ICM BM-13-16 on WOT 8 Chassis w/Soviet Crew (35592) 1:35

[Mike]

BM-13-16 on WOT 8 Chassis w/Soviet Crew (35592)

1:35 ICM via Hannants

 

 

 

Made by Ford UK under the Fordson brand, the WOT 8 was the last of a long line of vehicles using similar nomenclature in service of the British Army.  Introduced in 1941 there were approximately 2,500 built, with a number of those sent to Russia as Lend/Lease vehicles, of which a number were converted to carry BM-13-16 Katyusha rockets on an angled rack that extended partially over the cab and is bolted firmly to the chassis.  They carried 16 RS-132 rockets in an over-and-under configuration on each of the eight rails, which made a uncanny howling roar as they were unleashed from the rails.  Its large fuel tank gave it a healthy range and a reasonable top speed thanks to the Ford V8 engine that put out 85hp, which wasn’t terrible for the day.

 

 

The Kit

This is rebox of a new tool from ICM as part of their WOT line, based upon the initial WOT8 we reviewed here.  The kit arrives in a standard ICM box with their captive inner lid and a nice rendition of the vehicle and crew on the top.  Inside are thirteen sprues in grey styrene, five tyres in flexible black plastic, a clear sprue, a small fret of Photo Etch (PE) brass and glossy colour instruction booklet.  More than a few of the parts aren’t used in this variant, and those parts are overprinted in pink to assist you in ignoring them.  Detail is excellent throughout as we’ve come to expect from ICM, and the extra figures are the icing on the cake that gives the model a human scale once complete, and will come in handy if you plan on including it in a diorama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the amended chassis ladder and the front sub-frame with cross-members and leaf spring suspension, plus a full V8 block made up from a good number of parts.  The exhaust has a silencer near the rear and exits the underside at the rear of the aft suspension springs, to which the rear axle and differential are fitted, then joined to the central transfer box by a driveshaft with the front axle having a similar reversed layout plus steering box.  The drum brakes are hidden behind the wheels, which are made up from the flexible “rubber” tyre that is sandwiched between the inner and outer hub, plus extra detail parts on both sides, eventually slotting onto a long axle front and rear.  The underside is mostly complete, and attention turns to the body beginning with the engine compartment between the two curved front wings.  Radiator, air filter and fan are added along with a hand-crank for manual starting, then the radiator hosing is installed so that the side plates that isolate the power plant from the crew cab interior can be added.  In the right foot well the driver’s controls are added, with a handbrake further to the rear, and a central instrument panel sits almost on top of the engine.  The crew seats sit atop boxes and have separate cushions for back and base, after which the cab can be boxed in, adding detail parts and glazing panels as you go.  The sloping cab is trimmed with a dash panel and steering wheel, then separate doors with handles and more glazing are put in place either open, closed or anywhere in between at your whim, then closed in with the rear cab and finally the curved-sided roof.  The PE radiator grilles have to be bent to match the contours of the sloped front, and should be attached with Super Glue (CA).  The spare wheel and the substantial fuel tank are built next, and positioned behind the cab on their brackets.

 

On the original kit the truck bed would now be made up (and the parts for it are still in this boxing), but for this boxing the rocket launching rails and their elevating apparatus are constructed. The eight rails are built up from three parts each to create an  I-beam, it has stoppers and end plates added, then they are all threaded together on three tubular cross members. The modeller will need set the spacing of these using the provided jig, gluing them in place whilst being careful not to glue the jig in place too.  The complex frame with elevation mechanism is assembled, which can be in either the raised or lowered position by swapping out the long or short elevation jack before joining the two assemblies and adding clips over the bare cross-braces. The full complement of 16 rockets are then added to the rails after adding the additional fins in the aforementioned over/under configuration. The amended flatbed for the launching system is then built up onto the curved rear mudguards and attached to the back of the truck along with a few small additions to the chassis, such as supports for the completed rocket assembly, which itself is held in place by the addition of brackets and washers around the framework. Two rear ground stabilisers are fitted to the rear of the chassis along with lights, shutters over the cab, heat/fume deflector over the radiator, windscreen wipers, rear view mirrors and extended elevation adjustment winders on the port side are all added, with folded shutters to protect the cab windows from the blast and heat when the rockets were being fired.  

 

 

 

 

 

Figures (35648)

All four figures are on one sprue with a separate instruction booklet and product code.  They are moulded in ICM’s by now familiar lifelike style, with lots of detail, realistic poses and sculpting, and including a number of weapons to sling over their shoulders.  Three of the figures are shown loading rockets onto the back of the rails, while the fourth can either be their commander watching over the process, or with the tweak of his arm, he can be propping up the next rocket for loading with one of his hands, as can be seen in the picture below.

 

 

 

 

 

Markings

There are no markings in this boxing, as they weren’t technically frontline units due to the trajectory of the rockets necessitating distance between them and their targets.  Unless the users daubed patriotic slogans on the sides, identification clearly wasn’t a priority.  You can guess that the scheme is Soviet Green, with the rockets in steel.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Another first-rate variant from ICM of a previously overlooked British truck that was fairly common both during WWII and after. The inclusion of a Russian Katyusha conversion increases the interest to those of us that like their models to go BANG!, and for me the figures complete the package. Highly recommended. 

 

Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd.

 

Review sample courtesy of