MiniArt Soviet Self-Propelled Gun SU-85 w/Interior. 1:35

[Shar2]

Soviet Self-Propelled Gun SU-85 w/Interior

MiniArt 1:35

 

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

This kit is the latest iteration of MiniArt’s SU-85 and is the Mod 1943 Mid Production version, and has the added interest of having a full interior.  MiniArt really are going great guns these days, with a new website and new style boxes for their kits, very nice they are too. The kits too are getting better and better.  The new colourful boxes are very sturdy, and they have to be as they are filled to the brim with parts.  The numerous sprues are all contained in a large poly bag, inside of which the various combinations of sprues are in other poly bags, not quite separate, but in bunches. Now, the way MiniArt mould their sprues means that there are in fact seventy six in total. The reason for so many sprues and parts, as mentioned above, this kit has a full, and I mean FULL interior. Even with so many sprues, the parts are all moulded beautifully, with no sign of imperfections, short shots, surprisingly few moulding pips, and certainly no flash. Seeing as there are literally hundreds of small parts it’s nice to note that the sprue gates are small and the parts look like they will be easy to remove and clean up.  The only really awkward parts are the suspension springs, which will be trickier to clean as the gates are on the spring sections themselves and the track links, but more on those later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, where the heck do you start with building? Some modellers will construct the various sub-assemblies in their own way before adding them all at the end.  This would certainly aid with the painting and weathering, but if you go by the instruction booklet, which is surprisingly clear to read, the modeller needs to start with the engine.  As with most things in the kit this is a very complex part, and is assembled just as a real engine would be.  Every parts is included, all you‘d have to add are the ignition harness and some of the hoses. The assembly begins with the eleven piece block, onto which the two, six piece cylinder heads are attached before being finished off with the starter motor, coolant hoses, exhaust manifolds and the four piece engine mounting box.  Each of the two large radiators are made up from three parts, glued to the sides of the engine assembly, and then connected up with five hoses. The gearbox/transfer box is next, with the main section requiring fourteen parts, before being glued to the aft end of the tank floor.  The drives for the sprockets, each made up from four parts and fitted with a PE brake band are then attached to the gearbox, supported by two five piece brake linkage cradles.  The four piece, impellor style, flywheel is then attached to the rear of the gearbox.

 

 

 

 

 

With the gearbox attached, the floor is then detailed with numerous parts, most of which I don’t recognise, not being au fait with the intimate details of tank internals. What I can identify, are the control sticks and brake pedals, and their associated linkages, oh, and the fighting compartment floor. The seven piece driver’s seat is next, followed by various covers for the drivers control links.  The engine is then attached to the dividing bulkhead, between it and the gearbox, and the fitting of the two air intake pipes and their filters. The whole engine assembly is then fitted to the floor and the gearbox mounted universal joint. On each side of the floor there are four, seven piece spring dampers for the suspension, the rear pair of which are joined together with two PE straps, which do look a little awkward to fit, seeing that the radiators are in the way, so dig out your finest tweezers for the job.  The fighting compartment and driver’s compartment are then fitted out with a number of spare shells, shell racks, control boxes and the idler axle fittings.

 

 

 

The lower hull sides are fitted out internally with crew seats, fire bottles, fuel tanks, radios, escape hatches, and various other unidentifiable items.  The sides are then attached to the hull floor. On the outside, the sprocket gear covers are attached, followed by the torsion spring suspension/axles are fitted, these also attach to the spring dampers.  There more shells fitted to the rear of the fighting compartment, ten in fact, each of two parts and kept in place by a long beam. The front armour plate is fitted on the interior with various sights, hatches, hatch fittings and two large springs, which I presume are part of recoil system to prevent the plate from cracking when the gun fires.  The completed plate is then attached to the hull, along with the lower glacis plate, and rear mounted drive cover. 

 

 

 

The main gun is assembled from separate slides, barrel, recuperator, and breech block before being fitted to the two trunnion mounts, complete with elevation wheel.  The recoil guard is then attached, along with the elevation spring units, seven piece sight, and sight mounting frame. Nineteen more shells are then assembled and fitted to their storage rack, which is then fitted with a supporting beam and three cordite bags.  The gun assembly is then slotted into position in the front plate, which is also fitted with the lower gun recess. The bulkhead separating the fighting compartment and engine compartment is then glued into position, followed by the shell stowage assembly and rear hull bulkhead and its attachment frame.  The gun barrel is then attached, along with the inner mantlet and the six piece outer mantlet. The fighting compartment side panels are fitted out with more cordite bags, pistol ports, vents, and stowage boxes, whilst on the outside they are fitted with pioneer tools, air filters, and a single headlight. The completed panels are then glued into position.  The roof panel is similarly fitted out, with a selection of ports, vents, sights, and the main hatch

 

 

 

 

With the model slowly looking more like the vehicle it portends to be, the sprockets, twin road wheels and idler wheels are assembled and attached to their associated axles.  The exhaust pipes are fitted to the rear bulkhead along with their covers, and the engine deck intake gills are each assembled from four parts.  The main engine deck, complete with track guards, is fitted with spare track links, the two engine intake grills, before being fitted to the hull, along with the fighting compartment roof panel and the numerous shackles, lifting eyes, engine hatch, and stowage boxes.  The tracks are each made from seventy two links, with each link held onto the sprue by four gates, so there will be quite a lot of cleaning up required. Looking at the links, they are rather plain, particularly on the inside, but having checked out a few images on the internet, they are accurate.  Looking at the links closely, the ones with guide horns have small pins, whilst the plain ones are moulded with corresponding holes, so they “should” just click into place.  The pins do seem rather fragile, so whether this works in practice is another thing.  It’ll probably be best to run some glue on the joints once the tracks are fitted, just to make sure they don’t fall apart. 

 

With the kit almost complete, it’s just a matter of fitting the front and rear mud guards, rear mounted rolled tarpaulin with its PE straps. The fighting compartment rear panel is then attached; along with the various grab handles, spare fuel tank supports, four fuel tanks, their associated PE straps, and the PE straps for the spare track links. Lastly the aerial is glued into position.

 

Decals

Whilst the decal sheet contains markings for two depicted vehicles, there are a complete set of individual numbers in both red and white. The decals themselves have been printed by MiniArt and although looking rather matt, they are well printed, in register and with good colour density. The two options are:-

 

• SU-85 number 214 from an unidentified unit Red Army, Winter 1943-1944.
• SU-85 under the name of the Czech hero – “Kapitan Otacar Jaros”, of the 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade

 

 

Conclusion

This is yet another superb kit from the burgeoning catalogue from MiniArt and another for the detail nuts, with the full interior, the options of having the hatches open and everything on view would be too much to resist. With the amount of parts and the amount of time it will take to build, it must make this kit one of the best value for money kits around.

 

 

Review courtesy of