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ZSU 23-4 V1 Shilka

Back again, after a rather long absence from Armorama spent modelling Warhammer figures, George has finished another Cold War classic: Dragon Model’s old Shilka SPAAG. George writes:

The ZSU 23-4V1 Shilka you’re seeing had been lying half – built in my stash for some years until I finally picked it up and decided to finish it over Christmas. Yes, it’s an old kit and it can’t compare to the latest offerings from Meng and Hong, but I tried my best to turn this into an attractive model nevertheless. The build was OOTB with the addition of a Tamiya T55 searchlight, a copper rope and Hasegawa reflective decals on the driver’s vision block and the gun sights. After priming the tank, I used the the “Black & White technique” and pre-shaded the vehicle in monochrome. At this point it got its first hairspray layer. After chipping off the highlights (light greys, whites) in exposed places, I sprayed on the green camo using four different, highly diluted AK interactive Russian greens. I’d seen white “invasion stripes” (more precisely aerial recognition markings) on a Shilka deployed during the Ogaden War and decided that this would add a nice contrast to the overall green paint job. The white stripes got their extra layer of hairspray and were again partly scratched off later. I took some liberty concerning the historical accuracy by adding a gun cover plate that only the later Shilka versions had had, but then again I’ve read that it was regular practice to “update” older versions during maintenance overhauls and I tried to reflect this by painting the plate a different hue of green. The weathering process included AK interactive, Ammo of Mig and Mig Productions enamel washes as well as Citadel water – based products. I dry-brushed some prominent parts & edges & tools and gave the running gear & belly a light dusting with Vallejo pigments. Lastly, I decided against sealing off the model with a flat coat because I wanted to preserve the rather glossy look of the turret "cheeks”, as seen on real Shilkas. That’s it – I hope you like it!