1/35 Trumpeter 9P117M1 Scud Launcher

[Madhatter]

Hi everyone

After the enjoyment I had building the Meng BMPT "Terminator" and completion of the SBY Yamato, I thought I might give sci-fi a break and have another go at some Russian Military hardware.

I picked this up:

at my LHS today as it was 25% off all 35th Trumpy kits. I saw one of these at Expo and fell in love with it's boxy but menacing lines.

I have already taken the sprues out and cleaned up an awful lot of those molding 'nodules' ready to get started.

I haven't yet started my image search of the real thing for references but if you know of a good site that has lots of pictures of this awesome machine, please link them Especially the rear section as one thing I did pick up is the missing information about where to place the piping at the rear of the launcher that connect to the missile. Trumpeter supply you with some insulated wire for said pipe work but no instruction on where to place them. Silly mistake - but fortunately, the only one I have found.

Unlike the BR-52, this has NO EJECTOR PIN MARKS!!!!! yay The detail is beautifully molded and it looks like (I may live to regret this sentence) there is only a small amount of visual wiring to add to it.

Mike did a great review of it here if you want to see the sprue shots etc

I'm thinking of doing it in the Afghanistan Army 2005 scheme (well, as chosen by my 5 year old, however - I'm doing something smelly in my pants just thinking about it) however, I may end up being dull and going for just BOG (boring old green), I'll see how it all goes later. One thing I am going to try out is some paint chipping, so I'll borrow some of AndyRM's methods for it.

So yes, I am quite excited to get started on this. I'm just going to build this OOB except for any missing wiring. No A.M parts. No lighting. Just good 'ol modelling.

I'll kick off tomorrow

Thanks for stopping by

MH

Edited November 30, 2015 by Madhatter

[prowler0000]

[Housesparrow]

"Unlike the BR-52, this has NO EJECTOR PIN MARKS!!!!! "

BR-52? Is that the locomotive model?

Edited December 1, 2015 by Housesparrow

[Housesparrow]

I want one as well.

Btw, my local hobby store indicate that this model is 289mm long and 108mm wide.

[Madhatter]

"Unlike the BR-52, this has NO EJECTOR PIN MARKS!!!!! "

BR-52? Is that the locomotive model?

Yes it is. If you don't mind spending a lot of time cleaning up every single piece of mold shift and ejector marks, build one up. It makes a great subject to have on the shelf

well, I got a fair amount done today. It's a relatively complex kit but it all goes together quite well. If you build this kit, be careful at stage 7. The parts B13, 14 (& 38) that make up the rear suspension are a bit misleading in so far as that there is a long side and a short side. Make sure the short side is on the bottom - otherwise you'll have lop-sided axles. Speaking of which, the very front set up is weird because I followed the instructions but yet the bar that the wheel sits in sits upward unlike the others - but when you sit it on its right side up, that upwards position seems to vanish and sit level.

The suspension works as well. The drive train is a bit fiddly - even for me, but it all goes together in the end quite nicely. I was having doubts that the 2 halves of the chassis would meet up evenly and that it would be a fight to get it to go together but alas, I was quite surprised about how easy it joined up.

I've got most of the chassis all built now and there's just a couple of bits left to put on before it heads to the paint shop.

I am about to start the engine and that will go on once I have sprayed the chassis. I haven't as yet done a search on engine images for wiring etc, but I shall begin this maybe later tonight

Enough talking, here's some pictures of where I am up to (bear in mind that I have all the wheel stuff attached - not just one

That's it now until later. As always, thanks for looking

MH

[SeanM]

Nice neat work so far. I think the newer Trumpeter kits are great builds.

So, will it be is the raised/firing or lowered/transporting position?

[robw_uk]

great start... have thought of this sort of kit for the NATO/Warsaw Pact GB next year so will be watching with baited breath

[phildagreek]

Looks good, could this be described as "big"?

[DAG058]

Looking great so far!

[Madhatter]

Looks good, could this be described as "big"?

I guess you consider it big. Finished, it works out to be nearly if not 30 cms in length, which in my books is decent sized

Nice neat work so far. I think the newer Trumpeter kits are great builds.

So, will it be is the raised/firing or lowered/transporting position?

Not sure yet - Trumpeter have made it so you can display in in any configuration, but to display it in the launching position you need to add the hydraulic arm but remove it for transport mode. I am thinking I might play around with some telescoping brass or aluminium tubing to make it more realistic.

I am not having much luck finding images online of the engine - I keep getting images of the model from various sales sites but not a lot of the real thing - despite clicking on a picture of a real one and asking Google to show more like it. I'm also not having much luck locating images close up enough of the piping at the rear and where they all connect to. Again, Google keeps showing me pictures of models and I don't really like relying on modellers too much for references like that as people can make mistakes.

Anyways, I just finished base painting the engine in Alclad Aluminium and once its fully dried, I will do some weathering to it with grease and oil marks etc. Not that I will go too much with it as once the cover goes on, you won't see too much - although it is removable I think (?)

