I will try to make a tractor for towing that the Soviet army used during World War II. It is a Vulcan Scale Models kit. This kit was released long ago, so I think there is almost no distribution in Japan. They seem to continue small-scale activities, so they sometimes reproduce British artillery.
Plastic is relatively soft.
The parts are a little dull. It might not be nice to say it is a kit of old Tamiya.
The parts fit reasonably well, and there are subtle areas where it’s better not to move until the glue is completely stuck. I think it’s easier to assemble than the British light tank I made before.
(2021/02/13)
It is not so hard to assemble a partially connected track. All the parts of the track have been used up to fit perfectly.
I followed the direction of the track according to the assembly manual, and I checked the actual photos, so I think it is correct. This process brings back trauma from making a mistake with the German tank in the past.
It’s a towing tractor in name, so there might not be much space for cargo and people. It is quite a compact luggage carrier.
I’m thinking of putting it in small parts, such as a vegetable bag I have. This is like a farmer’s tractor.
(2021/02/15)
I glued the etched parts and the clear parts of the headlight first. I painted the inside of the headlights with chrome silver so that it shines a little.
If I take a close look at the parts that include the driver’s compartment, I can see that a metal enclosure, including the roof and engine cover parts surround the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat. The arrangement of the seats is quite different from a truck with a long bonnet that I am familiar with.
In a car like this truck, I have to think about the paint inside the driver’s seat. Masking is done from both the front and back. I still have to mask the glass windows of the doors on both sides. That’s quite a lot.
The truck’s driver’s seat has been assembled several times in the past, and it is usually like this. Because the inside must also be painted, the painting process must be inserted before the assembly is completed.
(2021/02/17)
Tragedy will occur if I do not remove the masking tape inside the window glass before assembling the driver compartment after painting the interior.
I also installed the roof. The primary paint color is Creos 136, Russian green. This is often used to make Russian military vehicles.
This manufacturer’s kit seems to like metal springs for the suspension part. Other kits had a lot of springs.
I finished assembling. The wooden part of the loading platform has excellent mold.
(2021/02/19)
The metal parts are the suspension springs and the hooks at the rear of the carrier. Assembly is not so difficult.
Undercoating with black.
The wooden part of the loading platform is painted brown. Initially, this part was also Russian green. I thought it would be more interesting to make it brown because of its model-like appearance.
It seems to be vegetables and bread, but I paint various food baskets. I’m not sure what color to choose.
Other than that, I’ll put a decal or paint it finely.
Undercoating the load with dark brown.
I decided to put food such as bread and potatoes in the basket.
I finished putting on the decal. After that, I will finish it by painting, weathering, and a few more detailed parts.
(2021/02/21)
Now the Russian military’s artillery tractor is complete. In the 1930s, the world was moving towards motorization, and so was the Soviet Union. To mechanize a large farm, tractors that require uneven ground running performance have been developed and improved.
The Soviet Army emphasized the use of artillery forces, and the need for mechanization led to the use of agricultural tractors as the base for artillery traction. The all-track-type vehicles seemed to match the vast undeveloped land of the Soviet Union.
The STZ-5 was manufactured in a tractor factory in Stalingrad but was stopped after the German invasion in August 1942. The tractor factory is a familiar location for WWII FPS games. The total production is about 10,000 cars.
STZ stands for Stalingrad Tractor Factory.
I am not sure about the slogan, but it is “Kill the fascist!”. It’s natural to think so because it’s an ammunition transport tractor. It was disappointing that this decal was too hard to stick on rough wood grain molds. It isn’t easy, even if I think I can draw with a brush like this.
The underside of the car body is also well reproduced. It is a part that can’t be seen for ordinary decoration, so I just finished it with a basic painting.
This time, I loaded many things that had nothing to do with the cannon, such as bread and vegetable baskets. It might be interesting to pile up shell crates.
It is a compact but quite tasteful AFV. This kind of car is quite interesting, but I wonder if it didn’t sell well because I haven’t seen this kit on the market.
(2021/02/24)
