Hi all,

I wanted to know if anyone here may have worked on Miniart's 57mm anti-tank gun ZIS-2 and, if so, I wanted to see if you may be able to share some pics of your completed model with me? I'm working on the gun right now and I'm a bit curious as to how the gun looks overall in the end as I've come to realized that there are some parts that do now fit as they should. Since I can't find any reviews of it online and can only really find one pic of a model (covered in snow) I wanted, as mentioned, to check and see of someone here may have built this kit and perhaps is willing to share a few pics.

You can contact me at [email protected] if you can help with some pics or notes on the gun.

Thank you very much in advance,

Rob

I've built the Mini-art 76 ZIS-3 and there SU-76. The ZIS-3 is nicely detailed but like all Mini-art kits it has alot of smal parts, with busy and vague instructions but in the end turnout to be nice models... On my unbuilt ZIS-2 the barrel is warped big time, so I bought a Aber barrel for the T-34/57 to address the warp issue...I will have to blend the end of the barrel in some but it will improve the over look.

Thanks for the feedback, Greg! Question...On your ZIS-3, did you have any fitting issues with the trail arms? Namely, did you have issues with mismatched parts when you joined the two-piece parts for each trail arm? I'm having a problem with mine where when I joined the two-piece right trail arm I see that the tube-shaped lock - used to keep the gun slide in its place when the gun was on transport mode - does not mach and, thus, does not make a perfectly round shape as it should. I think a photo of what I'm talking about would help:



As you can see, that locking 'tube' (inside red circle) cannot be made the same on the kit because the top and bottom sections - when you join both pieces of the arm - are slightly off of each other...

Here's another pic of the actual sprue for the 57mm ZIS-2:



So, did yours match properly when you put the trail arms together? Mine certainly do not and from what I see I may have to scratch a new one there more likely. Anyway, just curious.....

Thanks again...

Rob

My 57mm looks the same as yours...did not have an issue on my 76mm.

Rob: Check out this review, it may help you out some Miniart ZIS 2 review

I see...So it must be this particular gun kit then. I was able to somewhat shape the tube-like lock to make it look a little bit like the real one. It's not perfect but beats making one from scratch (something I don't want to do since I trying to keep the build completely OOB). Joining the trail arms is not much of a problem in itself but when joining each piece, I also noticed that there is a pretty big gap at the front where those riveted sleeves attach to the trail and main mount. Lots of putty in this area is necessary to make look correct.

Anyway, thanks for feedback.

Rob

Thanks for the link, Jeremy. I did actually find this earlier but, unfortunately, it doesn't tell me much as it's just an in-box review of the kit. I was just looking for some pics from people who may have built this sucker as I am encountering some pretty significant fit issues and mismatched items.

Thanks again!

Rob

Hi Rob,

I am building Minart's ZiS-2 57mm gun along with their 76.2mm ZiS-3 and Zvezda's ZiS-3.

With respect to the ZiS-2 I have encountered the mismatch of the locking tube halves when you join the two halves of each trailing tube. I have decide to cut the kit locking tubes off and make new ones from plastic tube.

With the ZiS-2, so far I have:
Glued together the figures but not attached their arms.
Made the trailing tubes and adjoining pieces,
Glued the 2 barrel halves together and
Glued the wheels together

The figures seem quite nicely detailed except their fit is quite poor.
I will be using gap filling super glue and milliput to address this.

Btw what a weird way to make a wheel in 6 parts.

Regards
Len

Hi Len,

It's surely nice to know someone else is also working on this kit. I thought I was the only one . Thanks for the info about the mismatch locking tubes. I thought I was doing something wrong... As mentioned above, I was able to shape the tubes enough for them to look a bit like the real thing. It's not 100% perfect but it's close enough. I was (and still am) seriously thinking about making new ones from plastic tubing but will revisit this once the construction stage gets near the end. At the moment, I have finalized everything required in steps I and II (all trail arm items). I had some issues with some parts breaking off on me wen trying to remove the mold seam so in one case I scratched a new one to make the thing look better.

Any chance you can post or send some pics of what you've done so far? I can do the same if you wish.

Re. the wheels, yes, weird way to do it but it should look good. For this kit though, I purchase a resin wheel set from Masterclub. The thing looks so nice that I after I've bought it, I decided not to use it on this build but wait until I get working on the ZIS-3 (the set is designed for both the ZIS-2 and 3). For this kit, I think I'll go ahead and purchase some Hussar two-spoke wheels as I would like a bit of a different look.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

Rob

The green gun is the Zvezda ZiS-3 (Italeri tool). Its a bit glossy because its had a coat of Future. The figures are from MiniArt's ZiS-2 kit.




I haven't done much with the ZiS-2 gun yet.
I will probably use the figures from MiniArt's ZiS-3 kit with the ZiS-2.
Are you confused yet?



I also have Bronco's F-22 field gun which is sweet and Mirage's C7P tractor. Thinking out loud I am either going to have the F-22 or MiniArt ZiS-3 towed by the C7P, though I'm not sure which one. That would depend on time periods. I know the F-22 was early in the war and so was the C7P so to me they would be a better match. I think early ZiS-3's didn't have a muzzle break.