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Self-Propelled Gun SU-85 w/Crew. 1:35


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Soviet Self-Propelled Gun SU-85 w/Crew

MiniArt 1:35

 

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History

Early in World War II, Soviet tanks such as the T-34 and KV-1 had adequate firepower to defeat any of the German tanks then available. By the fall of 1942, Soviet forces began to encounter the new German Tiger tank, with armour too thick to be penetrated by the 76.2 mm guns used in the T-34 and KV tanks at a safe range. The Soviet command also had reports of the Panther tank, that was in development then and possessed thicker armour than the Tiger; both represented an advance in German tank design. Although the Panther was not seen in combat until July 1943, the new generation of German vehicles meant the Red Army would need a new, more powerful main gun for their armoured formations.

In May 1943, work was begun on a new anti-tank gun. Military planners directed the design bureaus of both Gen. Vasiliy Grabin and Gen. Fyodor Petrov to modify the 85mm anti-aircraft gun for use as an anti-tank weapon. Petrov's bureau developed the D-5 85mm gun. Though much too large for the T-34 or KV-1 turret, it was thought the gun could be mounted upon the chassis of the SU-122 self-propelled gun to give the weapon mobility. The version of this gun intended to be mounted upon the SU-85 was called the D-5S, with the "S" standing for self-propelled. Initially the production factory at Uralmash rejected the proposed design. Nevertheless, the administrators at Uralmash were persuaded to proceed, and the new design was put into production. The weapon was later modified to include a telescopic sight and a new ball gun mantlet. This vehicle was renamed the SU-85-II.

The SU-85 was a modification of the earlier SU-122 self-propelled howitzer, essentially replacing the 122 mm M-30S howitzer of the SU-122 with a D-5T high-velocity 85 mm antitank gun. The D-5T was capable of penetrating the Tiger I from 1000 m. The vehicle had a low profile and excellent mobility. Initially given an armoured commander's cap on the first batch, the SU-85's observational optics were improved by the introduction of a standard commander's cupola - the same as on the T-34-76 model 1942, along with the already existing prismatic observation sights installed in left side and rear. On later vehicles, the same optics were added, almost allowing all-around observation

The SU-85 entered combat in August 1943. It saw active service across the Eastern Front until the end of the war. Though a capable weapon, it was found that its 85 mm weapon was not adequate to penetrate the armour of the larger German armoured fighting vehicles. It was replaced by the SU-100. The SU-85 was withdrawn from Soviet service soon after the war, and was exported to many Soviet client states in Europe and elsewhere. Some SU-85s were converted to use as command and recovery vehicles. In places such as North Korea and Vietnam, it remained in service for many years

The Model

Although not as complex as the SU-85 kit reviewed HERE, this recent release still has around sixty six sprues of parts, although these include some sprues with only two or three parts each. The attractive top opening box, with a nice rendering of the vehicle on the lid, contains a number of poly bags within poly bags, in which all the sprues are held securely, well until you open them, even carefully, and they fly all over the place. All the parts are very well moulded, with no sign of flash or other imperfections, and very few moulding pips. The sprue gates are nice and small, especially useful on the more fragile parts. 

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A much simpler kit than the SU-122, construction begins with the assembly of the hull floor, onto which the torsion bar suspension arms are attached, along with the floor mounted escape hatch, and eight, four piece spring damper units. Although there isn’t a full interior, there are still some parts that are fitted to the inside of the hull sides, such as crew seats and idler wheel axles.  On the outside the road wheel axles are attached to the torsion bars and spring damper units before being attached to the hull floor assembly.  The front glacis plate is fitted with the prominent drivers hatch, which again has interior and exterior details, the spring shock- absorber units for the recoil, each of which could be left off as you won’t see them and without the rest of the interior are superfluous.  The glacis plate and lower glacis plate are then attached to the front hull, whilst the rear mounted transmission covers, with its towing hook is also glued into position.

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The main gun assembly consists of a two part rear section, which includes the breech, is fitted with the crew guards, top mounted recouperator tubes, and the two trunnion mounts, before being slid into position inside the mantlet and mantlet cover.  Two large storage bins are assembled and fitted with PE hinges and locks and put aside to dry. The two part road wheels, idlers and sprockets are then attached to their respective axles, whilst the gun and mantlet combo is fitted to the top glacis plate and the main barrel section attached. The tracks are possibly the tricky area of the build, with each link attached to the sprue by four gates, not only will they take time to clean up the pins on the guide horn mounted links are quite small and look like they will break easily.  So, although they should just click together, you may need to add a dab of glue to keep them in place once the track length has been fitted to the kit.

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The two intake vents are each assembled from three parts whilst the fighting compartment roof is fitted with the various sights, periscopes and viewing ports, along with the two crew hatches. The single piece rear decking, which includes the track guards, has the intake vents glued into position, followed by the three piece intake grilles, mid mounted engine hatch, and the two stowage box assemblies, whilst the fighting compartment side panels are fitted with the pioneer tools, lights, and filter unit. The side panels are attached to the hull first, followed by the engine deck assembly, and rear bulkhead mounting frame.  The fighting compartment rear panel is assembled with the fitting of the various vents, viewing ports and grab handles before being glued into position, followed by the fighting compartment roof, and rear hull bulkhead panel.

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More details are added, including the spare track links, front and rear mud guards, gearbox access hatch, exhausts and covers, gunners split hatch and aerial.  The spare fuel tanks are each assembled from three parts and glued to the paired support frames, before being finished off with PE straps.  On the right hand side rear track guard a rolled up tarpaulin is fixed into position by another pair of PE straps, whilst the four pairs of spare track links are held down by more PE straps finishing the build.

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Now, whilst the tank model is complete, this kit comes with five figures, which aren’t actually mentioned in the instructions, only on the painting guide. There are two looking over a map case, one casually standing about with a hand in his pocket, one sitting, and one who looks like he should be standing in the commander’s hatch, with one arm draped over the open hatch. All are in winter tankers gear and ribbed tankers protective headgear.

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Decals

The small decal sheet provides markings for two vehicles and has been printed by MiniArt themselves. They are well printed none the less with good opacity, in register, although they are quite matt. The vehicles are:-

  • SU-85 from the 2nd Belorussian Front, East Prussia, in January 1945
  • SU-85 from Factory Testing, Sverdlovsk Region in the Autumn of 1943

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Conclusion

This is another very nice kit from MiniArt. Probably a better build for, what I would term an intermediate beginner, than the SU-122, but still enjoyable enough for the more experienced modeller.  There doesn’t appear to be much that would cause too much stress, as long as you dry fit and check before adding glue.  The addition of the crew is a nice touch and will look great in a diorama, particularly if a snow scene is attempted.

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Review sample provided by

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bought this for my son, who is definitely getting into modelling via AVF's, it looks like it will build up into a fab looking model

 

However I am totally confused by the colour callouts in the build instructions, some seem to be contradictory and others inconsistent or nonexistent. I hope to see abuild review of one of these by someone who knows what they are supposed to look like to help us!

 

Cheers 

 

Les

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