1/72 Winter ISU-152

Time for a new project; thr Zvezda 1/72 ISU-152. Don’t let the “snap-fit” nature of this kit deter you. It has very nice, crisp details, a fantastic track design, and fits together excellently 

The sprues look pretty nice… 

The tracks are not rubber bands, but rather a somewhat softer plastic that allows itself to be bent around. 

I had originally planned on replacing the kit’s barrel with a RB Model metal replacement, but Zvezda did quite nicely with the plastic. The gun’s hole is already hollowed out and the sides of the muzzle brake are deep enough that painting them black will do. Besides, it’s almost impossible to see through the sides of the metal barrel 

I am experimenting with AMMO’s Night Blue Cement in offer to get a better idea how much I use and where it goes. What you can also see in this picture is the great design of the cannon mount. Both cannon elevation, depression, and azimuth are very easy to manipulate. It is perfectly tensioned so that the cannon stays where you place it, however you don’t have to apply hardly any force to move it 

The fuel tanks are honestly pretty ugly. Notice the design of the slots for the spring arms. It also provides a perfect fit: they are easy to push in, but don’t budge, eliminating any concern that road wheels will not be flat with one another 

The construction phase is done. Although I have a new pair of nippers due to arrive, I’m just going to forgo some hooks and grab handles and head straight into priming 

The left track attached pretty well, although not as good as the Zvezda Ferdinand. The tracks on these Zvezda “snap kits” are a really unique design, and honestly the future of 1/72 armor. Instead of being horrible vinyl or fiddly link and length, the Zvezda track is a slightly softer plastic that allows itself to be bent without the use of hot water. The running gear is cut in half, so you attach one wheel half, add the tracks so the guide horns are properly positioned, and then the second half of the wheels are added over it. They tracks themselves have three attachment points which the return rollers slot through, forcing the track into the correct position and length. On the Ferdinand track’s slotted through road wheels which worked perfectly because of the side and strength of the part. The ISU return rollers are not as strong, and so I had big problems with the right track. It simply was too short, and required extreme force to pull taunt. Send force schwarzes the return rollers from their mount. You can see the horrible job I did on the middle roller. I just ordered their IS-2 kit, so I will try it again and see if I can do better 

Vallejo rattle-can black primer added 

Added 1 part AK 11424 to 3 parts AK 11157 

So glad I added this highlight coat, it adds much more visual interest. Night Shift on his 1/48 KV-2 video said that it’s better to have warmer tones with your winter white wash, so I decided to give it a try 

Before/after highlight coat 

 

Decals applied (the bear is from Zvezda’s IS-2) and VMS Matt Varnish applied. I’m not happy with how noticeable the carrier film is. Applying several layers of varnish didn’t help. Maybe I should have used microset and microsol. I am hoping that the winter camouflage will be distracting enough