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Hi there guys, I was looking around at picking up my first field gun model kit since coming back into the hobby as an adult. This is my 5th or so kit, all others have been Tamiya/Meng so I wasnt sure what to expect from trumpeter given their reputation for sometimes overly complex kits. I was very surprised and absolutely loved the kit. There arent any reviews out there I spotted so I put some details below pictures. Here the kit is painted up, I havent decided on whether to give it an oil wash or add some weathering. There are no decals. You can see an issue I had with the front wheels (details at the end). it. There are an absolute tonne of wonderfully detailed pieces around the gun behind the shields; As you can see the wheels at the back are on much better than those at the front. Some details about the kit; It sits at around 270 parts, in the box you get 5 plastic sprues: 2x A, B,C,D; 1 small sprue of photo-etch also labelled A; 4 rubber wheels and a separate piece which is unlabeled but the instructions call it D82. The sprues come wrapped in a little piece of sponge inside their plastic bags, which is quite nice since there are quite a few thin long pieces which are very easy to break when handling the sprue if not careful. The instructions are quite spartan but clear enough. In steps 1-5 you build the gun itself, 6 to 20 contains the majority of the pieces and involves building the platform for the gun then in 21-27 you build the carriage. There are 2 options shown through the instructions, one for travel mode (which is how I built the kit) and one for combat mode, with the struts down and gun elevated. There is only 1 paint scheme shown, the typical russian green all over with rubber black wheels. The paint guide seems a little off to me, they recommend tamiya XF20, but also call for light green, I used vallejo 71.017 russian green 4BO which I think looks pretty nice. The downsides for me are; there are alot of very small, very easy to break pieces and absolutely no spares provided, the gun, as well as multiple other cylindrical pieces, come in 2 parts which leaves quite a few annoying seams to be filing down and finally the construction of the wheels has a part in it which I think shouldn't be there. When you build the wheel up, the instructions have you pop a little piece inside the axle mounting (A25). If you put it in (like I did at the front) the wheels simply dont go over no matter what you do, if you leave it out (like at the back) they fit perfectly. Also nearly all of the PE parts have to be bent, most of them freehand, which is a pet hatred of mine. So all in all, I had a great time with this kit, its complicated but not ridiculous, there are lots of small pieces to be handling but they all go in place very easily and it doesnt get repetitive (unlike say, making 80 links worth of tracks out of 4 pieces, thanks Meng) and comes together really nicely. I do think that for the price, given the lack of paint options and no decals, the kit does need something a little extra. Either a metal barrel or crew or even just some ammo+ammo storage would really bring the kit together to me.

Soviet 52-K 85mm Air Defence Gun Trumpeter 1:35 History The 85 mm air defence gun M1939 (52-K) was an 85-mm Soviet air defence gun, developed under guidance of leading Soviet designers M. N. Loginov and G. D. Dorokhin. This gun was successfully used throughout the German-Soviet War against level bombers and other high and medium altitude targets. In emergencies they were utilized as powerful anti-tank weapons. The barrel of the 52-K was the basis for the family of 85-mm Soviet tank guns. Crews of 85-mm AD guns shot down 4,047 Axis aircraft. The mean quantity of 85-mm ammunition required to shoot down one enemy plane was 598 rounds. After the war some 52-Ks were refitted for peaceful purposes as anti-avalanche guns in mountainous terrain. Virtually every country behind the Iron Curtain received this gun after World War II for their air defence. In the Soviet Union itself, these guns were largely superseded by the 100 and 130 mm guns. The Model The kit comes in Trumpeters standard style top opening box, and although quite small it has very good artistic representation of the gun in action. Inside there are eight standard sprues, plus six tiny sprues of beige coloured styrene, almost the colour of a Caramac candy bar, a small sprue of clear styrene. There are also a set of four rubber tyres, the main base frame, and a small sheet of etched brass. The parts are really well moulded with no flash and only a few moulding pips needing removal. As with other kits of this type the rubber tyres are nicely done with finely moulded details on both the tread and the sidewalls. The build starts with the construction of the long barrel, which comes in four parts, left and right halves of the barrel and the left and right halves of the fluted muzzle brake. Whilst with care this can look pretty good, I would have preferred a single slide moulded barrel, and hopefully one of the aftermarket companies will provide a nice metal one. The right and left sides of the trunnions, complete with top mounted recuperator, are joined together with the barrel in the middle and fitted with the half round elevation cog. The single piece breech is fitted with the three piece breech block and end cover. This assembly is then attached to the rear of the barrel and finished off with the breech block lever, breech block locking leer and travel lock. The trunnion mounts are then assembled, each side being fitted out with the two piece recoil springs, gear box and centrally mounted elevation cog, beneath which is the traversing block. With the trunnion mounts fitted to the trunnions/barrel the seven piece firing solutions computer is assembled and fitted to the right mount whilst the five piece sighting unit is fitted to the port mount, which is also fitted with the clinometers, complete with the PE pointers. The ends of the recuperator and recoil slide are fitted with caps. A second firing solutions computer is assembled and fitted to the left hand mount along with the five piece elevation gearbox. The gunners seats and foot rests are then attached, along with the elevation and traversing hand wheels. The main mounting frame is fitted with its separate base, followed by two slit spades which can either be mounted in the trail position or pushed through the holes at the ends of the folding trails arms to make it a steadier gun platform. The two curved gunners platforms are each fitted with a small storage box on the underside before being attached to the base frame. There is another storage box sited on the front right of the frame, whilst end of the frame is fitted with a gearbox for lowering the front and rear steadying pads. Each axle is made up of no less than fifteen parts, and once assembled are fitted to each side at the ends of the frame, followed by the four wheels, the fronts with a two piece hub whilst the rear hubs are made up of three pieces. The folding trails are made up of upper and lower sections which, when joined together, sandwich the pivots on the base frame. The towing eye is attached to the end of the towing bean, which, in turn, is slotted into the pivot point on the frame. At the other end there is an optional barrel clamp and frame which can be posed either up in travel mode or folded down for firing. The model is finished off with the addition of two more steadying pads, at each end of the folding trails, and the gun assembly which slots onto the top of the coned mounting point on the frame. The small sprues mentioned at the beginning of this review each contain two shells for a total of twelve69, which is nice. If only it hand some crew to handle them. Conclusion This gun does have a passing resemblance to the mighty German 88mm and could be considered a contemporary. It is certainly an interesting weapon and would look great in a diorama, although since no crew are included you will have to source or scratchbuild them yourselves. Alternatively, you might be like me and just have a collection of artillery pieces into which this will fit very nicely. It’s got quite a few small parts, but should cause too many problems in the build, just be aware of them and read the instructions carefully. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for