Hi everyone,

Going to create a topic about this beautiful kit from Bronco (kit CB35113). Quite some time ago our own CMOT (Darren Baker) did a pretty detailed in-box review of the model, then later in the year I was privileged to receive the kit for a build.

After fiddling with it for some time and looking for references I realized there weren't a lot of these machines left around. About the only reference book I could discover was Wydawnictwo Militaria's SU-152 (332). Beside the examples pictured in the book (pretty devoid of details really) there's another survivor in Kubinka, but a lot of the details on that one are not accessible to the public.

I must admit that so many optional articulated parts (tracks, hatches, gun) did scare me. It took me a bit to plan on how to paint them and still enable them to move, so it was heaps of dry-fitting at any step.

Naturally I started with the hull tub, adding details on the outside - suspension arm travel blocks and track tension adjustment mechanism.



Adding the parts where torsion bars are to be locked in - drop fit really.





And the bits for the idlers on the inside and the first pair of roadwheels.

Inserting the torsion bars in their gloves:



Despite excellent molding and very nice plastic, as well as identical orientation of the gloves, no two bars really sport the same amount of elasticity or share orientation.



Next up - the arms themselves. Two types in the kit, the late (left) and the early ones (right).



The late variety did fit the torsion bar square key perfectly, while the early ones that I had to use had wider locating holes and would sit a bit wobbly.

The wider opening is actually visible on this pic.



So what I did basically was pad using a 0,25mm flat plastic shims to make the fit tight enough.



Added final drive and mud scrapers.



I set the tub on a flat base and glued the first and last bars on a fixed positions, and the 4 in the middle were left as they are.



This way the heavy machine will sit level (the suspension is rather soft for its hefty bulk), and most of the suspension will still be working - I will be able to set it over moderately uneven terrain, and use the advantage of the working track (or at least most of it) without too much fuss.

Part II, where we continue with some "interior" work.

First things firs - and starting from the "nose section" we see the driver's worpklace - the most detailed of them all. This is the least visible area in the entire model, regardless of how you fiddle with the complete model attempting to view what's inside.



You can't see it in these images, but there is an instrument panel with 3 dials (no decals for them though) hanging from the edge in front of the driver (below his visor block).



Another view of the crew compartment for you to see just how visible the ejector marks are visible under an uniform coat of paint. Now think of all the weathering, chipping, ammo and personal belongings inside.



I did spray the interior as a part of an experiment to see how much will actually be visible without using some sort of light source mounted inside. Results: "not much".

Continuing with the interior we move on to the engine, which is the good old V-2K. Not sure if it is a proper representation, because I couldn't find proper reference for the differences of the basic model. Anyway - the same block lives even today in most Soviet-built heavy armor/vehicles.



Didn't wire it because I intend on closing the hatch. Parts do require some cleanup, especially the are where you mount the cylinder heads.



The area over the engine and transmission are rather well detailed, with a mass of boltheads, weld seams and cutter marks - really nice. There are some additional rim-bolts and railing to add later on.



Beyond the cutout for the engine bay there are two transmission hatches (that can be made working with minimal care), and two air intakes with beautiful PE mesh screens.

The screens consist of a single PE mesh layer, which is etched on the fret without any edges (so be careful to not tear them), and two layers of multipart PE frames. I've seen more modeler-friendly PE in my time, but oh well.

After a few "spells"/"kind words" here's what I got:



As you can see the whole screen thingy is built on layers over the two plastic frames with three curved ribs in the middle providing the absolute minimum support for the delicate screen.

After a thin coat of Mr. Surfacer my expertise level with PE and superglue was on full display:



The best part about the PE being so soft is that you can then press it over the plastic ribs underneath to look really beaten-up. In that specific way, like it's been jumped on countless times by several pairs of lend-lease shoes and a bunch of infantry boots.

So... maybe its ability to be torn is not a disadvantage after all?

Looking pretty good. But I think you added the mud scrapers too early. They interfere with the drive sprocket being added.

Making good progress. There's some nice detail packed in to that model. http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/carrey/isu-152/ has a walkaround you might be able to use?
Good luck!

Thanks Peter! Well the mud scraper sort of interferes, but that's if you assemble the sprocket before adding it. I inserted the inside half first, then glued the outside. I don't really recommend it though it did work this time around.

Howard - thanks! The model is really nicely done and thought-through. The SU-152 I am building is based off the KV-1S chassis, while the ISU-152 in the gallery is using the later and more shallow IS-2 hull.

