Trumpeter 2P19 Launcher with R-17 Missile SCUD B

[SdAufKla]

So, I’ve been plodding along with this build for a few months making slow (even for me!) progress, but I’m just about ready to start the initial finishing and some final assembly (lower hull, suspension, tracks, and crew cab interior). I realized that I haven’t shared any of the work yet despite teasing that I would back when I was doing some early research.

For the record, the kit is:
“Ex-Soviet 2P19 Launcher w/ R-17 Missile 9SS-1C SCUD B) on 8K14 Missile System Complex”

I won’t bother repeating any of the earlier research discissions and findings. I would just refer anyone really interested to this thread:

Soviet 2P19 SCUD TEL Reference and Research

The official Soviet and NATO nomenclatures for the launcher and missile can be confusing, and the research info was my best effort to clarify it all for myself. Hopefully it’ll help you, too.

I would offer once again that if you really are interested in the subject, you should go to the thread and follow the link to the research material on DropBox. it can be downloaded for free. The file is still there as of this post (02/02/'23), but that is subject to change at any time that I need the file space. Get it now while you still can…

I also won’t try to do any sort of “review” of the kit, Trumpeter Item No. 01024. Scalemates lists its release date as 2015, so the kit is well over 8 years old by now. Not too terribly long-in-the-tooth, but it’s certainly not bleeding edge state of the art. It has a few warts, but, so far, I’ve found it pretty much standard fare. It has some fantastic fine details along with some poorly done features, like mismatched locator pin and hole sizes, a bit of flash, etc. Certainly not a “bad” kit by any stretch, and I’d rate the majority of it is so far as “very good to excellent.”

One thing that can be said is that it is a whopping darned big box of parts. It can take a while to find some particular piece or part. Keep the instructions and parts tree illustrations handy.

Having spent most of my build time working on the crew cab interior, I can say that when compared to the references, it is a slightly disappointing mix of the early SCUD A, 8U218 launcher’s cab interior inside the later 9P19 launcher. I suspect that this is because there have been a number of quite thorough walk-arounds of the ex-Littlefield 8U218 Scud launcher done with almost zero coverage of the existing 9P19 launchers. This is too bad, but since almost no one knows or appreciates the detailed differences between the two, best to simply drive on doing the best that can be done with what is included in the kit. It “looks” right, and the major components and features, while different in detail, are essentially the same as far as I can tell. I don’t suspect that anyone will come up to me at some model show and attempt to point out any corrections.

This is where I’m at in the build right now.

I started with the suspension and tracks.

I advise a good deal of care and patience here. The kit tracks are link-to-link gluable styrene. Overall detail is crisp and the molding clean. There are specific left and right links, but unfortunately aside from the part numbers, the instructions don’t offer up any clear drawings. The difference is in the ends of the molded-on track pin heads. The flat ends go inboard and the ends with washer detail go outboard. I’d suggest checking some of the reference photo albums listed in the research materials to confirm the direction that the links face when installed on the chassis. The lower hull and chassis on the prototype are taken from the T10 tank, so that can also help with these details.

As usual for me, I made a quick alignment fixture to hold everything in place as I worked my way through the suspension. As shown in these photos, everything except the return rollers is only dry-fitted and will be removed for painting and weathering. It is necessary to finish the suspension before gluing on the upper hull since the design of the fenders will prevent installing the parts after it has been added.

These photos show the upper hull and crew cab dry-fitted to the lower hull and suspension. To the kit designer’s credit, all of this fits very nicely and snuggly.

However, in order to paint and finish the lower hull and cab interior, it all needs to come apart.

I didn’t make any significant modifications to the upper hull part, mostly just some layout lines to help figure out where I wanted to run electrical wires, cables and pipes.

The crew cab interior will get a bunch of electrical wires and piping. All of these were laid out in pencil as I worked my way through the various reference photos of the two different cab interiors. In the main, the kit represents the 8U218 cab interior, so that’s also what I did with the wiring, etc. The boxed off area in the lower right corner holds the APU generator in the prototype.

I’ve also added numerous L-shaped pieces made from lead foil that will replicate the camps that hold all of these wires and pipes. This will allow me to paint the interior, install the wires and pipes, then simply bend the clamps over them. This makes installing these easy, quick and very clean. No need to try to paint these details against the walls and roof.

