I'm thinking of backdating Italeri's Katyusha kit to a WW2 version. Would it be historically correct to mount the rockets on a CCKW353 "Jimmy" Truck (Italeri Kit No. 6271)?

The RKKA in World War II site only shows a example on a CCKW252. I can't seem to find anything on the CCKW252. Its that a typo on their part?

Hi Adrian,
There is a typo, but its not the 353 in the picture, it's the CCKW 352 that was a version of the 353 with shortened wheelbase.

HTH
Greg

hey,
The BM-13-16 rocket system was used on a variety of U.S. trucks under the lend/lease,along with the CCKW 352 ,short wheel base,it was also on the 353.
but you'll need Italeri's No.201 GMC 2 1/2 ton water tanker,so you'll have a complete closed cab.

Alan also makes the BM 13-16 on a ZIS-6 chassis,and Eastern Express makes the GAZ-AAA,and you'll be able to use the BM 13-16 rocket launcher from Italeri model,on the GAZ-AAA.I'd recommand changing thier vinyl wheels,with wheels from Hussar productions,available from airconnections,they have both GAZ and ZIS wheels

http://www.airconnection.on.ca/Default.htm

here's a pic of a CCKW 352,it'll give you a idea,but you'll want Italeri's water tanker,it's a CCKW 353,for your project.it's a pretty good site for russain vehicles,if you go to the header on top of the page and click on it,it'll take you to the sites home page.

http://www.o5m6.de/gmc_cckw352_m13.html

dont forget,you'll also need the blast shield,from Italeri's russain rocket launcher ,and fit this onto the CCKW's closed cab versions roof,to protect the roof and windshield.And the dual spare tire rack,that sits behind the cab.

Joe

Thanks for the info guys. There was a sale at the LHS and I had the option of getting the Italeri ZIS-5, CCKW353 or EE GAZ. I went for the Jimmy because it's probably the easiest to kitbash. It does have a hardtop with an opening for the machine gunner but that should be easily covered.

Speaking of nasty vinyl wheels, the ones that came with the Katyusha had partially desolved the hubs of my kit. This is one of the reason why I'm embarking on this kitbash project. Remember to keep your vinyl tracks and wheels away from styrene.

This has been a problem with some batches of Italeri's black vinyl--apprently it exudes an oily residue that attacks styrene (airfix had a similar problem with the tracks on their 1/76th scale armor around 1970). I must have lived a charmed life--none of my kits were ever affected, but complaints about this have been posted for years. Some suggest using Bare Metal foil as a barrier between any styrene parts and the vinyl, since the problem doesn't always rear its ugly head when the parts are still in the box.

hey,
good choice of the three,the ZIS-5 and GAZ-AA wouldn't of worked,they both have the single rear axle,you would have needed the ZIS-6 by alan or the GAZ-AAA by eastern express,giving you the dual rear axles.
Joe

Well, Zvezda has put out Gaz AAA kit recently. Boxart looks cool, I haven't seen any sprue shots yet though. I'm guessing the cab comes straight from their AA kit.

Greg