Once thing I've noticed about the Trumpeter instructions is the lack of colour call outs. One can only assume that anything that is attached to the chassis and isn't marked as "flat Black" should be body coloured.

Speaking of which, the instructions are quite intimidating in so far as that there are a lot of small things that go together on the one page which makes the page appear very busy and prone to the possibility of forgetting something. You need to devote a lot of attention to them to ensure that doesn't happen.

I'm hoping to have an update for you this weekend once the chassis has been painted etc - although it's going to be a busy one (weekend)

MH

[robw_uk]

.

Speaking of which, the instructions are quite intimidating in so far as that there are a lot of small things that go together on the one page which makes the page appear very busy and prone to the possibility of forgetting something. You need to devote a lot of attention to them to ensure that doesn't happen.

can you not scan & enlarge sections of the instructions and cross out bits as you cover them. I cross out sometimes if there are lots of pieces in a particular section

[Madhatter]

yes you could absolutley do that. I have been crossing out things on the original as I go

For anyone who wants to build this kit, I have found some great reference pictures here

As for this build, I will update again hopeflly this weekend

Thanks for looking

MH

[Madhatter]

greetings

Well, the chassis is all together - well, almost - still a couple of parts still need adding, but they're being painted separately and will go on once the paint has dried.

Speaking of which, the base semi-gloss black has gone on and I will do a few passes with NATO black to bring it more to life. Once that's dried, I'll weather it with pigments - but not too much.

The engine is almost done - it just needs the wiring harness added and some final weathering and it'll be finished.

The instructions have a small error in them - the cylinder thing up front left is made up of parts E45, E46 and in the instructions, it says E20, but in reality, it's E30. E20 looks like part of a seat.

I will go back into Photobucket tomorrow and adjust the white balances etc

More soon

MH

[robw_uk]

really complicated looking kit - really good looking kit... watching ahead of the 80s GB next year (not that I am building one of these, not sure what I am building for that yet)

[tommy1drop]

I`ve got the Dragon version of this, so I`m really looking forward to following your build, nice start

[Madhatter]

The base painting is done on the chassis and I have made a start on the chassis and I have made a start on the sub assemblies like the front bumper and the rear - well, I don't know the correct term for it, but I'm calling it a "section"

Everything is falling together quite nicely and aside from a small issue getting the engine block to sit properly and the PE tool for the front headlight cover is too big for the actual PE part, nothing else is proving to be a problem so far. I thought maybe the PE jig thing was just me not using it right, but alas no - it just doesn't fit the part properly. Small niggle and nothing to get my panties in a twist over or start Trumpeter bashing.

Well, that's it for now. I will update again once I've actually done some more worth showing

Till then, thanks for looking

MH

[prowler0000]

Enjoying this build!

[Andy Moore]

Great work so far MH. The chassis and engine look fantastic.

I had a similar problem with the jig for the PE headlight guards on my SS-23, I had to fold them manually in the end.

Those prime portal ref shots seem to cover everything, but there's some more here if you need them

Andy

[Madhatter]

Thanks for that link Andy, it's really great stuff!

I partially made the missile the the other night and it was a bit of a let down as there is a large gap on the nose section that'll require a lot of filling and sanding with a flexi file

[FrancisGL]

A really nice progress, cheers Madhatter

[Madhatter]

Hi all

My apologies for the lack of updates - I got rather side tracked with something else

I haven't done a lot but I did start on the interior. Trumpeter called out pale blue s the colour and I only had a Flanker type colour to use, and that's what I ended up spraying, but looking at it, it should've been more a lime green

Too late to change it now though, so pale blue it shall remain

I'm sorry for the lame update. I am going away for a couple of weeks, but when I return I shall be able ot put more time into this one.

Thanks for looking and have a great Christmas

Si

[Madhatter]

OK, so this should make up for yesterday's rather lame update. It'll also be the last one of this year, but when I get back, I will have the house to myself so hopefully, I'll be able to get some decent amount done

The cab is all together now, but I forgot to take a shot of it weathered inside. Once it's all done, I'll open the doors up and you'll be able to see it anyway.

I have base painted some of the body parts which will be hair sprayed and then the camo colours will go on. Speaking of which, I have decided on a scheme that I like and is do-able

That bit of rubbish in the grill has since been removed

This will be the scheme I'll go for:

Don't worry about the dirt on the chassis - it'll be blended in a bit more later and not so obvious.

So that's it for now. Any and all suggestions, critiques etc are always invited

Have a great Christmas everyone

MH

[DAG058]

This is looking excellent!

[Andy Moore]

That interior looks excellent, I like the added cabling on the steering wheel column.

The dirty, faded black on the chassis looks very realistic.

Nice choice on the colour scheme too, that should look fantastic

Andy

[Madhatter]

thanks Andy - but I still need to water down the dirt - it's too heavy in some places - although I still need to spray on some road dirt, so that should help bend it more.

I've just been doing those panels with the piping and knobs and what not that hang down the bottom (not as rude as it sounds) and the decals that have to go on are in the most incredulous places. Still, they look cool!

Thanks again

Si