You can tell the two easily, because the superstructure of the ISU is much higher with regards to the hull and the overall height of the machine. The roadwheels and sprockets are also a good tell-tale if you're looking at it from the side.

Glad that you can still fit the sprocket without having to remove the scraper. I haven't built this kit yet, but having built several of the Trumpeter kits I was a little worried. This kit looks fantastic in the box, nice to see it assembled.

Let me tell you Peter - the kit builds just as well as it looks.Should have started it earlier...

And now - onto the centerpiece of this beast - ZE GUN!

Bronco has taken good care of the faithful ML-20S. I must admit that I never liked the towed variant, but if they issued one now - I'll be buying it and making it working as much as my skills allow.

But let's get back to the build.

You've already seen how the breech block looks on the sprue. Here's a not-so-good looking part - I'll call it the recoil guide. Thanks to it your barrel will be able to slide back and forth and you will be a gunner for a few minutes... or hours... or... whatever.

On this pic it's not glue yet and you can see the barrel at maximum recoil.



And minimum recoil.



The breech.



The multipart, U-shaped gun cradle. When assembeld properly it will allow your barrel to slide just like the real deal using the 4 guides and the cutouts at the sides of the 4 legs, protruding from its sides. If you look closely at the inner lower left you will see a raised detail that will prevent the barrel from going further back.



Assembled. There are two options for the part that supports the projectile before it is pushed inside the barrel (Don't have a clue what it is called). I opted for the one in the raised position to be able to play with the gun a while longer...



And I've pulled the barrel back to illustrate my point better.



This is the gunner's seat, the traverse and elevation wheels, and something that should look like the gunsight. The mold parting line is a bit disappointing but oh well... (It's all hidden so didn't bother cleaning it up).



The complete gun assembly with the frame for attaching to the casemate. A No. 3 scalpel handle with No.11 blade for comparison.



Another close-up from a different angle. The small gear is not glued to its axis and fits the teetheed rake (word???) good enough to make a lasting impression on this guy. Had I devoted a couple of hours to this I could have it made all work...



A look from the breech end.



And from underneath.



One from the right to display my exceptional skills with the Humbrol tube poly - good thing it's all hidden away, LOL.



Well - that's it for tonight, fellows

The gun and mount are very accurate compared to pictures of the real thing. Bronco did a good job here.

Gregovich.

How did you find the gun collar, (where it pivots left & right) I just finished the Mid-production kit and preferred to overlap the joint with a couple small bits of styrene to keep it secure.
Also, not having a third hand, I installed the armor shield to he casement first then mounted the gun from inside.

So the 'early' kit comes with the PE for the engine intakes? Hmm, wonder why the 'mid' kit did not. That was one of my few complaints about it.

Well to tell you the truth (no offense meant here) that must have been a sight to behold. Actually I had to cut the lower lip of the fixed gun armor so I can spread it and push the gun through it. Then the smaller movable gun shield was just slipped and fitted on the cradle just fine.


I believe the Early production kit came after the Late. It has 2 (two) different engine decks:

- one with plastic molded-on mesh screens,

- and another one with the holes and two options - ready molded plastic screens, or the PE you see here.

Is there a mid-production? Only ever found Early (this one) and Late (with tac number 200 on the sides).

My mistake, I meant Sept 1943 production # CB-35109.
And I did not know that the kit for the early came out after--nice to see they made the correction with the PE on the intakes.

Assuming that they kept most of the same parts:

The styrene I added was just a small strip of .02 thickness inside of parts # B-59 and 60, figuring that once closed up the issue would become invisible. As I said to give the collar some overlap after I wasn't satisfied with the end to end joint.

By shield I meant part D30 (don't know how to title it) --I attached that to the casement first then inserted the gun so once the pivot pin went in the gun was secured.

YES the gun is a wonderful piece, real shame to hide it away. But I suppose that if one was looking to do a model with severe damage (plates blown off) it would come out nicely.

And no offense taken or meant, we both got the kit to work out.

Cheers

I see what you mean. My glue of choice for building is the Humbrol Poly in the metal tube, which does weld parts together - didn't experience problems with strength of the joints so far. Honestly I didn't test the frame's strength.



I don't know how you fitted the gun through that part - regardless of how much I turned the gun around, angled it, pushed it, etc. the opening in part D30 seemed too small.

