Oh one more thing, I added the ribbing to the front fenders with plastic strip.
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Actually Life Color Rust set
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Excellent paint finish. It all blends together and makes the details pop.
Well done
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An interesting finish you’ve achieved on an equally interesting AFV! I like the tones you have gone for and I reckon having a crew with it will look great as it will show just how small it is!
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Thank you for the kind words guys!
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Calling this one finished- finally- although I still have to attach it to the base. I had a very nice name plate made for it and for the life of me I can’t find it. I’ll just make one on my computer.
I’m not entirely happy with how this came out, I could have done a better job of especially on the tracks where I got careless in assembly and left some gaps. I’m also not happy with the canvas cover I tried to make that goes over the gun manlet. I used epoxy sculpt and should have taken the time to add more folds but just got lazy.
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As soon as you do that, you will find your missing one!
Ken
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Really nice to see this finished- a rare vehicle in a rare paint scheme. I like the way you have finished it- the details pop out and you can appreciate them from every angle. Plus the fig is a great piece all on its own!
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Thanks so much for the kind words Karl. Not my best work but good enough.
As I stated earlier in this post, I have no proof whatsoever this vehicle was used by Egypt so it stands as a “what if”.
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As far as the figure goes, I had to cut his right arm at the elbow to bring it down a little to fit the pose.
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The figure was painted with Vallejo acrylics but the face I used Life Color flesh set as an experiment and they’re great.
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I would refer you to the Russian Language Wikipedia page on the ASU-57. It’s much more detailed than the English Version and Google Translate works wonders.
I started to go down the rabbit hole and look for where the Ethiopian/Egytian use of the ASU-57 info originally came from.
The Russian Wiki page is much more extensively footnoted than the English version and one of the footnotes is to a Russian Language webpage that you will need to access through archive.org:
http://otvaga2004.narod.ru/otvaga2004/0wars1.htm
One section contained a number of 1st hand accounts of the combat in Ethiopia of Russian Advisers who were operating with Cuban Troops. That is where the ASU-57 gets mentioned. It appears the Chief Russian Adviser was an Airborne General and that was the reason ASU-57 and BMD came in as aid.
I couldn’t find any photos before I ran out of time and the rabbit hole began to close in around me. I didn’t get to the references/footnotes for Egypt, maybe someone else will dig harder than I did.
Ive always thought the ASU-57 was a cool little vehicle.
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You’ve done that model proud Richard; I really should tackle the 3 I have in the stash - you’ve made it all look easy!
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Nice job on the compact assault gun.
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The concept must have been quite revolutionary when it came into service; we all know that airborne forces are vulnerable and I imagine the Soviets were quite pleased with their innovative design back then. Sure, a 57mm gun may not have been able to engage and defeat the larger MBTs, such as say, M47s, M48s, and Centurions - but I’m sure it would have helped boost the morale of the paras. Any enemy APC would, I’m fairly certain, not have survived the punch of the 57mm during most of the ASU’s service.
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Thank you all for the kind words.
I always thought it was a neat little vehicle, and being an Airborne subject definitely got my interest up even more.
Thanks Thomas for the information! I will be delving into it tonight at some point. As I stated earlier, Wikipedia mentions several nations that supposedly used them. One is East Germany. I saw a video on YouTube where an ASU-57 turns into a road; sitting on the rest of the vehicle is 2 or 3 troopers who look to be wearing East German parachute helmets. It’s very quick but the shiny helmets are noticeable. Which gives me an idea……
I also noticed in one video some troops running along side their vehicles wearing berets. I’m not sure the Soviets wore theirs to the field but I know the East Germans did. Very interesting……
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Yes the Soviets were pioneers it seems in developing air droppable armor for their units.
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Thank you sir!
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It would have been very interesting to see how they would have done in a conflict with MBTs for sure. Just getting them safely to a drop zone would have been an accomplishment in and of itself.
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In the future, whenever that is lol, I plan on doing a Prague ‘68 diorama with the Hobby Boss kit and the Trumpy ASU-85.
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