I am building up an old 1/35th scale Italeri/Zvezda SU-100, and have had a great time with it, practicing some basic detailing techniques like using Styrene strip to make weld beads and the loke, and now I have two basic questions:

1 - I frequently see members here mention that they replace the styrene grap handles with metal to be more realistic. My LHS has rod....but what size rod do I use for this 1/35th scale kit?

2 - In the instructions they show the painting section, and htis has given me pause. They have three examples; one that is typical Soviet Green (marked SUMMER, 1944) One that is white (MARKED WINTER,1944), and one that has what appears to really large white splotches on it, in a rough form of camo. These splotches would cover say, 25% of the frontal surface, another splotch that starts at the rear and works its way over the top of the little tank. Obviously, it is marked AUTUMN, 1944. Did the SU-100 in Russian WW2 service ever carry a form of camo, or are the very unclear and vague instructions just trying to show that snow may have been on a green vehicle?

Bruce,

I can help out with #1: I have a pretty varied supply of wires....all in differing diameters for various scratching on a kit.

For the grab handles, I don't think I'd spend the extra $$ on rod, but on a spool of wire. I did a quick tutorial for making grab handles here.

The best advice for diameter is to go to your LHS or probably better, a Home Depot or Lowes. Take one of the grab handles from the kit with you and compare diameters. Get some of the wire that matches closest, and...for future uses, get a few diameters that are smaller. A small armored car will probably have thinner grabs than your SU-100. The spools of wire that I picked up will last a long, long time.

HTH,

Mike

Hey Bruce! Check out this site:
http://www.o5m6.de/

It´s called "Engines of Red Army in WW2" I think you´ll find lot´s of info and photos there.

Try Radio Shack for the wire. They have magnet wire that comes in a 3 pack with different sizes of wire on spools. Pretty cheap cost wise. Will last a long time. Its all i use anymore.

Making new grab handles from brass rod or wire is usually easier than using th ekit-supplied plastic ones (not always, but usually). As others said, just buy rod or wire roughly the same diameter as the kit-supplied handles.

The SU-100 wasn't in service in the summer of 1944 as far as I know, but that aside, almost all SU-100s I've seen are either overall green or white snow cammo. Pattern-painted cammo (other than snow cammo) on late-war Soviet armor is pretty rare. Not as rare as we once thought but rare enough.