The US6 has a moveable vent just below the windscreen, that when open lets you see inside the hull, with just a central bar holding it up (at least in the images I've seen)

The kit part B22 is a poor representation, so a replacement was made of thick foil



Four missing bolts were also added to the grill (I'm not sure if they were missing or if I removed them when cleaning the part up)

Holes were made to take the wiring I plan to add to the headlights which will be painted before gluing on



then the rear section



WOW that went together fine too and the two sections fit together as well (No picture as I've run out of tape to hold them together

Finally the doors, and yes these too build well





I found sticking the handles (wire replacements) etc to a bit of tape helps bypass the carpet monster

Good day!
My friend the collecting and very well refined this model. I think his blog will help you in the building.
Although the blog and in Russian. but in the photos everything is clear.

http://panzer35.ru/forum/46-1948-1

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out (you can't have too many references!)

EDIT: Wow, some serious skills on display there, and a superb result.

At least I did not see any details I'd missed (though he did remake some parts I've decided to leave.. a real credit to his skills)

A bit more building.

I had originally planned to build the katyusha 'buttoned up', with a trailing wire running off to an external firer.

BUT... I found a soviet tank rider figure (miniart) that looked suitable to convert into a driver, so I decided to go for it and show the katyusha in transit....

So to do this I needed to modify the figure to fit in the cab, modify the seat to accept the figure and 'crush' down as given seat is sprung.





The seat has be carved out, a repalcment pad made of miliput added and the modified driver pressed in to allow accurate assembly after painting. I also added a helmet, canteen and rifle for added interest.

The driver has been modified to fit in the cab, the buttock have been carved down to reduce the figures height, and the posture altered by removing a wedge from the torso for the same reason.

One leg was moved by cutting at the knee, then pinning and gluing. the hand on the wheel was also rotated to provide a better appearance

The steering column was so low the drivers legs would not fit, so this has been extended

(NOTE: looking at walk arounds this is probably worth doing anyway, as I think the steering wheel sits too low)

I also had to remove and replace the pilotka (cap) to get the required headroom

Now since I'm showing the cabin I need decals for the instument pannel.

Sadly ICM have not included any despite them being present in the original studebaker kit, so I sourced some from Archer Fine Transfers (AR35280)



This also provides resin front grill logos (one to fit the undersized kit badge, and one slighly larger you need to replace the badge to use).

NOTE: These grill badges were only present on early Studebakers, but since this is an early Kaytyush design I decided to use the larger version.

In order to stick the cab together I need to paint the inside, and paint up the driver.

And the front of the cab, note the wired in control box for the rockets painted in a mustard green/yellow

(This seems to be inducated for museum examples,and adds a nice colour contrast)

you can also see the great transfers for the data plates and dials



I've also added some fairly basic motors for the windscreen wipers in the roof



so once this has all cured I can glue up the cab

Well once the paint had dried I glued up the cab, using the doors to make sure I got the shape right,

The doors were glued on and that stage was done.

The headlights were painted silver inside and glued on (I also undercoated the area as it will be tricky to paint without messing up the headlight lenses.

I then wired them up using the holes I drilled earlier, the wiring was run through the engine bay to the fuse box (I think that's what it is).

I also added the wiring to the instrument dials, plus a horn and wiring based on online photos and youtube clips.





A few photos online, plus several youtube clips provided a bit more information on the engine bay which needed a few additions

Good job and interesting subject....

Paul

Hi everybody the Katyusha is back in progress,

I've put the cab on the chasis, and put as coat of paint on, so it looks to have jumped forward a lot, but it's just the paint that brings it to life.

I found the hinges on the blast armour did not work in the open position, so it was removed and replaced with styrene rod and lead foil



The engine looks good, and I'm trying to come up with a way to hinge the bonnet (otherwise I'll leave it looks)

I also bought some of the generic tarps & tents from the new company Value Gear Detail which worked out very well so one has been placed on top of the hull storage box

(http://www.valuegeardetails.com/index.html)

Lovely work so far congrats.

Paul

Super job Your post has been of great help to me because I've just started constructing the same kit. As a 'newbie' I've not found it easy and no way can I achieve the level of detail of your model. Old age and failing eyesight don't help!