Hi all
for the Fire for effect campaign, I have decided to enter this self propelled mortar. The kit issued in 2018 by Trumpeter uses several older sprues coming from their BTR-70 and BTR-80 kits.
The turret is newly tooled as well as the PE plate.
I don’t pretend making an accurate copy of the picture. Hopefully the result will be close enough if I manage to master the weathering.
As first I wanted an OOB build however Trumpeter using their BTR-80 lower hull didn’t notice that the 2S23 doesn’t have the winch access hatch at the front. So the first step was to remove the details around and fill the opening.
This being done I started the suspension. Unlike what Trumpeter tells you to do, I prefered making one set after another The upper suspension triangle at the bottom on the picture (sorry for the non professional word!) is a bit loose so I feared that gluing them all prior to gluing the lower ones as per the instructions might have generated some wheels alignment issue. Time will tell if I was right.
Due to connection issues. I didn’t post pictures lately.
I managed to finish the suspension and tackle the basic interior. Only the front part is issued by Trumpeter. Anyway very little will remain visible through the hatches.
A few days ago I assembled the whole hull unlike what Trumpeter asks you to do. I think it easier to glue the details on a complete hull rather than on separate parts to assemble later.
I’ve erased the conduits for the lights power cords as they were wrong. I replaced them with bits of 0.3 and 0.4 mm styrene rods. Shaping the PE protection has been tedious. I still have one more to do.
The turning lights are clear parts. I painted them clear orange on both faces. Then the rear one has been painted green. The front clear part is protected by some blu-tac till the model is painted.
Thank you all for the kind words.
I had few time available for modeling lately however I managed to add some parts to the hull. The left side headlights are glued and wired. I’ve modified the kit hatchet to keep only the straps like on my ref picture. I’ll try to do the same for the shovel.
The rear bumpers were a pain to shape. It is better to anneal them prior to bending them. Even after getting exactly the same shape for the both is not an easy task.
Here are some pictures of the full hull and some details.
For your information Trumpeter requires you install a searchlight at the passenger station. None of my reference pictures shows it so I’ve decided not to use it.
