Review Models - 1/72 S&S Kraz Truck

First post for over a year I think, nothing earth shattering, a review of S&S's Kraz 255.  The 7.5 ton Kraz 214 and 255 trucks provided extreme off-road logistic capacity to the Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces from 1959 through to the end of the Cold War.  The Kraz 214 was produced between 1959 - 1963 and the Kraz 255 entered mass production in 1967 and remained in production until 1994. The Trucks are visually similar, so models in 1/72 can be broadly used to represent either. 

The vehicle provided the platform for a range of variants which included; the TMM vehicle launched bridge from 1974, The carriage and launch vehicle for the PMP ribbon bridge, and the carriage vehicle for the BMK-T bridging boat, together with a number of engineering earth moving and construction variants.  I am using them to provide the transport capability in the Headquaters of my MRR Engineering Company.

The S&S Model is a robust but effective war-games model and is cast in resin and white metal. It can be purchased with or with out the canvas tilt and I have both versions, it cost at the time of posting £11.50 which included P&P.  The models I received were cleanly cast with limited holes and flash.

Other manufactures produce versions of this vehicle notably Armory and Armada but both these manufacturers produce for the modelling fraternity with associated complexity and price.  The model whilst cleverly constructed would provide challenging to convert as the chasis is effectively a component of the truck body so would need to be replaced in order to produce either a TMM or PMP variant. 

After some minimal clean up construction was straight forward and completed quickly with no significant issues, the only thing that slows you down is the amount of time it takes for the super glue to set.  Images of the vehicle show little in the way of stowage so I have left the model in its original state.

I have painted the vehicle in line with my other Soviet equipment in green, although I have been working on evolving my style

• The Vehicle underside is sprayed in NATO Black XF- 69 before being fixed to the base
• The vehicle is given an overall coat of Tamiya XF-13 JA Green, and is then oversprayed with NATO Black XF-69 to create an overall dark green colour.
• The panels were then sprayed with JA Green.
• The Tilt was painted with Olive Drab XF-62, the areas between the tilt supports were oversprayed wit Nato Black and the ridge was over sprayed with Olive Drab. The whole activity was a bit iterative until the required effect was achieved.
• The detail was then picked out with a pin wash using Humbrol Black Wash.

• The wheels were painted with Vallejo Black grey 70852 and then washed with a mix of Vallejo Khaki Grey 70880 and Buff 70976, before being dry brushed with Vallejo Black grey
• Windows were painted with Vallejo Black Grey
• The lights front and back were painted with Vallejo Flat Red 70957, Light Orange 70911 and Sky Grey 70989.
• The doors then received a coat of clear before decals were applied with micro sol then the whole vehicle was sealed with a coat of Tamiya Matt clear.
• A small amount of chipping was carried out on selected areas of the vehicle using Vallejo Black Grey, Mahogany sand 70846 and Sky Grey
• The vehicle was then weathered using an overspray of Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow.

The truck has been based on laser cut MDF base supplied by East Riding Miniatures,  being a bit of a beast this is 6 cm x 13 cm in order to accommodate the size of the vehicle. These are covered in a mix of sand and white glue before painting.  The base is painted with Citadel Gorthor Brown and dry brushed with Vallejo Desert Yellow 70977.  Once dry a range of basing materials have been used to create the vegetation on the base.

All up a great little model that provides a useful addition to my Cold War Collection and provides a degree of variety in the truck options otherwise available for a Cold War Soviet Army.

References:

Kraz 255 Walk Around

Kraz 255 Walk Around

Kraz 255B
Mig Jemez's rather handy tyre painting guide.
Scale Modelling -Paint Chipping

ORBAT - 1980's Soviet MRR and TRR, Part 3a Engineer Company

Modelling - Converting Hobby Den's BTR 60PB to a BTR 60PU

As part of creating artillery and air defence units for the breakthrough project I kicked off a year or so ago I discovered a need for some armoured command vehicles.  The thought was to use specific communications vehicles rather than the k variants found in Motor Rifle Battalion and Company headquarters.  Armoured command vehicles were produced by the Soviets for the BTR 60/70 and 80 series vehicles and these were used extensively within the units I had in mind. 

The obvious choice was the  BTR-60R-145BM or one of its more modern variants the vehicle is a turretless version of the BTR 60, fitted with:

• A collapsible frame antenna 
• The AMU 10m telescopic mast 
• The AB-1-P/30 generator, 
• 5 Radio sets 
• A TA-57 field telephone.  