So I used my motor tool with 0,2mm thick circular saw and split it's lower side, stretched it and forced the gun through. Once you glue this "collar" armor in place you can't see the cut anyway.

Alright, let's now move to the casemate, or the RUBKA as they call it in Russia.

In the model the side walls of the casemate is given with flat sides, but with a strange effect like it's been through some serious smallpox. Perhaps the idea was to simulate cats texture, similar to the legendary T-34 turrets, "cast in the mud around the factory".

The problem is that SU-152's "castle" is welded together from pieces of rolled, surface-hardened armored steel sheet. This sort of effect does not appear on the real deal, unless it's been outside in the past 70 years like the 2 examples in that Polish museum (and it's certainly not this pronounced).

Out with the filler.

WARNING: graphic imagery!

Mr. Dissolved Putty vs Bronco:



And again:



For those of you who haven't left yet - here's the part sanded and with a few details added. I sprayed a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1200 to see how I fared, and though I seem to have added some extra features of the surface - I went ahead.



Onto the driver's open vizard, the details that prevent it from being flooded, the horn, a plugged pistol port (or maybe the gunsight one?). Of note is also the jagged edge effect, simulating the gas cutter used for cutting the armored pieces to size.



The detail on the inside - I'd say rather soft, half-hearted attempt at it, but an attempt nonetheless, especially considering that it will never be seen anyway! There are even 4 transparent parts for the light fixtures inside, and all the periscopes!



Here's my half-hearted attempt at painting it.



A look from the outside from a bit of a different angle:



The gun temporarily in place in the casemate - no collar armor. I tried to glue the PE hooks for the tarpaulin, but they are so tiny I couldn't. I also tried to make wire replacements which you see here. I, however, didn't test fit the collar armor, so these had to be pulled. It's a good thing Bronco's plastic is resilient enough...



Collar armor in place, after it's lower arch has been cut to aid the installation of the gun through it:



Your questions and comments are encouraged - hopefully my answers are not too defensive, LOL.

Onto the wheels and track.

Since the point was brought up of why am I adding the mud-scrapers before the sprockets - I just want to mention that I was able to slide the inner halves of either sprockets onto their axles without breaking anything

The inside surfaces of the sprocket halves - cool details you will never see again. Had there been a spare I'd chain it it to the casemate so this can all be seen. There are a couple of boltheads I did not add.



Outer halves of the sprockets. The right one displays the plug that secures the entire sprocket onto the axle. Thanks to it the sprockets will be able to rotate, thus helping you adjust the track position/tension as you need it at mounting time. There is a cover seen in the lower right that closes this opening and hides the plug.



Idlers - both sides are seen.



Return rollers look massive on this shot, I swear they are true to scale - it's just the way I cropped the image :-)



Roadwheels: a look at ALL the surfaces in the same image.



Two options to mount the roadwheels - put the inner half and secure it with the axle in place on the suspension arm, then place the outer half in its respective position.



Second option - assemble the whole wheel with its axle and glue the ready assembly on the suspension arm. My preference goes with this method.



Roadwheels at their stations on the right side.



In the middle is a track roll with 88 track links (44 per type). There are 11 8-link segments that will make up the second track run - they are seen after being assembled on the jig/part T, or "the comb" as I call it.



To give you a better perspective of the whole track-building PHUN - the pile in the background are sprue segment from the pins. Two per track, each side is different type - something I decided to ignore. Honestly I don't think this has taken away anything from the model (yes, I know I am biased).



Both track rolls complete. Be aware that pins actually are pretty fragile, so do not get the track too tense, and try your best to NOT drop it - it WILL break.



Surfacer + MM Gun Metal.



Alright, just a few more posts left now

Right - I see you guys are really into my Russian lady, so I will post the next set of pics, where she isn't naked anymore.

A general view of the big girl. Base color - a not-so-random mix of Revell enamels (numbers 65-69 + some lighter shades). I added some Lake green for the edges, another color for the "walkways" I imagined the crew had made, and another one to make the entire upper half look a bit faded.



All hatches can be opened. I used a darker mix of the basic color coat to highlight some areas and simulate "shadows" on others.



Since all fuel drums are supposed to leak I used Lake green to highlight the areas under them and attempt to simulate discoloration. You can also appreciate the rim bolts (check the superstructure roof and the two just behind the mesh screens) that were molded open by Bronco, making it easier for the willing to attach and secure all those stowage items, and stuff stolen by the evil Russians.



