Hi all,
I nearly completed the building of the two main elements of this project, the Eastern Express BTR-D and the Azimut ZU23-2 AA gun.
Both require some exrta work but the gun is definitely the more demanding one. Good pictures are absolutely necessary to have something looking like the real one.





More pics in my gallery/ current project

Comments welcome (the gun carriage wheels are not fixed yet, they are just settled for the pics)

Olivier

Excellent work as allways, Olivier.
Will it be with Russian markings?

Erik

Hey Olivier

Looks cool. Where did you get the models?? Or did you make that Zu-23 yourself?? I'm looking forward to porgress pics

Keep up the good work

Cheers Roel

Oliver, I
'd love to tackle a series of projects with that gun on the decks of BMP1's, MTLB's and now the BTR-ZD, but am at a total loss for details of how the gun is secured to the deck.
There has to be more to it than just sitting it there yes?

Any ideas or images would be greatly appreciated.

Were you trying to get this one done before the Alanger kit comes out? I suppose it is pretty much the same combination of parts in a different box, but the Azimut gun has the resin and PE bits.

Does Azimut sell the gun seperately? I got one in a pack with an M113 to do a Labanon war version and liked it better than the Eastern Express kit in the Gaz truck box. But would not buy that again just to get the gun bits.

Interesting project, keep us posted.

Mike

Thanks for the comments,

Erik, yes it will have Russian markings. Probably something seen in the Chechnya conflict.

Roel, the gun is an Azimut production. In fact, it's a combikit with two plastic sprues from a brand called Scale (!), resin, PE and metal parts from Azimut.
The instructions are a mix of original ones with Azimut mods. So there are some mistakes and omissions. Nothing a good documentation can't fix.
The BTR-D is from EE. Not a bad kit but quite soft details and a hide and seek instruction leaflet !

Mike, I intended to do this one before I knew Alanger was on the starting line too Having seen their BMD-2, I can tell it's just a reboxing of the EE kit. So should be their BTR-ZD including the gun.
Azimut sell the gun asa separate item. Check their site and in the search engine type ZU23-2 and you'll have the reference.
The gun mount is secured to towing eyes with tightened ropes. I have some pictures but they don't show both ends of the securing system.
They can help anyway. The mount rests on three bits of tree trunk and not directly on the armor plates.

Olivier

I figured is was not a completely new kit, so the origin of the Alanger kit is no surprise.
Azimut website, here I come.. I could use 2-3 of those.

AS for the securing system, how typically russian!
Americans would design a locking brace and strut system with a 47month testing and revision cycle and produce a 500 page manual in its use...

Like the old joke about how Americans spent insane amounts of money on designing a pen that could write in space.. Russians brought pencils!

Still, I'm not sure I'd want to be up there blazing away, being held in place with ropes, certainly not while the vehicle was in motion!

Mike

It is a little more secure than you might think...



I have heard that the "tubes" under the feet are anything that can be scrounged, from steel tubing to PVC (thick) to tree trunks etc.

Hi Jacques,
most of the pics I have show birch "slices" under the gun mount feet. The gun is of course secured thanks to ropes or cables. But even that way, I won't feel cumfortable sitted in the gunner seat and driving on rough terrain !

Olivier