Russian 2S3 Self-Propelled Howitzer (Early) - 1:35 Trumpeter

[Mike]

Russian 2S3 Self-Propelled Howitzer (Early)
1:35 Trumpeter

Developed in the late 60s as a direct counterpart to the US M109 self-propelled Howitzer, the 2S3, which is known as Akatsiya by its users, was developed using a cut-down chassis from a pre-existing SAM system, and mounting a large 152mm howitzer in a turret set to the rear of the upper hull. It is NBC capable, diesel powered, and has a crew of 6 men in ideal conditions, with four inside the hull and 2 passing ammunition through the rear doors if it is safe for them to do so without them coming under fire.

The initial prototypes suffered from a tendency to gas its crew as rounds were fired, but once this was solved, series production started, and over the years a large number have been produced in various forms, the latest being the 2S3M2, which has a slightly larger gun, and modern GPS and satellite guidance equipment that was added at the turn of the new millennium. It was used by the former Soviet Union, its allies in the Eastern Bloc and Africa, and has participated in Afghanistan and most conflicts that have plagued some Eastern European states since the dissolution of the Union, as well as taking part in Libya during the civil war. There are still a large number in active service of former Soviet Union countries, and more in storage "just in case" throughout the many current operators.

The Kit
This new tool kit is part of Trumpeter and Hobby Boss' current (perceived) bid to kit almost every piece of Soviet Cold War armour before the end of the decade. It arrives in a standard top opening Trumpeter box, and inside is a divider annexing the hull and turret parts from the sprues, of which there are quite a few - nine to be precise, all of them in a medium grey styrene. The hull halves and turret upper are separate due to their complex slide-moulded detail, and the tracks are supplied on 30 (yes, that many) three-dimensional sprues in bags of five. More on that later. A small sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass is included, plus a small decal sheet, instruction booklet and an A3 full-colour painting and markings guide.

As always with AFV kits, six of the sprues contain wheel and suspension parts, plus small parts that are required in greater numbers. The other three sprues are full of the upper hull, turret and entrenching equipment parts, and once you have completed the suspension, the model should go together quickly. Detail is excellent, and the major parts have been tooled using modern slid-moulding moulds to give detail on sides of parts that wouldn't normally be possible with older methods. There is no interior to the howitzer, but this is fairly common, and what is provided is of good quality.

The lower hull is supplied as a bathtub with missing rear panel, which is on one of the sprues, and detailed with the rear doors for ammo supply, latches, shackles and armoured breathers before being added to the hull, which is festooned with bump-stops and return rollers, plus final drive housings and then the suspension arms with twin wheels on six sets of single axles on each side. The idler wheels are also paired and installed on a short axle which also acts as the track tensioner, while the drive sprockets are made up from three parts and installed in a hole on the final drive housing. The track links are all separate, and have been tooled in a way I have not seen before. Each sprue contains eight links with three attachment points and NO ejector pin marks, which have slide-moulded detail to the ends depicting the track pin ends, by cleverly splitting the sprue so that it resembles a ladder, admitting the sliding detail parts of the mould during manufacture. The result are very well detailed links that click-fit together, taking a lot of the hassle out of using individual links for the uninitiated, and needing very little clean-up. Full marks to Trumpeter here. The fenders attach to the lower hull on large tabs at each end and one in the middle, which seems a little flimsy to this reviewer, although in action the joint might well be strong enough. Jack blocks and small parts are added to each fender, and attention turns to the upper hull.

A fording bow wave deflector is the first item installed on the hull at the front of the glacis plate, behind which is the driver's compartment with vision blocks and separate hatch cover. To his right is the engine compartment, which has two rectangular grilled, which use PE mesh to cover the openings, and then either two grids that cover the mesh, or an armoured cover to the rear-most grille, which requires a couple of holes to be drilled in the hull to accommodate the mounting pegs. A trio of hatches are installed on the port side, and the front headlight is first installed in a rather delicately moulded cage before being added to the hull front on both sides. At the rear under the turret are a few spare track links and other shackles, of which there seem to be a lot on the 2S3, some of which are made from PE. Grab handles are also numerous, as are filler caps on the engine deck, and the travel lock for the barrel is installed centrally on the glacis, just forward of the driver's station.