The vehicle also seems to attract the designation BTR 60 PU and  is visually similar to the BTR 60PU-12 an Air Defence command vehicle which would also be useful.

An analysis of the available imagery identified the following tasks to complete a conversion from a BTR 60 PB into the required command vehicles:

Fill Hole in hull for turret

Build a box to represent the AB-1-P/30 generator

Create some stowage box's for the side of the vehicle

Create a representation of the AMU 10m telescopic mast

Represent the stowed antenna tube on the top deck together with its end caps

Mount jerry cans on sides of vehicles 

The BTR 60PB I have chosen for the conversion is produced by the Hobby Den, which is an imposing resin and white metal kit with some clever ideas that give you a lot of crewing options as hatches are white metal castings that fit over recessed hull areas providing scope for crewing options at much reduced effort compared to other resins where the hatch and hull would need drilling and a new hatch creating to achieve the same effect.

Since I commenced this project a number of other models have come onto the market giving a degree of choice in the models that can be used notable amongst these is the S Models BTR 60 PB kit.  The quality of both the resin hull and the white metal wheel set and hatches has been good on all the copies I have received with small amounts of flash on the white metal parts and almost no air bubbles on the resin hull and turret.  The base of the turret is marginally convex but this was not really relevant to the model being built.

The conversion is very straightforward and can be done with the frame antenna erected or folded.  To simplify the problems around building the frame antenna I attached it directly to the hull . This avoided the needs to build the mounts and created a robust structure. I also simplified the frame from a double tube to a single tube. The frame supports and the frame itself were made from lengths of brass rod and to ease the problems of height adjustment I used green stuff to attach the frame to the upright frame supports.

Both the AMU 10 Telescopic mast and what I have termed the stowed antenna tube on the hull roof were cut from plastic rod.  The use of a cover fashioned from green stuff for the AMU 10 got around the need to model the detail at the top of the telescopic mast, although this could have been produced using  the mast components that come with ACEs BMP-1Ksh.

The Generator box was the final component of the fixed vehicle equipment and this was created through layering plastic strip to create an oblong box structure that would be easy to replicate consistently given that I needed a few of these vehicles.   All the other components I viewed as part of stowing the vehicles as the images I had collected showed a degree of variability in type and placement.  The Images variously show jerry cans and a large external stowage box mounted on the left and right hand side of the vehicle. which goes on which side seems to vary.

Stowage baskets are also seen mounted over the rear engine louvers and there are a number of images with command vehicles supporting a number of roof mounted stowage boxes.  Unusually for Soviet vehicles but less so for command vehicles in general these wagons are often seen with a variety of additional equipment.  

I have confined my stowage to include the Jerry cans on the right hand side and a large irregularly shaped stowage box on the left.  In addition I added a folded tarpaulin/tent on the roof made from green stuff and marked using a wet knife blade to create the straps folds and creases.  To get the various boxes and jerry cans to mount effectively on the hull it's necessary to file away some of the hull side hatches.

I commenced painting the vehicle with a pre shade of the lower hull wheels and underside of the vehicles using Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black. The model was then sprayed with Tamiya XF-13 JA Green, using a lighter coat on the lower hull ensures it remains a darker shade.  The panels were then picked out with Tamiya XF-65 Field Grey. A pin wash was applied using the Humbrol Black enamel wash and a blue grey filter applied to selected panels and hatches using a diluted Humbrol Blue Grey enamel wash.  The raised detail was dry-brushed using a mix of Vallejo Russian Uniform and Buff. Detail was then painted in as follows:

• Vallejo Black Grey for the HMG, Sight blocks, jerry cans and wheels
• Vallejo sky grey was used for tools.  
• Vallejo Medium flesh washed with Agrix Earthshade was used for wooden tool handles
• Vallejo Khaki grey was used for the canvas stowage, washed with GW's Agrix Earthshade before being highlighted with a mix of Khaki grey and buff.

The vehicle was then weathered using a heavy wash of Vallejo Mahogany Sand primarily targeted at the recesses, before the whole was over-sprayed using Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow. 

Markings consisted of a regimental symbol and tactical 3 digit number, with the number coming from QRF and the regimental marking from the model collect large decal sheet.

The vehicle is based on laser cut MDF bases supplied by East Riding miniatures, these are covered in a mix of sand and white glue before painting. Once dry a range of bsing materials have been used to create the vegetation on the base.

