Unexpectedly for himself, almost finished with the S-400 ..

Very good !!!

I have that one in stash, but didn't start it.

I really like the weathering on the truck and trailer.

what are those red things on the wheels ?

Wow! That looks super! Fabulous job!

I nearly had that one in my stash. I put it back on the shelf to think about it, and it was gone 15 minutes later! May still get it, though.

A modeling friend told me the red things are actually covers for the missile tubes. They are high-vis red so the crew sees them and remembers to take them off before launching. And apparently, they fit to the wheel covers, so they are not forgotten, run over, etc. when in the field. Unusual, for sure!

Gary

Yes, these are protective covers from missile containers. The front of the container is fragile, the missile at the start pierces it, and to avoid damage during storage and transportation, they are closed with these covers. They are removed, if you plan to firing, and they are fixed on the small loops on side of the TEL wheels.

P.S. If you look closely, they are not fixed on wheels - they are mounted on the body of the semitrailer on top of the wheels

What a superb build! Is it ootb? Impressive

Yes, with minor improvements - some small details are made, and some electro-hydro-fuel wiring, clearly visible on the real machine. I will make a full photoset with details in a few days.

Many thanks for the photos!

I think I will build mine with the missile containers in transport position with the red covers on the containers.
Those red caps outside of the trailer wheels look really strange ....
They make me think of a toy train for small kids:


I can understand that the visibility of those caps make it easy to check that the crew have remembered to remove the caps from the launcher tubes. Visible from hundreds of meters away. Similar to those red 'Remove before flight'-tabs on aircraft


/ Robin

those are, look what I got you for Christmas, ribbons.

Well, it's the "military property of strict accountability";) God forbid losing it, and do not care that each TPK (TLC) has an individual cover and after launching the missile it is not needed by anyone. For the loss will be punished so that it does not seem too small!
They are of course rarely hanged there. Usually, either they are leaning against the wheels, or in general they are stacked somewhere nearby, but this is their "regular" place, in the ideal case

Rules and regulations. All military services around the world have them. Some are meaningful and relevant and others get ignored as quick as possible

/ Robin

Thanks for the pics, Vlad! My kit just came today, but I won't do anywhere near what you did with it.

I saw that the side windows are sort of "sandwiched" between two door pieces and are made out of a different material than the rest of the clear parts. Why is that? Because of "the sandwiching," or does it look more like what the real one has? It just seemed odd to me.

Thanks again for giving me something to aspire to!

(And I think I will build mine in transport mode. After the Patriot launcher and radar trailers and the fits the articulating arms gave me, I think a nice "simple" version will do.)

Gary

Thank you, glad that the model you like
About the side windows - it's hard to judge why they did it. Maybe from their point of view it is more technological, and it really looks like a real machine. Or maybe it was originally planned to make another car on the same base, with the windows on the doors divided (For example, the prototype of the S-350 complex, demonstrated at the exhibitions, had "divided" windows on the doors ... This version is available among the details, and not is used in the S-400 model), and then decided to make the S-400, and simplified the process of creating it .
I will also do the version in the transportation option, but the S-300PMU I have not started its building yet.