Modelik - Maz-543 + SS-1C Scud B

[hirondelle]

I'm a bit late with this - it's from the Russian 2019 Military calendar for January.
Paraphrasing, it says sth like "This truck delivers worldwide"
With the weather down there, this might help you feel a bit cooler

[jaffro]

Haha, thanks for that. 2019 calendar? Doesn't suprise me at all to see they're still using these trucks, they're only what... 50-60 years old? Still easily got another 50 years of service left in them.

[rmks2000]

Finally got to this thread to see the finished product. All I can say is that it is incredible.

[hirondelle]

Originally Posted by jaffro

Haha, thanks for that. 2019 calendar? Doesn't suprise me at all to see they're still using these trucks, they're only what... 50-60 years old? Still easily got another 50 years of service left in them.

I think, like the BTR, several RU trucks retain the basic form but get various upgrades. So that will probably be the latest model.

That said, their kit is remarkably durable. I know of old Zil trucks being started up after 40 years outside in +30C <-> -30C with only a fresh battery & some fuel being needed.
I also saw a good vid of some guys starting a SU-152 that had been parked up outside their apartment block in 1946. They got it running & even the tracks were fine when they gave it a run round in front of their building. Will see if I can find the link....

[lupaccio]

Originally Posted by jaffro

Well I've survived my first week and haven't gone insane yet. I think it's time for a long winded rambling update, for those who can't be bothered reading, there's photos for you to look at.

As previously mentioned, I wanted to start with the wheels, for a few reasons. I've always enjoyed making wheels, I wanted to test my scan n cut on some of the repetitive circular parts, and so far I've not heard anyone complain about the fitting etc when it comes to the wheels on this kit, as opposed to the rest of it.

The scan n cut gave mixed results, I'm glad I used photocopies of the parts though as the results weren't perfect but that was more due to me not fully understanding how to use the machine properly yet. It helped me a lot when it came to cutting the internal tyre joining strips with all their triangle tabs, that's for sure.

In the end, most of the parts were cut by hand, except the previously mentioned joining strips, the laser cut parts saved me a lot here too. So, armed with a box of parts and some handy reference shots, I dove right in...

Attachment 356842Attachment 356843Attachment 356844

I should also mention here that my other source for reference was Greg's build report, which really made a big difference when it came to figuring out how this goes together, the instructions are only helpful to a certain point, where pictures help a lot more. I'm going to post as many pictures as I can of various stages, hoping they might be helpful to anyone else wanting to build this.

I was wondering how long I'd last before wanting to add extra detail too... Well, it was about 5 minutes. Looking at the reference shots, I decided the hub seals needed a bit more detail. It was at this point I decided the whole model is going to get extra detail and a full coat of paint. I've now decided to go all out, at this stage, adding 3D detail to every single detail that's printed onto the kit. I'll probably add extra stuff too, if it's in the reference photos but not on the kit.

For the hubs, I added the extra detail to the centre hub seals and some lasercut nuts (I had to draw the line at adding bolts to the inside of the nuts, but I was tempted). The pictures below show the original hubs, my upgrades and various stages of the hub build.

Attachment 356845Attachment 356846Attachment 356847Attachment 356848Attachment 356849Attachment 356850Attachment 356851

After staring at the reference shots long enough, it started to bother me that something didn't look quite right. around the outer edge of the hub, in the kit, are these little "fin" type parts. They looked good, but not really the same as the photo of the real thing. I rectified this by filling the gaps with white glue, watered down. As the glue dries, it shrinks as the water evaporates, after drying I applied another layer and repeated the process until I was happy with the result. After painting, these should look a bit more like the real thing.

Attachment 356852Attachment 356853

Not sure If I mentioned it yet but so far there have been no fitting issues with these wheels or hubs. I was ready for it though and cut most strips longer than they needed to be, just in case. In the end though, everything was cut back to the intended size and everything went together really well.

I had a few small gaps on the tyres, but nothing major and it didn't really bother me as I intended to putty them anyway. I used a water based putty and watered it down to the consistency of white glue so it soaks into the joins. This enables me to create a rounder edge when sanding. Also, for added effect, I piped a ring of watered down putty around the flat sidewalls of each tyre, so I can give it a more rounded shape after sanding.