References:

Books:

Jane's Armour and Artillery 2002/2003

Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army, D Isby, 1988
Red God of War, Soviet Artillery and Rocket Forces

Web:
BTR-60PB Mini Walk-round Prime Portal
BTR-60 Army Guide
BTR-60PU-12 Walk-round
BTR-60-R145BM

Other Posts of Interest:

Modelling - Cold War Soviet Vehicle Markings and Decals
Wargames Unit-Soviet Late 80's, 2S1 Battalion
ORBAT-Soviet Late 80's Breakthrough Capability, Part 3 Non Divisional Artillery Assets
ORBAT - 1980's Soviet MRR and TRR, Part 4 Artillery

Review Model - model collect 1/72 T-72B with ERA

The T-72 is another of those Cold War Icons, Globally exported its been involved in most of the worlds major conflicts since it appeared on the scene in the late 1960's.  It was the Soviet Unions low cost alternative to the T-64 and T-80 series, equipping units outside of the technology challenging Central front area although it was the main stay of Soviet units in the Central group of Forces in Czecheslovakia.  Other than that it was mostly found in the Western Military districts of the Soviet Union or exported across the middle east.

The T-72B comenced production in 1985 and introduced levels of protection that exceeded those of both the T-64 and T-80 making it the best protected of the Soviet tanks. The other major capability introduced on this version was the AT-11 Svir missile.  The model includes the Kontakt 1 ERA which was available from 1982, first mounted on tanks in 1983, first identified by NATO in 1984 and fitted to the T-72B  from 1988.  It is worth speculating on weather it would have been rolled out earlier if East West relationships had decended into crisis.

One of the major thrusts of Soviet organisational and equipment change over this period was the neutralisation of the NATO ATGW threat as the the density of Anti Tank weapons had increased to a point where the Soviet Army felt that success was unlikly.  This then drove their adoption of ERA and the significant increase in artillery systems over the period.

The improved armour provided the T-72B with base protection of 520mm RHA equivalent from APDS and 950mm RHA equivalent protection from HEAT, Kontakt 1 providing an additional 350mm - 400mm RHA equivalent against HEAT.  Of interest the Improved TOW missile would penetrate 900mm RHA equivalent with TOW 2A delivered in 1987 doing 900mm behind ERA. I suspect it was not until the introduction of TOW2B in 1991 that the balance of advantage was restored to the ATGW. A Tandem war head for Milan did not arrive until 1993 so for a significant period the impact of the ATGW and LAW capability was reduced.

This review looks at the modelcollect T-72B although there are a variety of options on the market including

• ACE
• S&S
• Hobby Den
• Model Collect

The modelcollect kit like a lot of their armour kits is priced at around £11 and depending on when and how many you order may be shipped from China or their UK warehouse. Like the TOS-1 it is staggeringly well packaged with clear instructions.

The Hull is cast from white metal and is finly molded and adds a rather pleasing weight to the finished vehicle.  The Tracks are flexible plastic but fit and fix easily using liquid poly. The remainder of the parts are Molded from plastic, the level of detail is generaly excellant and the quality of the molding is very good with only minor amounts of flash on one of the 4 models I built.  Modelcollect are certainly approaching Revell standards if they are not quite there yet.  No major issues with the build but a few minor ones as follows:

• Turret fit to Hull
• Fit of the front right Turret ERA (looking at the front)
• Removal from Sprue and fitting of external fuel barrel supports

The Turret Hull fit is best sorted before you build the turret as trying to sort it once the turret is constructed is asking for a mishap.  The problem stems from insufficient space between the base of the turret and the retaining lugs to accommodate the depth of the molding of the hull deck, a little light filling between the top of the lug and base of the turret soon removes the issue more radically you could just chop off the lugs.

I have yet to try this but separating the turret front right ERA block strip into probably 3 bits will result in a better fit.

Care is generally needed with the finer parts such as the commanders MG. The external fuel tank supports definitely fall into this category and need a bit of thinking about before removal.  On the batch build I only lost one on the first vehicle I lost 50%.  Fitting them to the hull rear also requires some work as the mounting lugs can be a little large.

Other than that it was a breeze with assembly taking a couple of hours.  In contrast I have been building 3 ACE T-72Bs for at least 2 years :).  Once constructed the vehicle looks the part  and whilst I have seen nothing specific on this vehicle Alex Clark has made some very encouraging noises about a number of other models in the range.

Markings, Stowage and Damage.

The vehicles carry traditional Soviet numbers on the left, right and rear stowage bins and in some cases regimental identifying marks can also be found on the bins.  The left and right turret bins are of different lengths so may need different approaches to accomodating the markings. Examples of markings used and available decal sets can be found here. The large model collect decal sheet which can be separately purchased contains a range of these.