Trumpeter cleaverly puts most of the floor details on a single piece that works like a “module.” The references show all of the mechanical push-pull rods and other connectors for the driver. I had to cut out the vertical front wall of the raised floor section as per the prototype to lead all of these to the rear. The rack for the batteries is provided in the kit but it lacks the actual large storage batteries. These were made from styrene strip stock with filler caps punched from styrene sheet and cables made from lead wire. Again, all just dry-fitted here to be painted separately.

Note that the molded-on rectangle shapes on the raised floor replicate rubber mats on the prototype vehicles.

There are a fairly large number of interior components and subassemblies in the kit. These are just some of the more interesting ones. Not shown are the 8 crew seats, and a number of other small fittings. As you can see, I replaced the handles / guards on the control boxes and radio with brass wire and drilled out a number of connection points for the wiring and pipes. The kit also provides a bunch of decals for many of these dials and gages.

The large tank seen in the upper left of this picture is the hydraulic fluid reservoir. The hydraulic pump for the missile erector system is the gizmo next to the radio in front of the firewall.

Missing from the kit are the windshield hold-open arms, hinges and motors for the wipers. Fortunately, there are some decent pics of these details in some of the references, so I was able to do some simple CAD drawings and 3D print these little parts.

Here’s one of the windshield hold-open arms. The other is a mirror image.

The windshields can be opened forward, and each has a pair of hinges.

Finally, because the windshields can open and close, the wiper motors are made as separate units mounted to the front cab wall and connected to the wipers with flexible drive shafts. This is one of the motors (one for each windshield). The two parts are identical.

To give you an idea of where these parts go. Here the parts are just laid on the cab wall. I’ll add the hold-open arms and hinges before I paint and paint the motors separately.

Finally, with all of this wiring, cables and pipes, I’ve had to make up some of the harnesses and wiring to test fit some things. Here’re a few of them. The rest will be added as the cab interior is finished.

So, that should pretty much catch up on the build so far. Just a couple of little bits still to make for the windshield wiper assemblies and then on to paint and finish of the lower hull and cab interior.

Happy modeling!

[HGBARNES]

Another master creation in the works.

[SSGToms]

This is going to be really outstanding.

[Johnnych01]

This is good… Very eagerly awaiting more … Some very very nice scratch building and details…

[Karl187]

Wow- you are really packing in the details there Michael! Are you going to be leaving the main side hatches open to show off the finished interior?

[TankCarl]

Will you have the missile stowed, or raised?

[justsendit]

Outstanding! Thank’s for sharing this!

—mike

[SdAufKla]

So, thanks everyone for the kind words and enthusiasm. Lots and lots of modeling still to do with this thing, and as slow as I build, I hope I don’t bore everyone with endless updates that will no doubt be stretched out over months and months…

@Karl187 : I do plan on having the side doors and the cupola hatch open. I had considered trying to add LED lighting (using the vehicle’s interior dome lights) but decided that the build was complicated enough as is. The missile is the main visual feature and interest, so the interior detail is just an added bonus.

I want what is visible as correct and plausible as possible, but despite as much time as I’ve spent researching the subject, there’s just not enough info available to try to get every last interior detail correct. Trumpeter has already made the main accuracy compromise by including the 8U218 interior in the 2P19 TEL, so even if there was 100% info for the 2P19 interior, the entire thing would have to be rebuilt from mostly scratch. At some time, you just have to accept the inevitable and move on.

Trying to close the loop on the interior research is one reason why I’ve made so little progress already. I’ve reached a stonewall, so time now to get’er done. I’ve cracked the code on the missile hook-ups, so at least that much will be as accurate as my modeling skills will allow. The interior will just be what it will be.

(Sorry if all that sounds a bit frustrating. I do try to beat the “Researcher’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law” when I can, but I also know that, inevitably, Murphy always wins!)

@TankCarl : Right now, I plan on having the missile erected in launch configuration on a vignette base. The kit has some “working” features and at least in theory the missile and gantry / erector cradle can be raised and lowered. I will attempt to build the gantry / erector cradle so that can be raised and lowered, but the missile will be permanently displayed in the vertical launch mode.

Once completed I hope that the missile on its launch platform and fully connected (all cables and hoses) to the TEL will be strong enough to withstand transportation to shows, etc.

[BootsDMS]

Michael,

I’m a little late on parade re this one; love it. ‘Looking very forward to how you tackle all this. I haven’t this one in my stash – yet(!)