The gun is supplied as two halves, split horizontally, and it is hard to see how this could have been done any other way, due to the massive size of the twin baffle flash-hider that adorns the end of the barrel. It assembles into a rather happy looking mantlet, with two recuperator cylinders sat above it and partially buried in the mantlet. It is trapped between the turret top and bottom, and has no breech detail whatsoever - just a cylinder with two pegs on the ends that allows the gun to elevate. The commander's hatch and close-quarters machine-gun station is built up with a complex remote-controlled mount and 7.62mm PKT general purpose machine gun with searchlight fitted to the front. Periscopes, grab-handles and tie-downs are added, before the mantlet surround is added, with a PE protector around the sight, and the side-access hatch completes the turret with detail inside and out, despite there being no interior.

The upper and lower hull halves are joined together at the last, and optional self-entrenchment tools are added to the front and rear of the hull, before a pair of PE mudflaps are installed on the rear fenders, and the turret is dropped into place. Unlike kits of yore, the turret ring is smooth, having no retaining lugs, so should either be glued into place for all time, or care will be needed when handling the model in case the two parts come apart and are damaged.

Markings
It's not a case of "any colour as long as it's Russian Green" with this vehicle, and the Painting & decaling guide show two vehicles. One is in Russian Green with white detailing and a bright banner on the turret for parade purposes, while the other is painted in a tri-tone soft-edge camouflage with a green base that is overlaid with black and sand patches to break up the outline of the vehicle. The only decals shown being used are the CCCP banner, but a double set of numerals are included on the decal sheet in case you wish to model a particular vehicle.

Decals are printed anonymously, and are in good register. The white numerals look a little thin however, so it would be wise to test one that you won't use to see whether it will allow the colour beneath it to show through.

Conclusion
A nice modern tooling of a classic piece of Russian Cold War armour, which is announced as "Early Version", with the possibility of the M, M1 and M2 versions to follow, as after the M variant when the rear bulkhead was changed, the small equipment fit was the main difference between the early version and the later marks, and a lot of this was inside the hull, so irrelevant for tooling purposes.

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Shar2]

This is great looking kit and I've already added it to my collection. Now we just have to wait for the 2S13 which, I believe is due out later this year. Hopefully they'll release a 2S7 as well.

[Antoine]

Seen it the other day at my LMS, but didn't get it.

Will do this weekend.

Remind me my tank commander time at the very end of the Cold War, it was the ennemy, known only through a few very bad quality pictures!

And now there's this kit.

Thanks for the review.

[Mike]

Fond memories of the folks that were going to make your day a bad one if the idiots in charge pressed that big red button.

[Antoine]

We French were in the Czech 'corridor', so not really concerned with 2S3 stuff.

It would have been more specificaly Dana-like for us!

[Mike]

The Dana is truly scary!

[pigsty]

This is deeply welcome, especially with the 2S1 also available (or nearly so) and the 2S19 on the way. And that implies a range of T-72-type tanks might be on the way as well. If a 2S7 were to turn up ...

Little side-note: for some reason the Russians had a habit of naming their SP artillery after flowers. Akatsiya is acacia. Others include carnation, tulip, hyacinth and peony. More recently they've taken to using the names of rivers (Nona, Msta), which kind of spoils it.

[Antoine]

Maybe something to do with the fact that 1 out of 3 ( maybe 5, my memory fails me) was chemical?

Strangely, the 2S1 doesn't ring a bell AFAIC.

[Dads203]

2S19 Is based on the T-80 chassis, gas turbine removed with a T-72 powerpack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2S19_Msta