A top view, which lacks proper color representation because I didn't change the white balance settings...



Another view of Masha from her left rear quarter. While she is a big girl, there are no featureless, boring areas as you would expect from such a large model.



A closer view of the engine/transmission deck. Due to the way the engine, gearbox, etc. were mounted it accounts for about 45% of the hull length. Begging for stowage, but I'd rather enjoy the supercool boltheads and weld seams.



A lower vantage point allows a view of the railing on the rear deck, the purpose of which I never understood.



Home stretch. The right track run finally in place - an exercise which cost me about 40 minutes. I removed two track links, because with the full complement the track was way too loose. I plead guilty - could be that my suspension was too low.

Anyway, whatever you do - considering how short track pins are and how fragile - again please be careful, or you could easily break the track. Repairing could cost you a lot of time - removing the old pin, re-drilling the opening, joining the segments again... ouch!



Onto the external fuel tanks. Keep an eye on part numbers, or you can end up with the wrong barrel ends (there are two varieties in the box). After assembling them I drilled several holes at the bottom of each, dipped them in boiling water for a few seconds, took them out and squashed them using insulated self-locking tweezers. If you look closely at the glints and shadows you will notice the changed outlines.



A fun fact (or is it fun?) I discovered while looking for info about how external fuel tanks connected to the SPG's fuel system. Turns out THEY DON'T. You either use a manual pump to transfer the fuel to the internal storage, or you drain the tanks into buckets and refuel that way.

I kid you not - if you find a walkaround of whatever's left of the two Polish examples and the Kubinka one you'll discover NO openings for the fuel lines to go into the hull.

Next time - the complete article. Again - your input is most welcome and I am happy to answer any and all questions pertaining the build.

Something I'd like to explain.

The spot on the rear deck of the SPG is the result of a misplaced drop of modelling glue.

Your examples will NOT have this defect. I was contemplating fixing it in the beginning, but then I had one of my "What the hell?" moments and went ahead with the build.

Apologies for anyone who feels offended by the above and to anyone who was lead to believe this is a molding issues, etc.

Edit: fixed a typo.

Ah , the old drop of glue trick . I have a habit of doing the old finger print trick on what I think is dry paint How about getting the MiniArt 152 mm Ammo box set ( # 35076 ) and using a few of them on the back deck to cover the spot , or Dragon has a set of tank riders ( # 6197 ) which could also work . Great job on the kit so far .

The ammo idea is cool! Just gotta find the boxes, or have my first go at some stowage items to make use of the rim-bolts

Thanks for your input!

I love the details on this beast, I am looking forward to seeing it finished!

Hey Kirk and everyone following my humble thread!

Without further ado - please meet Masha, my rendition of Bronco's early prod SU-152.

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In summary this is quite possibly THE best model kit that I have had the privilege of assembling to date. I've rarely enjoyed a build as much, perhaps the only close enough is DML's Pz. III in 1/72 which took me about 6 hours from start to finish.

Should you elect to follow instructions closely and NOT mix up parts this kit will be an absolutely trouble-free build. Fit is just fantastic, I did not have to modify a single part, or use filler anywhere but in partially hiding the "cast effect" on the casemate. Yes, tracks are a bit tedious to assemble with the two kinds of pins (which I ignored anyway), but the supplied jig helps quite a bit.

The best thing is construction is NOT complicated at all. I believe that with enough attention and a bit of adult supervision this could be built by a 12 year old, though it will rise his expectations bar (esp. for engineering and fit) a bit too high

Despite my laziness and procrastination I am happy with the way it turned out, and am really grateful that the staff entrusted me with this build.

Please feel free to ask any questions.

Your review and photos make me want to build this!
Thanks!
good job

Peter,
Very nicely done. Can you imagine meeting this beast in battle in real life? I like this one a lot.

Jeff

Really nice job with the details

Hi guys,

Thanks for the input :-)

C Johnson - I'd gladly build another one now that I know how! I was worried in the beginning, but the engineering is smart enough so my worries were in vain, really, and I really am liking how it looks in the end. I'd do a couple of things differently (decals, fenders).

Jeff - I'd be happy to see one thundering past me, though I am aware of no survivor that's able to move on its own (there are ISU-152M and K on the move, tho).

Thank you Anthony, glad you like her :-)

I am back to the Maus now