Zvezda 3677 1:35 SPG Koalitsiya-SV - Work In Progress

Although I am very new to the hobby - this will be my 3rd model - I have decided to share with you my progress in building Zvezda 3677 - 1:35 Koalitsiya-SV SPG.
Hopefully I will get some advises on how to proceed further…

My reference photo (I do not own it - just downloaded it from the Internet - hope this will fall under “fair use”):

My progress so far:















I have spend 10:30 hours into the model up to now… Like 1 hour after work each day.

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Looks very good. The auto loader looks quite complex. Good work :+1:

Looking good so far Daniel. Are you going to paint it as it is in the photo?

Very nice work, it is clear that Zvezda has improved a lot their models and this one looks great.

Note that you have a couple of gaps on the box on top of the turret that you may want to correct, if you haven’t done already.

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I find it quite interesting that the Russians obviously made the turret loading mechanism work; certainly, in the West (NATO really) such configurations - ie basically a turret-mounted gun high up (from a loading perspective) on a tank chassis proved problematical in the past, for example when the tri-country project SP 70 was undergoing development. This was a project back in the 70s to replace the M109 series; a 155mm FH 70 gun located onto a Leo 2 chassis (there’s more to it than that I’m sure); however, as with so many multi-agency projects it all came to naught. I think the gestation period alone allowed it to be overtaken by other improvements in gun design, but I do recall reading (or it might have been a conversation with an Artillery officer) that the loading mechanism was particularly complicated:

The Russians, pragmatic as ever, seem to have gotten around any technical problems with their loading design.

Anyway, this is all a bit of a distraction; ‘looking froward to the completion of the build.

Maybe (certainly) I’m not experienced enough, but I do not the plastic material Zvezda used for this model. I’ve built (or I am currently building) models from Meng, Tamiya, Tiger Model and Hobby Boss and the Zvezda material is like the Hobby Boss one - the details are thinner than Meng, Tamiya and Tiger Model and for some reason unknown the Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is just eating through the details but it is not bonding them - very strange experience.
P.S. I absolutely hate the F14 detail :smiley:

I am wondering if I could use this kit: Russian 2S19 152mm Self-Propeller Howitzer Grills set, Voyager Model FE35052 (2020) designed for Zvezda 3630 for my Zvezda 3677 kit as well?
As far as I can understand the chassis is the same…

Yes you can, they measure exactly the same

Another detail you can work on is removing the tabs that show through the track links, at least at the visible parts of the track.

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Thanks mate.
To be honest - I absolutely hate this type of tracks - my son has built a Wespe from Tamiya and I have helped him with the tracks, which are quite similar… Not my cup of tea. I’m thinking of replacing them with ATL-137 - they seem the same as the ones in the reference photo.
But again - I am not so experienced modeller so I might give this model’s tracks a try - just to be sure…

Yeah - I’ve noticed them as well - will try to fix it, as well as a crevice on the left side of the turret as well…

Go with the kit tracks, ATL-137 does not fit the sprocket and has fewer links than required for the 2S35 (dont ask me how I know :roll_eyes: :roll_eyes: )

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For comparison: From right to left Zvezda 2s35, Zvezda 2s19 and Trumpeter 2s19 early

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I’ll second that, the Tor M2 I have has link and length tracks and I’ll be grateful for that when I build it. I realise that having a 6 or 7 part link might make it more detailed but I die a little inside when I see that kind of thing.

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Thank you guys, I really appreciate your input!

By the way - how was your Zvezda 3677 turret? It is supposed to have some tiny… “spikes”? on it but 3 of them came broken in my kit… Maybe store problems or something?

I replaced all of them with metal wire after drilling holes.

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