1/35 Italeri/ZVEZDA ISU-152

[Crayons]

Had some more time today, so worked on the rear hatches. The kit offering is rather void of detail and the Eduard set is next to useless. It provides a ring surround for the periscope as well as a cover for the periscope outer surround and replacement locking handles for the rear portion of the door. The handles on my PE set snapped in half as I tried to carefully remove them from the fret. So, copper wire to the rescue.

Apologies for not taking a photo of the upper half of the door defore I started working on it. It was just as detailed as the lower portion.

I am very disappointed with the quality of this Eduard set, it just lacks so much. Of note, the locking lever for the upper section of the hatch is neither provided in the kit or as part of the Eduard set. What is also annoying is that Italeri have the moulded the periscopes as solid sinlge piece units, when in actual fact the lower section could be open and tilted through 90° to move it out of the way.

The white styrene rod (1mm) has been glued in place to give the appearance that the hinge pin is a single piece.

[Crayons]

Last major alteration to the super structure....

Some putty work here and there, bit of trimming and done.

[blimp]

Hi Crayons , here is a decent walkaround for you -

- apart from a mixture or old/new style tracks it is pretty stock ( unlike the majority of existing examples )

[Crayons]

Thanks blimp, I have a few photo's of that vehicle in a less than admirable condition.

Minor update: (details)

Top hatch is stock kit part. Lower two are the commanders hatch with some detail added. Brass is Eduard the rest is fuse wire.

For reasons unknown, Italeri only provide two indicator lights (front) and no convoy/brake light. Mould slip rendered the two kit parts useless, so I remade the front and rear indicator lights from styrene. The convoy/brake light is styrene tube. The cleaning rod clamps and stops (roof section) are from the Eduard set, the rest if fuse wire and some more of the lemonade can.

[Crayons]

Sorry for the delays, several projects at work are nearing completion and are taking up most of my time.

Minor update:

I have started work on replacing the lifting hooks. Originally I had decided to use half round styrene with a hole drilled through and a fuse wire ring installed (see below):

Paying closer attention to my photo's, this is incorrect. The lifting hooks seem to be constructed from a circular, hollow section piece of steel, welded to the hull and then a steel ring is installed. I wasn't able to find any premade styrene tube to suit the size requirements of 1.5mm, so I have drilled out a piece of 1.5mm rod and sliced it into 1mm sections:

Some are a bit uneven but I will just go back and trim them once the glue is dry. The lifting ring circled (my replacement) has been orientated incorrectly on the kit by Italeri. The kit moulded part has the ring at 90° it should be at 0°. What I can only assume is the locating point for the exhausts (and not some bad weld detail) needs to be shaved off. The exhaust deflector is over scale (it would measure in at 35mm thick at 1:1). I am going to test fit the exhausts to see how they relate to the deflectors before I decide whether to remove them and make replacments from brass/styrene sheet.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Crayons

[The_Lancaster]

Looking brilliant so far and the attention to detail is superb!

[Crayons]

Looking brilliant so far and the attention to detail is superb!

Thank you. I obviously looked at this kit first off with "boy eyes" as my wife would say as there is more wrong with the accuracy of the kit than I had originally thought. Never mind, a few more Italeri kits in the the stash yet. Even the dreaded kit #212. Which I am certain will end up in the junior modellers donations box at my LHS.

A little more progress:

The exhaust deflectors just didn't work for me, so I trimmed them off and replaced them with brass sheet left over from the track guards. Glued down the exhaust covers and textured them as they were castings.

[Crayons]

Wow, it has been nearly a year since I have worked on this kit. Life update more than anything else, but firstly the kit is back on the work desk. Photo's soon.

For everyone that was following this, I apologise for the lack of updates. New job, finishing my second degree, the arrival of a new member to our family (modern science is a wonderous thing) and a new house build into the mix just to keep it interesting.

Updates to come.....

[Crayons]

The replacement track pins never arrived, so I will have to make do with what pins and lengths I have. Some parts of the PE were lost during the move, fortunately I have some spares and they were only minor parts anyways.

