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Zvezda MSTA-S, 1/72


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Another one in the series of modern Russian vehicles in 1/72 is the MSTA-S also known as 2S19... 


Don’t you like those Russian nomenclature? It still doesn’t say anything.

 

The MSTA is a selfpropelled 152mm howitser, comparable to the American M-109, French AUF-1 and German Pzh-2000 and is the successor of the 2S3 Akatsiya (and no, you don’t have to sneeze to pronounce it, dangerous times by the way). This gun also has a towed version with a lot of common components STA-S:


1280px-AlabinoTraining0904-34.jpg

 

The base is a T-80 chassis with a T-72 Diesel-Engine and a complete new suspension. 
Development started in 1980 with the Ferma project, as object 316. This gun has an automatic loader, a semi-automatic loading-systeem for the munition, NBC protection, passive nightvision for the driver, wading kit, dozerblade, smokegenerator, 81mm launchtubes for countermeasures and was recently upgrades with An automatic firecontrolsystem. All types ammunition can be fire like HE, chemical, tactic nuclear, lighting etc... Max firing range is 36km, dependant on the munitiontype. Also laserguided ammo can be used...

 

Other facts:

Crew of 5
Range of 500km, max speed 60km/h
6-8 rounds/minute
Weight: 42t
Length: 7.15m
Width: 3.38m
Height: 2.99m

 

The kit:
1188677-30425-91-pristine.jpg

 

And the parts:
734484-11032-79.jpg

 

734485-11032-19.jpg

 

734487-11032-77.jpg

 

734486-11032-53.jpg

 

734483-11032-40.jpg

 

A lot of handles molded shut on this one :
734465-11032-40.jpg

 

So the first steps are to replace these by wire :
734478-11032-59.jpg

 

734479-11032-38.jpg

 

734481-11032-91.jpg

 

734482-11032-46.jpg

 

And how I do it:

I start with removing the part to replace with a knife. Be gentle not to cut away other molded on detail.
734467-11032-10.jpg

 

The white line after cutting is ideal as a reference so trace a hole for centering with a needle or the like. 
734466-11032-40.jpg

 

The markings:
734468-11032-53.jpg

 

Next up is drilling the holes using the center holes. Here Is use a wire 0.3mm, so I drill slightly larger with 0.4mm. 
734469-11032-10.jpg

 

After this the part can be cleaned:
734470-11032-36.jpg

 

Next cut two lengths of wire (1 for each handle) they can be too large you need some length for glueing. Bend them 90° to make the first leg.
734471-11032-79.jpg

 

And fit it through one of the openings:
734472-11032-43.jpg

 

The easiest way to determine the length for me personally: I use some flat pliers (no teeth) and slide it over the free arm. Then I aim for the furthest border of the correspondent hole, hold the pliers there, remove the handle from the hole and make the second bend:

734473-11032-98.jpg

 

734480-11032-12.jpg

 

734474-11032-71.jpg

 

Remount the handle:
734475-11032-90.jpg

 

And push it to the end, apply a drop of CA on the non visible side:

734476-11032-83.jpg

 

And slide it to the right depth… by this the hole gets slightly filled with CA. Also a gauge (small plate) can be used to obtain a universal distance.

734477-11032-33.jpg

 

And finally some more details on the cupolla like the ammo loading system, Mg, cable throughs, etc...

735244-11032-60.jpg

 

735245-11032-56.jpg

 

MG is still dryfit, so if it doesn't sit straight, no real pain yet…

 

Also made a choise for the  camo:
757483-11032-61.jpg

 

And first layer (buff):
757478-11032-70.jpg


This pic replicates the color the best, the rest seems darker

757479-11032-80.jpg

 

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757477-11032-97.jpg

 

757480-11032-50.jpg

 

So far the easy work… taping will take a lot of time I suppose...
 

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Great work! Always good to see some braille models coming along. The handles made of wire really add to the realism of the model! Thanks a lot for the tutorial, very nice!

 

I am very interested in how you tackle the three tone splinter camo.

 

Have a nice day

Nick

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Thank you guys...

 

How I tackle the camo? With patience...

2 evenings of taping later:

760066-11032-96.jpg

 

still a lot of work to do on this cupolla.

Found a guide with 4 views, allas top and bottom are missing...

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Hi Silenoz,

a subject that attracts me a lot, although on a larger scale.
Very good about the handles, it is logical, but it has to happen ... I always complicate myself with the correct measurements, but with this method, there is no error, thank you.
It must have been a headache to mask the model ... lol
Good progress ...
Cheers
Francis.

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A whole lot of masking tape later:

762434-11032-27.jpg

 

762436-11032-98.jpg

 

762435-11032-62.jpg

 

762437-11032-15.jpg

 

762438-11032-94.jpg

 

And then paint...

The mix proposed didn't even come close

to what it should have been... not even by a longshot
762441-11032-69.jpg

 

Playing with the ratio:
762439-11032-60.jpg

 

darn...

Finally I reached out to the clubmembers which could be a better mix, and then after an hour of mixing, testing (on a bottle) instead of the model...:

762440-11032-33.jpg

 

762442-11032-91.jpg

 

762443-11032-85.jpg

 

762444-11032-98.jpg

 

Me happy, some corrections and then restart for the third color...

Edited by Silenoz
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27 minutes ago, Silenoz said:

some corrections and then restart for the third color...

Good luck with that. The first bit looks good.

 

John.

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I hope it will still be visible after all...

 

so packed it completely in again...
767414-11032-62-pristine.jpg

 

767415-11032-79-pristine.jpg

 

767416-11032-85-pristine.jpg

 

767417-11032-29-pristine.jpg

 

and then painting time.... got me some shivers because the paint was thinner then expected and had less coverage for such a dark color... it will only be visible after unpacking, so here it go's

 

767418-11032-60-pristine.jpg

 

767420-11032-97-pristine.jpg

 

767421-11032-66-pristine.jpg

 

767419-11032-81-pristine.jpg

 

Me happy... just came to the conclusion that I'm missing a part... hope I can still find it, but... 

 

some lines are a bit blurry at some points, but the tape has it's thicknes, and I did my best to press it around the details....

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