JSU-152 question (A-Gin!)

[iambrb]

Hello to all! OK, I guess you could call this question/version 2.0! So I am all hot to buy that new Tamiya JSU-152 kit....then I can't help but notice, that darn thing is like $50 bucks delivered! I cannot help but notice that there is a Cyberhobby and also an older DML "Chinese" kit out there as well. Can anyone tell me how these two kits stack up in comparison to either the Tamiya kit, or at least the quality level of the two kits themselves?

Thanks for your indulgence, look forward to answers!

 

[Sharkmouth]

Dragon's kit (also under the Cyber-Hobby label) suffered from the road wheels being too small and the height of the lower tub being approximately 2mm short. This gave it a squashed look. Nice tracks though. The muzzle brake on the barrel was full of flash on my example so I tried replacing it with and aftermarket example.

The Tamiya kit (I have the IS-2) has the correct dimensions for the road wheels and the lower tub. How am I so sure? I took measurements of the real thing!

Non-scientific Neanderthal era measuring device.

Regards,

 

[shawngehling]

There are some good reviews you can look at.


Tamiya Kit:

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/tam/kit_tam_35303.shtml

http://scaleplasticandrail.com/kaboom/index.php/reviews/178

http://www.finescale.com/en/Products%20and%20Reviews/Kit%20Reviews/2010/02/Tamiya%20135%20JSU-152.aspx

Check out the Italeri one too...
Shawn

 

[Sharkmouth]

The Italeri kit is the Zvezda molds. Simplified (but more accurate dimension-wise). An example are the missing bolts on all the correctly sized road wheels and idlers. Again, this is from my experience with the Italeri IS-2, not the ISU-152.

Regards,

 

[shawngehling]

Thanks Saul,
I thought it was an old Zvesda kit, but didn't want to say so without
knowing for sure??? :idonno

Here is a picture of my (old build) ISU-152 Italeri built out of the box.
I did this one, the last time I was stationed in the Middle East... Had it
on my table for months, did a little here and there (when I wasn't putting in
18 hour days)... It was a nice break from the crazy hectic time I had there.

These are also in the "tips and tricks" section under "Quick Bases".
Please look it over and if there is something that is really wrong,
let them know, so they can correct it if they find it (yes it's a
lot cheaper than the tamiya one).

Hope this helps. If you want I can take some better photos of the
beast if it will help also? Just let me know?
Shawn

 

[G Cooper]

sharkmouth wrote:

Non-scientific Neanderthal era measuring device.

Regards,

Well now that is worse than the metric - U.S. measuring system !

Is that the Neo, or Paleo Neanderthal measuring system you are using there :laugh:




Gary :pinch:

 

[Sharkmouth]

:P

Actually, I was telling my friend what I needed measured when he took the photo! He then pulled out a tape measure, he called it a 'meter' and we took the dimensions.

By the way, these (along with many photos) were passed on to Nick Cortese. He passed them on to Dragon, in the hope the molds would be updated, but they obviously did not listen.

Regards,