Rear grills added, I will pick out some sections for damage at a later date. I also left two of the kit moulded lifting rings in place, curious to see how they paint up.

Rod antenna. From what I understand, the ISU 152 had a 10R radio equipped and that the antenna was provided in 4 sections, each approximately 1 metre in length and you simply screwed the sections together to increase your communication range. If this isn't correct, does anyone have more accurate information for me to work from?

I added a simple wire coil to the lower section as from pictures I have seen, the antenna was spring loaded. It also appears to have had some sort of cover over the lower portion of the spring, not sure if this canvas or rubber, but I will added that later if I can confirm it.

Have I mentioned I hate PE? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to bend these tool clamps without wrecking them? Doesn't appear to be any "bent here" lines to go off.

Lastly, the glacis plate. The join between the upper and lower plate needs to have a weld seam added as well as two weld seems added to the lower sections were the plates locked together, they are next on my list.

[FrancisGL]

Top notch details, cheers mate

[Carius]

Yes, great details indeed.

Cheers

[Crayons]

Just going to say; this Eduard PE set sucks.

Two more things I have just noticed that are wrong:

So they tell you to put the rear mudguards on the wrong way around, which if you do swap them over, you then need to remove the side section. Not a big issue as I wont be using them, but for anyone that has this set and plans on using it, keep this in mind. Secondly, what I thought was a lifting point (29), is actually used for securing the tow cables. It is welded directly onto the upper hull and does not have that little tab that Eduard have included, chop that bit off.

Front welds added:

Bit messy on one side, but that is fine, Russian welding finesse seems to leave a lot to be desired.

Tow cable points added and the few bits of PE that were broken in the move reattached:

I have noticed that on some vehicles, three grab handles both left and right side were added in line with the tow cable point and from the documentation I have read this was basically for the support infantry to use. Again, this seems to be a feature on some vehicles and not on others and I don't know if I will be adding them. I probably will.

Back to the antenna, from the war time photos I have, none have the protective cover on the antenna's base, so I will not bother adding it.

[Crayons]

Whilst contemplating the meaning of life, or more accurately, an agreeable shade for 4BO, I have decided it is time to start thinking about the crew for this SPG. The first figure should give me an idea of how much of an interior, if any, I will need to make. After a rummage through the stash, I have decided to use this set from Tamiya (end guy on the right, yes the one leering at the chest of his female comrade. He also looks like the Gestapo guy from Where Eagles Dare):

The basic pose of one leg and the position of the pelvis works for what I want to do and I will look through the other parts and use as required. In total, I plan on only two of the crew being visible, but......that may change.

Legs and foot cut to match new position:

Back to 4BO. Who would have thought that so many people could not seem to agree on a shade of paint. Each side citing a definitive source that backs up their opinions. My conclusion, no one knows for sure. Even the people that say that they mixed the RKKA prescribed colours think it is to yellow.

As I use the Aqueous Mr. Hobby colour range, I will be picking/making something that I think is close.

[Crayons]

First leg sorted:

I have had to cut the other leg in another section, so that is still being worked on. It seems no company (that I could find) makes a fired Panzerfaust 30, so brass tube and copper wire. I opted to use the 30 because the leaf sight is a simple sheet steel pressing and the firing mechanism is encased in a length of tube which makes it the easiest to fabricate.

And lastly, I managed to bend all the tool clamps without breaking any of them. Huzzah for me.

[Rob G]

Just caught up with this one - you're going to a lot more effort than I am with my CyberHobby version. If you don't mind, I'll shamelessly exploit your research for various bits of mine. Keep on plugging, this will be great when it's done!

[Crayons]

Just caught up with this one - you're going to a lot more effort than I am with my CyberHobby version. If you don't mind, I'll shamelessly exploit your research for various bits of mine. Keep on plugging, this will be great when it's done!

The quality of your kit is WAY better than this one. I hope you find the info useful. If you have any questions Rob, ask away and I will try to help.