Stowage can be seen in a number of immages and a canvas cover could also be worked for the cupola mounted HMG, a usefull strategy should you break it.  I have seen images where the snorkle storage can be mounted up or down, in the down position it precludes the use of an identification number on the rear bins, not quite sure why I did that.

The modelcollect T-64 BV comes with an etched brass commanders screen which could also be deployed on the T-72. There are a variety of options to add vehicle damage around the side skirts  and ERA packs immages also exist showing incomplete coverage of ERA blocks on the hull deck.  Both provide a route for enhancing the models in your fleet.  I have currently added regimental identifiers and vehicle numbers on the left and right stowage bins and have not included any additional stowage or famage on the first four vehicles.

Painting.

My painting style with the airbrush continues to evolve.  On these beasts the lower hull tracks and underside were sprayed with black, then the whole was sprayed with Tamiya XF-13 JA Green ensuring that the lower hull is left a darker shade.  The pannels were then sprayed with Tamiya XF-65 field gray. Then the detail was picked out using Vallejo Black Grey for the HMG, Sight blocks and IR searchlights and sky grey for driving lights.  A pin wash was then applied using the Humbrol Black enamel wash and a blue grey filter applied to selected pannels and the skirts using diluted Humbrol Blue Grey enamel wash. The raised detail was drybrushed using a mix of Vallejo Russian Uniform and Buff.

Decals were then applied and the whole vehicle was matt varnished then weathered.  Weathering involved spraying the road wheels and base of the skirts with Tamiya XF-  Earth Brown before washing these areas with a dilute solution of Vajello Mahogany Sand.  The front and rear hull and lower hull was then oversprayed with Tamiya XF- Dark Yellow, with a progressivly lighter application as you move up the sides and onto the hull top than sides. 

The vehicle is based using laser cut mdf from East Riding miniatures this was painted dry brushed and covered with a variety of scatter material.

All up an excellent model, straight forward to assemble, quick to build and an excellent representation of the vehicle. Considerably easier than the ACE model and competativly priced against the alternatives.

References:

Books:

Jane's Armour and Artillery 2002/2003

Soviet/Russian Armour and Artillery Design Practice 1945 to Present
Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army, D Isby, 1988
T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974 - 1993, Osprey

Web:
Modelcollect @ Henk of Holland 
On The Way Models, T-72 Model comparison
On The Way Models,Modelling The T-72 Family
Army Recognition T-72A datasheet
Army Recognition T-72 Overview Part 1
Army Recognition T-72 Overview Part 2
Alex Clarks Inspirational T-72B
Alex Clarks Inspirational T-72M1
Missing Lynx T-72B1 Thread

Other Posts of Interest:
Modelling - Cold War Soviet Vehical Markings and Decals
Review - Models 1/72, ACE T-72B
ORBAT - 1980's Soviet MRR and TRR, Part 1 Deployment and ORBAT
ORBAT - 1980's Soviet MRR and TRR, Part 2 Tank Change 

Review Model - ACE 1/72, AML 90 Armoured Car

The AML -245 Armoured Car was developed in the late 50's as a private venture, over 6,000 were produced and it has been fielded by over 50 Nations participating along the way in a range of Cold War conflicts including;

• South African Border War, 
• Falklands War, 
• Lebanese Civil War 
• Six Day War  
• Yom Kippur War.  

It was employed by a number of NATO nations noteably the French, Spanish and Portuguese as well as being widely employed in Africa.  Initially armed with a 60mm breach loading mortar driven by French experience in the Algerian war, the SADF requested an upgrade to a more effective Anti Amour and direct fire support weapon and the AML90 was born, it was produced under licence in South Africa.  In SADF service it was known as the Eland and as a result of operational experience received a number of upgrades primarily to automotive components. The vehicles were operated both by 1 Special Service Battalion and 61 Mech Battalion Group and Squadrons could find themselves attached to a variety of organisations for both internal and external operations.  

The model comes packaged with both etched brass components and rubber wheels, truly a multi medi event.  Whilst it suffers from the usual fit and flash issues associated with ACE kits it seemed less of an issue than other models I have built such as the orignal production runs of the BMP 1 and 2. To some extent this is due to its small size, and the fact it is a wheeled vehicle both of which dramaticaly reduce the number of parts and mean that assembling two in one day was not a major challenge, something of a revelation with ACE Kits.

