Does anybody have one of these??? I picked one up a couple of years ago and was dissapointed- turret looked good but hull had so many bubbles at the front/glacis and the detail was pretty soft. The smaller parts and tracks were rough at best-useless at worst.

Just wondering if I got a "bad apple".

I don't have one, but have noticed that Armo has hit or miss moments. You probably got a bad one; hey, lets send off the bad copy to America, less likely for it to be returned.

Good one Sabot! I read a review by Doug Chaltry from On The Way who said it was a pretty good resin kit- so maybe i did get a bad example. Anyway, talking with Derek from Jadar models- hopefully I'll get some pics of another example to look at.

Yeah, I doubt Jadar picked through the various boxes to find a bad one. I would have done what you did and contacted the seller to get a replacement.

Just got a message from Derek at Jadar models- they're sending me another-for free. Now that's great service! Hope it's better than the last though.

I'm definitely buying from Jadar-they rock!!!

That is remarkable! When and where did u order it from? How did u get in contact with Derek? I emailed them before but had the impression they didnt speak much english..

Cheers

I e-mailed Darek (spelled it wrong earlier ) through Jadar models contact address. I originally sent it in Polish (Google Translator). Darek replied back in English. I was pleasantly surprised that he offered a new one for free with my next purchase through them. Really, all I wanted was to see some pics of the an unfinished kit to compare the example I had. I'm impressed with them. Hope that helps. I would e-mail him in English though.

Kerry,
I have one Shilka from ARMO. My piece is almost perfect with just few small bubbles so I am sure that it was their failure. In December I bought from them MLRS which is very good:



Hope it helps.

Zbigniew

Thanks Zbigniew for the encouraging words - and I do like that MLRS. After hereing from you and Sabot, I'm confident that I just got a bad example. Looking forward to getting another. I had a good friend of mine who is a machinist among other things who has fabricated some barrels out of brass for me. Ya, in braille scale!!!! They look like sexy little needles!!! with fluted tips!!!.

Hi Kerry:

I bought my copy of the ARMO ZSU23-4 about 6 years ago. Built it in 2006. This was the best I could make out of it OOB:






Needless to say I am not very good in building. Plus I remember this was my first ARMO or all resin kit ever. Thus the noobish handling and cleaning of resin parts.

You will notice that the tracks are not the best in the planet. I suggest cannibalizing track parts from ACE or other kits.

Good luck!

Hey Toby,

Thanks for sharing your "zues"! Looks great, especially being your first resin kit. I really think I got a bad example that's all. I'm trying valiantly to make it work with some scratchbuilding to do. Darek at Jadar models in poland should be sending me one soon so I might wait and use my turned barrels on that one.

On the subject of tracks- I've cannibalized a set of tracks and wheels from a PST PT-76. So some more work to get those to work is coming.

I'm looking for a really cool camo scheme to do instead of the sand colored ones I saw in Iraq. I have a Syrian camo or Afghan camo scheme in mind at this time.

Thanks again for sharing, it looks really cool!

Hi,
I don't think that using PST's PT-76 tracks it is a good idea. Wheels are OK but tracks have very poor pattern.
Notice also that the track's pattern in 'Shilka' and PT-76 are different. What is more, 'Shilka' has a bit wider tracks.

Cheers

Thanks Zbigniew-

What tracks do you recommend to use then?

Hi,

it seems to me that "shilka" has completly unique tracks. There are couple of vehicles on more less the same chassis: BTR-50, PT-76, MLTS... but the tracks of ZSU are different. I don't see any repleacement at the moment. The only way is to use tracks from ARMO kit. You can use different wheels if you want.
If you put them into hot water the resin becomes plastic. Therefore you can band them and correct the shape.

Cheers

Thanks Z!

I will wait for the new one to arrive from Jadar. The old kit's tracks were so warped as to not be useful. There are a few that I planned on using as spares on the hull. Hopefully the new one will be better. BTW, I can't wait to see that MLRS done!