Had time today to make some vague attempt at building the rear storage clamps for the DsHK. They aren't perfect, but they work well enough. Also added the grab handles that run along the sides of the engine deck.

Going to stare at the kit for a bit now and try to figure out what I have missed, I have the irking feeling that I have overlooked something.

[SJLR_1]

Good progress!!

[Rob G]

The kit quality may be better, but I'm sure that the building quality won't be. All that etch!

First up, thanks for answering the question of where the DsHK fits - my kit has that rail at the rear of the superstructure, but no clamps or indication of what it's for (typical Dragon, really).

[Crayons]

The kit quality may be better, but I'm sure that the building quality won't be. All that etch!

First up, thanks for answering the question of where the DsHK fits - my kit has that rail at the rear of the superstructure, but no clamps or indication of what it's for (typical Dragon, really).

Rob, the Eduard set I have for this is really basic, most of the parts I had to make myself, including the DsHK storage bracket. Technically it is from the Eduard set, I used some of the external fuel tank securing straps and just bent and soldered them to match the few clear photos I have. I am thinking the reason that the bracket was later deleted (post war would be my guess??) is because the lower bracket stops the upper engine door from being able to open past 90+ degrees. Which would seriously inhibit servicing.

There is also a bolt arrangement (top of the casting) under the sheet steel cover of the main gun. I don't have any good detail shots of exactly what it is or what purpose it serves, so I have just made a new cover from brass sheet and glued it in place. From what I can see in my photo's, there is one large central hex bolt with 5 or 6 smaller hex bolts in a circular pattern around the central bolt. If there are more details for it, I don't have them.

Update:

Glued the gun in place, reworked (as much as I could) the turret DsHK mount to match the new details I have. Fabricated the upper gun cover from brass sheet using the original kit hinges. Sorted out the fit of the rear engine plate with the lower hull. Pictures to follow....

[Crayons]

Upper hull is pretty much done. Few things I am going to try and tweak. And I need to make and add one more bracket on the roof and two small hooks on the rear engine deck.

After test fitting the figure with the rear hatch, it just doesn't fit. So a rethink is required.

[Crayons]

So, been rethinking the figure based on my original idea not being workable.

New idea:

Fortunately I can use the re-positioned legs with only a minor modification. I will need to cut through the left leg again at the join between the buttock and thigh and twist the joint so it lays more naturally against the engine deck. Still haven't added the few last details to the upper hull. Taking a week off work next week, so I should have some more time. Going to start working on the layout for the base. Thinking urban Berlin 1945.

Edit:

I have found out what the bolt arrangement is under the sheet metal covering on the cast mantlet): It is the securing assembly for the forward part of the gun cradle. One large central bolt with 6 bolts arranged in a circular pattern.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Crayons

[Crayons]

I do not have a source for this image and it is not intended to infringe on anyone's copyright. If this does infringe on copyright and you can prove you are the copyright holder, please advise and I will remove the image. For discussion purposes only.

This the forward section of the cradle I was referring to. You can clearly see how the bolt secures the cradle from the top of the casting. The other 6 bolts secure the main bolt housing. This arrangement also explains the amount of play in the gun's lateral movement as seen in the Chieftains Hatch two part episode (check youtube). My guess for the amount of play in the gun's lateral movement is to reduce wear/strain on the guns traverse gears. It must weigh over a tonne in of itself, simple reduction/traverse cogs would strip out after the second bump in the road. My theory anyways.

Also, after speaking to a surgeon friend of mine (also ex military) the body of the crew is laying as would be expected. Dislocation of the hips resulting in twisting of the joints would not occur until the ligaments had decayed, unless the body had been forcibly (and forcibly was emphasised) dumped in that position. So, I shall leave the lower portion of the body as it is.

Edit:

I thought I would add this statement: I don't believe this is a a circa 1940's photo. The details are to crisp. Modern restoration perhaps, the construction information is still accurate as far as I can tell.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Crayons

[SJLR_1]

This will look awesome when finished!