I’ll certainly be paying attention to those tube/hose connections when you get to them. Cracking work so far. Keep at it.

[Karl187]

I’ve had my share of frustrating searches too! Interiors can be the most difficult aspect and is usually the least photographed of a vehicle- particularly a fairly rare item like this.

[Arch-Stanton]

I’ve got one of these that I rescued. I can’t aspire to your level of detail but I’ve already learned a thing or two about it’s assembly and construction. I’ll be following along.

Is this the same running gear as the 2A3 406mm atomic cannon?

[SdAufKla]

The hull-chassis for the 406mm cannon is longer than the standard T-10 / 2P19 SCUD TEL chassis. IIRC, it has one extra roadwheel station. However, the tracks and most other suspension components are the same. The Trumpeter kit includes the same track sprues, just more of them.

[Arch-Stanton]

Thanks, I thought I recognized it.

[SdAufKla]

My, my… How time flies. I hadn’t realized that I’d gone so long without any updates on the thread. 'Bout time to correct that!

Another thing that I hadn’t been paying attention to was how many photos I’ve been taking, and those do add up. So, I’ll break this update down into 2 or 3 different posts just to make a bit easier to follow and read.

As with most of my builds, I usually start with the lower hull and suspension and complete those (or very nearly so) to reduce the amount of handling that’s needed later during final assembly and finishing. This is, of course, almost required for those builds that include any sort of extensive interior details. In the case of the Trumpy Scud B, the way the upper hull is matched with the crew cab and lower hull, it would be very, very difficult to try to complete the interior and crew cab and then finish the lower hull and suspension. In particular, the kit’s upper hull includes the fenders which fit very closely to the top of the tracks and suspension, making the installation of those parts nearly impossible once the upper hull has been glued to the lower hull. This is all in explanation of what follows, the finishing and construction of the lower hull and suspension before moving on to the crew cab interior and upper hull.

As noted in my earlier posts, the suspension has been constructed up to the point where I have a bunch of subassemblies (wheels, and track runs) that have all been test-fitted numerous times into the alignment fixture that I’ve made for this build. The fixture makes assembling the track into straight and regular runs, in this case, a top and bottom run for each side. All of the wheels have been test fitted with these track runs (while the glue was still somewhat soft) in order to form the styrene link-to-link tracks into the proper shapes and catenary curves sagging between the return rollers and the idlers and drive sprockets.

Once ready for finishing and assembly, my first step is to add some 3D “weathering” textures to the raw plastic hull and suspension / hull parts. Doint this now means that I can get complete coverage of all of the areas that would be subject to such effects. It also greatly reduces the amount of dry, artist pigments that would otherwise need to be used to get the same 3D effects.

For this, I use a mixture of a couple of different artist textured acrylic gel mediums. In this case, I used about half and half “blended fibers” and “pumice.” To this, I added a pinch of dry pigments to give the acrylic medium some color (it dries clear, otherwise) along with some static grass for additional texture. I’m going for a dry-moist farm field texture and look with clumped grass and weeds. The Scud launcher would spend most of its time on roads, only taking to cross-country movement for short distances in and out of tactical ready and launch positions. Dirty… yes, certainly, but not like a tank wallowing in the mud.

Next up are the base colors air brushed on. I started with flat black to pre-shade some areas and to ready the interior for later. I also sprayed the flat black down the centers of the interior of the track runs (to be shown a bit later). I followed this with an earth color overall in the suspension, lower hull, inside the fenders and the wheels. Finally, I blended the earth color into the base Soviet 4BO green around the edges and in the outside centers of the wheels.

So, here’re the track runs and a few of the wheels to illustrate the initial base color application.

I know starting out with an earth color might seem a bit backwards, but over the years, I have come to the conclusion that it’s pretty pointless to first paint the entire vehicle with the factory base color(s) only to over-paint all of that on the lower hull and suspension with the earth colors. Much simpler to just start off with the earth tones.

I’ll cover the tracks next.

[SdAufKla]

The track runs get more “base” colors on them as the first layers of their overall finish.

After the initial flat black down the center interior, with an emphasis on the spaces between the track guide teeth, the centers of the tracks get airbrushed with a medium silver color. This was followed by shooting the sides of each guide tooth with a brighter silver. The two colors were just to add depth and variety.

