Alan Katyusha

[nsmekanik]

Now that I've finished the Krupp and there is 2 weeks till the CTA kick off and, well I'm taking a bit of a break from my JU 88's, I was scratching my head on what I felt like doing, so I decided that since I've finally got the Hussar wheels for the thing I might as well do something. Who knows, maybe It'll just keep going and I'll finish it sooner then later, as it's always been one of my favourite subjects.

The alan kit may be a bit crude by todays standards, once you get past the mould seems and sink marks, but it is not that bad and there have been some very nice builds of it. As the kit is designed to be built as either the single axle, or tandem, all the parts are there to do either, and if you want to build the tandem as required by this kit, there are a few things that need to be cleaned off the frame rails.

Of course, as with any kit, the first thing you need to do in getting started is to break something, which I did right off with the first frame rail cutting it off the sprue . After looking at some excellent walkaround pics I discovered that you could pretty much clean everything off the rails for this build so I did after carefuly notching the inside where the alignment marks were for the rear suspension.

One side done

These really were a very simple frame with no real cross members

 

[Sharkmouth]

OK, I had to look to find the kit.

Basically Alan's ZiS-5 converted to a ZiS-6 with a new frame, suspension, launcher base, and Italeri's rocket launcher, to make the BM-13.

I'll be watching this build for sure!

Regards,

 

[moon puppy]

 

[nsmekanik]

Word of caution, the plastic is very brittle, I broke one of the rear axles as well. First serious issue is the rear axles(aside from the springs being crap but I think I have an idea on how to fix that), the sprue with the Tandem axle parts only has one set of drums for them, while the single axle sprue has another, the 2 axles are smaller in diameter then the single one, so only one set of rear drums and none of the hubs fit the tandem axles, and the Hussar wheels are a very sloppy fit. The brake rods also do not let the drums slide on all the way so in order to figure out where the wheels should sit width wise I think I'm going to have to assemble the front axle and adjust things accordingly so they all line up.

Nothing insurmountable but is simple as this kit is in it's construction it is going to take a lot of preplanning to get things squared off and sitting correctly. Pics later. This is going to be a very slow build but I think an ok one. I will be working on it off and on as I don't want to burn out on it.

 

[moon puppy]

Dang man, maybe you should have grabbed a Tamiya kit...

 

[Sharkmouth]

Word of caution, the plastic is very brittle,

A second note to add (as I built a few of the Russian trucks), the plastic responds too well to hot cements like Tenax7 and Tamiya Extra Thin (green cap) as it doesn't seem to work and then it becomes mush. Always looking at the bright side, this plastic works great for stretching and making weld beads on other manufacturer's kits.

Regards,

 

[jknaus]

:cheer:
James

 

[nsmekanik]

Word of caution, the plastic is very brittle,

A second note to add (as I built a few of the Russian trucks), the plastic responds too well to hot cements like Tenax7 and Tamiya Extra Thin (green cap) as it doesn't seem to work and then it becomes mush. Always looking at the bright side, this plastic works great for stretching and making weld beads on other manufacturer's kits.

Regards,

Thanks for that, for the first few bits I've been using Testors liquid cement so I guess maybe I should switch and I'll remeber not to through all the sprue away :drinks

 

[Sharkmouth]

for the first few bits I've been using Testors liquid cement so I guess maybe I should switch

If this is what you are using:

You are fine. This is what worked best for me. Light clamping was rarely needed. Sometimes I ran a little Tamiya Extra Thin for strength.

Regards,

 

[nsmekanik]

Thank you Saul, I'm using this which I think is the same thing

seems to have worked well enough but I will definitely take care with the parts

The first thing I'm going to say is if you are going to build this kit the Hussar wheels are a must have, I'll let the pics speak for them selves

They will probably cost more then the kit, I know mine did, but there really is no comparison. The problem with the Hussar wheels is they make the rest of the kit look like crap

I'm not going to knock the kit though, given when and where it was produced, but these pics will give a better idea of how things look as well as show the problems with the break drums and wheel fit

And here is how things are when they are set together, just a touch on the wide side but I don't think that is going to be the most difficult fix

This is going to be more of a tedious build then anything as every part is an exercise in scraping filling and sanding.
I think it would be nice to have a newer kit of this truck and even nicer to have one in 1/48.......but alas I'm not seein the image in my crystal ball
:drinks

 

[Plastik Smurff]

 

[moon puppy]

 

[nsmekanik]

Yes yes we are on for the moment and here is where we are at

and here is how we got there ("we" being me myself and I, and "we' are all in good company we thinks )

not glued just yet as I think I'll wait till the axle is cleaned up so as to avoid another disastrous moment

:drinks