret - non-slip & hatch opening[ATTACH]311568[/ATTACH]
As you can see, all parts are crisply moulded, and no flash anywhere
Road wheel & drive sprocket[ATTACH]311562[/ATTACH][ATTACH]311563[/ATTACH]
Tracks are link & length, with the hollow guide horns in strips - track sag is built in on the top runs
[ATTACH]311569[/ATTACH]
There are some very fine parts - these are the front fender mounts/springs
[ATTACH]311565[/ATTACH]
One of the weakest points is the barrel & muzzle brake - split into multiple parts - a lot of careful assembly & clean-up
[ATTACH]311570[/ATTACH][ATTACH]311571[/ATTACH]
Decals are generally generic, but then the Russians don't go for a lot of identification.
I think I'm going for a camo scheme, so I got this AK set...........................
[ATTACH]311573[/ATTACH]

Construction will start as soon as the SSW D.III is completed
Dave

[stillp]

Looks like a very nice kit Dave.

Pete

[Dave Ward]

One of Zvezda's later models - no slide moulding, or PE, but excellent details - I'll have to wait to comment on the fit.
The MSTA-S ( also 2S19) has a whacking great turret on a T-80 chassis, with a T-72 diesel powerpack, so based on tried, tested, and available parts.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Construction underway! There are 451 parts in this, so.........................[ATTACH]312090[/ATTACH][ATTACH]312091[/ATTACH]
Zvezda would have you start with the upper hull, but I want to get the lower hull & tracks etc finished first. There is no problem here with fit, all very good, some of the part ingates are a bit large & need careful removal. There are a lot of 'handed' parts, and similar looking parts, so care has to be taken to get the right bits in the right places.
The way that Zvezda have engineered this, you add all the inner roadwheels, the inner sprocket & idler halves. You add the track - then finally add all the outer wheel bits.
Dave

[col68]

Nice start Dave. It looks like a detailed kit if the hull is anything to go by.

[Mickc1440]

Plenty of nice crisp detail, will watch this one progress Dave

[Mr Bowcat]

That's a beast, the size of the turret!

[Dave Ward]

I've been looking at camo schemes for this monster - Most, but not all seem to have the basic green on the running gear/hull side/wheels, so I'm going to go with that, the camo only appearing on the skirts/upper hull/turret ( internet pictures for discussion purposes only)[ATTACH]312103[/ATTACH][ATTACH]312104[/ATTACH]
There seems to be considerable variation in the camo patterns....................
Dave

[Guest]

Strange that they give you such a well-detailed lower hull, and then have you fix a big square plate in it for no reason that’s apparent from these photos.

[Dave Ward]

Jakko,
All I can think is that this is for a variant - maybe a gun tank?
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Lower hull primed and basecoated - same for the roadwheels................................[ATTACH]312160[/ATTACH][ATTACH]312161[/ATTACH]

The tracks, the lengths have their guide horns added, and some links that go round the the idler are assembled[ATTACH]312162[/ATTACH][ATTACH]312163[/ATTACH]

Then all the track bits are primed/basecoated
[ATTACH]312164[/ATTACH]
I need to detail paint the hull, and roadwheels, and then will be ready to add the tracks - all going together nicely, so far
Dave

[stillp]

Jakko,
All I can think is that this is for a variant - maybe a gun tank?
Dave

Maybe a battery compartment lid for a motorised version?

Pete

[Dave Ward]

Pete,
the way the model is engineered, it's purely a static model.
No benchtime today, life gets in the way of the important things occasionally!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

After a few days without benchtime, I've done the tracks. No real problems. The sprockets are keyed to the hull, so that is the starting point. I found that adding the sprocket & idler first helped alignment[ATTACH]312521[/ATTACH]
In this side, I added the track lengths anti-clockwise. This means that any problems with spacing will be on the top run, which will be hidden by the skirts!
In the end, there wasn't any problem............
[ATTACH]312522[/ATTACH]
Both sides completed - a bit of touching up here and there, but running gear sorted[ATTACH]312523[/ATTACH]
Next will be the upper hull, by way of sorting out how well the bits for the gun barrel fit together. It's visually important, and I want to get any filing/filling done early.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The barrel is in halves...................
[ATTACH]312663[/ATTACH]
You have to decide whether you are going to have the barrel in the travel clamp - a lovely moulding - travel (L) or firing. It goes between the barrel sections.
[ATTACH]312664[/ATTACH]
Mine will be in the travel position. It's quite a long tube, and it needs attention on the seams
[ATTACH]312662[/ATTACH]
Muzzle brake dry fitted, it needs a bit of work on the baffles..
The upper hull has the exhaust, and 9 multi part storage boxes, as well as other plates
[ATTACH]312665[/ATTACH]
Some of the parts have large sprue gates, but careful removal and trimming, and they all fit very well together.
Dave