Assembly was generally straight forward with the usual caveats around preping components and testing fit before assembly, which will always bite you with ACE kits.  The principal challenge was assembling the wheels and getting them to sit correctly with relation to the models wheel arches.  For the assembly of the wheels I found that Fitting the Tyre to half the wheel hub then adding glue and inserting the other half was a lot easier than assembling the hub and then trying to fit the tyre.  Getting the wheel to sit in an acceptable position just requiers a degree of experimentaion in getting the wheel arm in the right place, painful but not a killer. The rest cetainly in terms of ACE was a breeze.

There are a number of stowage and equipment ideas that popped out of a review of the available photos.  The Eland in the later Mks had an external stowage box added and the engine decks redesigned and this can be seen in detail in a very useful net maquetts walk round. The Mk 7 also seemed to use a larger cupola.  As the turret for the AML 90 is a common component with their ERC-90 Lynx model ACE include parts for this cupola.

On operations Elands are shown with a fairly consistant set of stowage this included packs and tarpaulins around the turret rear and sides and a tarpaulin in the sand chanels, most pictures also show a .30 fitted between the commander and the driver.

I added the following features to my models;

• The turret stowage box using plasticard strips. 
• The cuppola seen on the Mk 7 using the ERC -90 Lynx cupola supplied in the kit
• The pintle mount .30 using a .30 from the spares box, although Elhiem and S&S produce .30s that would fit the bill.

• The tarpaulins seen in the sand channels using green stuff.
• 58 pattern webbing large packs and Sleeping bags externally stowed on the turret using cut down Goffy US WW2 packs and some of their modern stowage items.  

Photographs of SADF AFV crews show them wearing a helmet very similar to the UK crew guard helmet so I used a number of Wee Friends Modern British AFV crews to crew the vehicle.

Whilst few pictures show any form of markings on the AMLs, I have found one or two which show call signs painted on the turret sides, these follow the usual pattern of:

• Number (Squadron) 
• Number (Troop) 
• Letter (Vehicle) 

I now have picture sources with vehicles showing markings on the turret side either towards the front or the rear of the turret.  I have managed to source a few decal sets with white letters and numbers one from Pendraken Miniatures and the other from eBay.  I added call signs to the turret sides forward of the commanders/gunners hatch for all my vehicles.

I airbrushed the vehicles using Tamiya paints starting with a heavy black pre shade on the lower hull followed by Flat Brown over the whole vehicle, the panels are picked out in desert yellow before overspraying the whole hull in Flat Earth which is a good colour match.   The tyres, periscopes and .30 Cal MGs have been painted with Vallejo Black Grey and headlights with Skygrey

The detail was picked out with a pin wash of humbrols enamel dark brown wash.   The Tyres were washed on the sides with buff and dry brushed on the tops by a mix of Vallejo Khaki and Buff following Mig Jemez's rather handy tyre painting guide.  They were then washed with a dilute mix of brown and black grey and the whole process repeated until the desired effect was achieved. The vehicles were lightly weathered using chipping to intimate the beating they took from the Bush, once basing was complete the whole was given a light dusting of a lightened mixture of Tamya Khaki and white.

The Vehicle is based on a pre cut MDF base from East Riding miniatures which has been covered in sand and white glue and painted in a yellow ocher colour before drybrushing with a range of Vallejo Buff and Mid Stone.  With the Elands I added additional rocks painted Vallejo mid stone. I washed parts of the base in Games workshop sepia wash to provide a little more variety.  As we'll as the normal range of basing materials, static grass  and tufts of various sizes from 2mm to 6mm, I also added a representation of the low thorn brush plants using Horse Hair which has been threaded into holes drilled in the base glued trimmed and then dry brushed with Vajello light Flesh.

The critical bit with the base is to create a different colour to the wagon, the challenge being with the all brown palette is to get sufficient tonal variation to make it all look interesting. 

All up a very good little model, sadly both this and the AML 60 are increasingly difficult to find about the only place left being eBay as far as I can see, so something thats probably more difficult to buy than build.

References:

Internet:
Eland 90 in action video
Eland 90 Walk around
Eland Vehicle History and Upgrades
AML 90 Walk Around Prime Portal
AML 90 Walk Around Armourama
AML 90 on Scalemates
Eland Mk 7 Wikipedia

Books:
Jane's Armour and Artillery 2002/2003
The SADF Border War 1966-1989, L Scholtz

Borderstrike,W Steenkamp

South Africa's Border War 1966 - 1989 H Helmoed-Romer

Modeling:

How to Paint Wheels

Paint Chipping

Tacobats Paint Chipping Guide