Attachment 356863Attachment 356862Attachment 356864Attachment 356865

After sanding, it's time for tread. About 240 pieces per wheel. The kit comes with an entire A3 page of tread, to be laminated to 1mm card then cut out. They're not square, they're all kinds of weird curvy shapes. All I can say is... If you've built this model, without buying lasercut tread... You are insane.

I forgot to take pics of the sanding process, I tried something I haven't tried before. I glued each wheel to a piece of wooden skewer then mounted them in my dremel... mixed results at first but way faster than sanding by hand.



Applying the tread is an incredibly tedious process, made even worse by the fact I smeared putty all over the parts that were marked with where the treads had to go, so I pretty much had to guess. I think I added too many rows, but fortunately my laser cut parts seem to have given me more than I'm going to need. (Side note: Greg bought the "tread only" laser sheets from GPM and mentioned his were short, keep that in mind if you're planning to buy some).

Attachment 356866

After attaching all the tread, I found an extra tread piece not referenced in the instructions. Looking at the reference shot above, it's on the tyre, but using the parts mentioned in the instructions I still ended up with the same number of treads per row. I decided to add it anyway as I like the way it looks. I will be sanding them down to a point flush with the sidewall before painting.

So, here's where I'm at right now... One wheel finished, 7 more waiting for tread...

Attachment 356867

Ciao gran bel lavoro, stavo pensando di acquistare questo kit, ma da quello che leggo e che vedo mi sa che faccio una cavolata..veramente complicato oltretutto dal fatto che le istruzioni non sono il massimo, per quanto riguarda i tasselli del battistrada fai riferimento alla GPM per acquistarli tagliati al laser, ma se ho capito bne non sono precisi...:confuso:..poi vorrei chiederti che tipo di stucco hai usato per le ruote, non riesco a capire bene.. ti ringrazio anticipatamente, e complimenti per il tuo ottimo lavoro

Translation from Italian to English provided by Google Translate and rickstef
Hi great job, I was thinking of buying this kit, but from what I read and what I see I know that I do a bullshit .. really complicated besides the fact that the instructions are not the best, for what concerns the tread blocks refer to the GPM to buy them laser cut, but if I understand bne they are not precise ...: confused: .. then I would like to ask you what kind of putty you used for the wheels, I can't understand well .. I thank you in advance, and congratulations for your great job

[lupaccio]

bellissimo ma una follia..........

English translation provided by Google Translate and rickstef
beautiful but madness

[lupaccio]

Vero uo visto anche io ul video del SU152

Translated by Google Translate
True u also seen on the video of the SU152

[jaffro]

Greetings lupaccio and welcome to the forum, i'll try to answer your questions...

Originally Posted by lupaccio

per quanto riguarda i tasselli del battistrada fai riferimento alla GPM per acquistarli tagliati al laser, ma se ho capito bne non sono precisi...:confuso:..

for what concerns the tread blocks refer to the GPM to buy them laser cut, but if I understand bne they are not precise ...: confused:

The tread parts can be purchased separately from GPM but I bought mine as part of the complete laser cut set for this model, I purchased the model from Model Making - Super-Hobby - Model shop, scale models, plastic models. GPM sell the treads for the wheels on their own, if that's all you want. I would recommend the entire laser set though.

Originally Posted by lupaccio

poi vorrei chiederti che tipo di stucco hai usato per le ruote, non riesco a capire bene.. ti ringrazio anticipatamente, e complimenti per il tuo ottimo lavoro

then I would like to ask you what kind of putty you used for the wheels, I can't understand well .. I thank you in advance, and congratulations for your great job

The putty I used is a water based timber putty called "Timber Mate" available in hardware stores and paint suppliers, it bonds well to the paper while wet and dries a bit like chalk , making it easy to sand.

I will also answer the questions you asked me in Private Message here, in case anyone else is wondering...

Originally Posted by lupaccio

I wanted to ask you since I never bought these models, and I would like to buy this model, if in the kit you have to buy separately card or is it included? Should it be purchased separately? How much do you need to buy and how thick? Thank you in advance and congratulations again for your superb model.

The extra card you need to laminate to is purchased separately, sometimes you can purchase this from the supplier of the kit (GPM etc). I can't say how much you need as I didn't take note. I always have a good supply of 1mm and 0.5mm cardboard on hand, the kit instructions will tell you which parts need to be laminated to the thicker card.

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your kind words.