... the little ammo cart on page one of the instructions








sorry could not resist. This is a big build and its going together quite well. The tracks absorb a lot of time - but worth it for the detail



I found it preferable to paint them prior to attaching the upper hull. I also recommend attaching the upper hull prior to putting on all the detail pieces - because it takes a bit of pressure to get it to fit



The model is supposed to have working parts - a recipe for disaster in my opinion. So I fix and cement it all into the desired pose. I have gone for driving - not shooting. I would be interested to see someone tackle this in shooting mode - as I think the rear spade may prove troublesome in that pose?



next step is the gun !

best
Mark

Looks great so far. Definitely a kit I will purchase but the availability seems strange for Trumpeter.

Does anyone know what the issue is with this kit seeming to have limited availability since it was released about a month ago? It seems like the only on-line sellers that have it are in Japan, i.e. HLJ, Hobby Search and many Japanese Ebay sellers. And being in Japan means the price is slightly higher.

None of the Chinese sellers seem to have it - Lucky and Hobby Easy - and none of the many Chinese sellers on Ebay have it either.

What's up? I've never seen this happen before with a Trumpeter kit.

Squadron has it in stock for $93.59 + shipping. Gonna order one this evening.

Rick

Some guys at my local club have the kit already.

Jon, you could try those guys.

http://www.microworldgamesllc.com/Soviet-2S7M-Self-Propelled-Gun-TR05592.htm

Cheers,


Christophe

Thanks guys, but with the current USD/CDN exchange rate (25%), ordering from the US is an expensive option. And I stopped ordering from Squadron years ago when they changed their shipping rates to Canada to incredibly stupid amounts.

Plus, ordering from the US guarantees that Canada Customs will charge the tax; packages from other countries seldom get taxed.

I got this one from ebay via Germany and shop and shipped it to Kuwait. I think its a lot of kit for the price.

Here is a few more pics...

here is indication of size of the model beside a T-90




some of the details

I got this kit just yesterday. The Czech Koruna has gone down the toilet recently, so I am officially broke This is a damn impressive model kit, nevertheless.
Have You run into any issues or inaccurancies?

Looks huge next to the T-90.

Arpad - it goes together pretty ok. As allways check your dryfits in particular the upper hull to lower hull and be careful of how the the rear bulkhead fits up to it.

one area that is a problem is the suspension. the drop arm parts A10 have a hole that the stub axles F12 are supposed to fit into -- well that wont happen. I found it easier to glue in part F12 and cut off the pin. Then slot in A10 part.

the detail on the gun is well..




also something cool here these recoil tubes are moulded hollow !! never seen this before.

Thanks. On the first look I noticed only the compulsory sink marks.

Nice work so far Mark. I will have to get this one because I have special memory with this beast. Once I attended a military demonstration on a military exercise ground, where a blank shot was fired from this beats. Me and my colleagues made a mistake on chosing a poor pleace to stand - 70 meters infront of the cannon and we didnt even had ear protection! It was the loudest arty shot I ever experienced. A few years ago I spent a night in a hangar at a military facility - You can guess what was stored inside! Yes a Pion. With nothing else to do I spend a few hours inspecting the whole thing and Its a great piece of engineering. Heres a picture I took back then.

Naseby -- fantastic pictures ! big thanks for sharing them - they are going to be useful. I saw a video of this pion in action and a blaring alarm goes off before the thing fires -- apparently to warn people to get very clear as it will concuss those to close !!

this build is ... pretty complicated... but very rewarding. The gun is one of the most complex things in plastic I have built -- but is certainly not to difficult.

some more pics... need to add some wiring next really.









i have some parts left on the sprues and have no idea where they are supposed to go !

great build really nice very impressive kit

Looks great....loving that barrel. It's a beast for sure.

big thanks Greg and Mike.

im stumped on where parts k32 , k58 and k 45 are supposed to locate. I looked through the instructions so many times - but give up. I cant see anything obviously missing.

Im checking the walk through pictures - and im thinking some extra detailing in terms of wiring and hydraulic lines could be of benefit.

went all old skool with the detailing. back to using this stuff



I didn't do all the lines - just the ones i thought warrented a bit of attention.






had to replace kit supplied recovery cable with spare eyelets from t-55 kit and some karaya cable. the supplied stuff has a problem of the wire being to thick in diameter to thread into the supplied eyelets.



i believe it is time to get some paint on it !

The plumbing looks good. How are you going to finish it? Standard green or Ukrainian camo?

Good evening,

I ordered mine from Megahobby and it cost me $126.00 US shipping included; it was at my place less than 10 days after - and I live in Edmonton.

Regards,

Marc

Hi Greg - it was going to be greenie!

but tell me more about Ukraine camo ! can you point me some references?

best
Mark

Mark, go out to Google images and search for Ukrainian armour. They are green with red-brown spots with two white strips down the center.

Greg - thanks. I had a good browse. It looks like the pion's that the Ukrainians have brought back into service are still in green. So I will go with that.

ok Time to Prime ... Prime Time ... something like that

Looking good! There are some great videos on YouTube of this thing firing. It makes one hell of a BOOM.

Anyone know what the differences are in the 2 versions (early late?) that Trumpeter have released of this SPG?
Thanks!

Excellent build and the detailing came out nice, that thing is sure one big machine.

Robert