After allowing the silvers to dry, I masked down the interior of the tracks on each side of the guide teeth with vinyl pinstriping tape. This tape comes in many different widths. The tape I use was made in widths staggered in .5mm increments. I simply selected a tape that matched the with of the rims of the steel road wheels. The intended final effect is bare metal where the wheels run along the tracks.

The tracks were then sprayed with a basic brown rust color. (Here I used Tamiya Bronze mixed with a touch of flat black, so in some later shots, you’ll notice that the tracks have a bit of a satin sheen. Not to worry, that goes away later…).

I carefully airbrushed “dots” of this track color between each of the guide teeth. Any missed spots are taken care of by the initial flat black.

Here’s the final basic track color effect with one of the roadwheels used to illustrate the bare metal objective.

The last step with the basic finish on the tracks was to gently apply some silver Rub 'n Buff to make bare metal highlights on the outside track “cleats” or “spuds.”

Next up is the initial application of dry artist pigments.

[KurtLaughlin]

Mike, I’ve thought about the “just paint the lowers dirt color” process but never tried it. I always end up doing everything in the factory shade, then bury it under dirt color. My thinking was that for something only moderately weathered, some green or OD is going to show through. Perhaps I will try it on what I’m doing now.

What do you do with rubber-tired roadwheels, and rubber-backed tracks? These would certainly add a complication, say on T80/T84 HVSS tracks where there are rubber pads straddling steel center guides, or VVSS where there are rubber pads inside steel end connector teeth.

Thx,
KL

[SdAufKla]

OK, so at this stage, I didn’t take too many photos (dry pigments can get crazy messy, so I was concentrating on not making a mess and then not spreading it to my camera and photo area of the shop).

The basic method that I use is to pre-wet the area using artist matt medium (here thinned out about 50:50 with ordinary water). I work in small areas at a time. Wet the area, sprinkle the pigments on, give them a minute or two to “attach,” then invert the model and shake off the excess. (Collecting it on a piece of paper to recycle back into the process.)

I applied the pigments to the hull bottom and sides along with the suspension components.

For the tracks, I started with exteriors. I used a small brush and wetted the area between the track “cleats” (more properly called “spuds”) and sprinkled the pigments on using a recycled spice bottle with a lid that has holes in it. The color I use is something that I’ve mixed up over time. I call it “track schmutz.” Once the exteriors of all four track runs were done, I allowed them to dry while I did other areas and the wheels. Once dry, I applied the pigment to the interiors of the track runs, but limited the application to just the strips outboard of the silver, bare metal areas.

The wheels were addressed in much the same way. Before applying the pigments, I hand painted the bare metal rims and drive sprocket teeth.

For the pigments, I selectively applied the matt medium with a small brush, and then sprinkled on the pigments, shaking off the excess after a minute or two. I did the insides of all the wheels, then went back after those dried to do the outsides. In keeping with my intended final look, I limited the pigments to the insides of the outer rims trying to not go overboard.

Finally, I also applied pigments to the undersides of the fenders.

There’s still more to do, but here are a couple more pics of the dry-fit up of the suspension with just the basic colors and dry pigments.

More to follow…

[SdAufKla]

The final bit of finishing was done with artist oil paint washes, allowed to dry, followed by air brushing on a light “dust” glaze (~5% by volume paint color, here Tamiya Buff, mixed into Testors Dull Coat). After allowing to dry out, the suspension was final assembled.

I used normal plastic cement to join the ends of the track runs, but for all the rest, I used artist matt medium. (The pieces of black sponge between the tops of the tracks and the bottoms of the fenders are holding the tracks down on the return rollers until the matt medium dries.)

Note that at this stage the upper hull is still not glued on to the lower hull. However, you can get an idea about how the final upper hull 4BO green will easily blend upwards from the areas already painted.

There will, of course, be some need to blend these finishing effects into the rest of the model, but masking the tracks is easily done with strips of paper slipped between the tracks the fenders. There’s still a lot of model left on this project, but you gotta start with a good foundation.

Happy modeling!

[SdAufKla]

Hi Kurt,

It’s pretty easy to plan ahead and leave some areas, say on the hull sides, without any of the 3D texturing and then blend the earth and factory base colors together at those spots. This is similar to what I’ve done with the outside centers of the wheels on this build.

With regard to suspensions with more “complex” finishing schemes, there’s really not much difference.

Here are a couple of shots showing pretty much the same method and finishing sequence on mt Tamiya M10 (DML link-to-link tracks, but otherwise stock kit suspension).

The finished model…