James C
I finished this one off yesterday, and just waiting for the sun to come out to take some out door pics.

Youtube Video

Jos Jansen
That's a big gun James...watching mate!

Nathan Dempsey
Looking nice! Can't wait to see more pics.

Brian Eberle
She's a beast. Large crew compartment.

Daniel Klink
Looking awesome already James 👍

James C
Thanks Jos, Nathan, Brian and Daniel 🙂

Rui S
Looks realy nice 👍

James C
Done and dusted!

Nathan Dempsey
Wow, it looks even better out in the sun 🙂

Tim Heimer
Nicely done James!!

Jos Jansen
Awesome James...!

Neuling
Top work again! Impressive details and camouflage paintwork. Seems like a very good kit?

James C
Thanks Nathan, Tim, Jos a Neuling 🙂

@ Neuling, yes it was a good kit. A couple of minor errors in the instructions with the most notable being with the tracks. The bottom flat run is 1 link too short. You can extend it by 1 link from the "H" sprue, but no mention is made of this at all otherwise.

Currently retails for a lot less than the Trumpeter kit so is a bargain, especially if your building on a budget.

Ingo F
Looks really great! 👍

Slavo Hazucha
Another one out in the NZ Sun!

Looks superb in the 3-color pattern - I find especially the sand color & surface effects on the areas are seriously well done 👍

Seems you found a liking in the Zvezda kits... 🙂 I have not build anything from them yet, seen a few boxes opened (T-28 & T-35 looked rather good, except for the really pathetic excuse for the engine grills...). Got a Su-57 in 48-scale booked in a store as soon as it releases, so I will test my mettle on Zvezda sooner or later...

James C
Thanks Ingo and Slavo 🙂

@ Slavo - Yes... after a couple negative experiences now with their older reboxed Dragon (armour) kits, I wanted to give them a proper second chance.
I've found that their newly tooled armour kits to be far superior in both molding quality and overall fit, and surprisingly good value for money.

I don't particularly like their plastic mesh either, but found so long as you trim it to size with a pair of scissors (this prevents any tearing and fraying when using a hobby knife) it performs quite well, and can be secured using ordinary plastic glue. Obviously, I'd prefer photo-etch, but that would only increase the price. My advice is to avoid their older reboxed Dragon kits, and stick with their newly tooled stuff.

I struggled quite a bit with this one due to the number of very small parts, and thought that it was a bit over engineered in places. (Honorable mention goes to the cradle for the cupola mounted machine gun, and the loading chute on the back of the turret) But this was mostly due to my poor vision and a lack of dexterity than problems with the kit itself, so I didn't feel the need to whine about it😉

The two colour schemes provided for in the instructions were both green and quite boring, so I googled for some better looking camouflaged versions for a more interesting looking paint scheme, and in the end I settled on a generic camo scheme roughly based on a profile that I found from the Trumpeter kit.

Overall, it was quite an enjoyable build, and prompted me to pull out this vehicles successor... the 2S35 "Koalitsiya-SV" (also by Zvezda) and I have already made a start on that.😉

Brian Eberle
James, geeat feedback on Zvesda kits. I've hesitate6 on this and will now give them a try for their newer kits. Is there a year that marks "newer" and better mold kits?

Ingo F
Brian, i think the newer and better kits started with their T-90A release. It was in 2011. Everything that was released after 2011 and have a "New Tool" marking is much better quality as the older ones.
Be aware with their changed box/changed parts kits, there are mostly just rerelease of their older kits with bad quality like the recent T-72B or T-80B kits.

Daniel Klink
Absolutely beautiful and impressive built!👍
Love that background too!

James C
Thanks Brian & Daniel 🙂

@ Brian - Another way to check a Zvezda kit is to examine it's history in the "Time Line" and look for it's initial release. Make sure the first kit in the time line is Zvezda and indicates "New Tool" and you should be ok. If the history timeline links back to other manufacturers like Dragon or Skiff etc pre 2010 then you could run into issues. That's not to say that all older Zvezda kits are bad, but something to be aware of when deciding on a potential purchase.

Zvezda hasn't helped by re-releasing their older troublesome kits in their new box styling, so I personally won't buy anything released by them now on a whim, that I may have done in the past without first checking it's lineage here on Scalemates.😉👍

Ingo F
Sadly for their future Shilka kit. Was hoping for a new tool but they will use old Dragon molds for the kit.

James C
That's disappointing and not going to do anything positive for their reputation.

Brian Eberle
Thanks James! Great info.

Henrik Persson
That is a awsome job James you have done with this model, really nice job!

Sebastian Meyner
Great work & stunning paintjob James 👍

James C
Thanks Henrik & Sebastian 🙂

James C
Album updated with assembly pictures and a few more outdoor shots of the completed build.

Simon Nagorsnik
You did a great job on the camo!

James C
Thanks for the recent likes mate 🙂

Guy Rump
Beautiful build James 👍

James C
Thanks Guy 🙂

Ingo Green
Wow, impressive

John
Very nice build and camo scheme James. Have you built many Zvezda kits? My only experience with the eastern European manufacturers has been really old OEZ kits and they were...less than optimal.

They cover interesting subjects and I have heard good things about them. I have an ICM Spit on order to dip my toes in at low cost, just wondering about impressions from someone who's "been there done that."

James C
Thanks Ingo and John 🙂

@ John - I'd have no hesitation in recommending Zvezda kits (in 1/35 scale) that were newly tooled from 2011 onwards. The molding is superb, with excellent detail, and sometimes with an abundance of parts making them great value for money. However beware of older reboxed Zvezda kits as these are sometimes re-released Dragon kits of inferior quality. If your not sure of a kit, look it up here on Scalemate's and refer to the timeline. If the first kit on the timeline is 2011 "new tool" or later, you shouldn't have any issues. Just be wary of older releases and re-boxings from before 2011.

Cliff Kidd
Hi James, Love your build of this beast!
May I ask what model kit is the similar 'green' howitzer in photos 34 & 35?

John
James, thanks for the information! I like the idea of ICM, Zvezda, etc. because they seem like they do subjects not well covered by other companies.

I built the old Monogram Mi-24 a long time ago and may give the Zvezda version a try someday.

James C
@ Cliff - That is the Zvezda 1/35 scale 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV.
You can view the full album here: 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV | Album by Jim C (1:35)

@ John - No problem. The last 3x Zvezda kit's I built (MSTA, Koalitsiya, and Ferdinand) were all very good kits. I also have their 1/35 scale Elephant and Pantsir S-1... yet to be assembled, but also appear to be very good kits. However, their 1/48 scale Mi-24 was disappointing, as it appears to be just an upscaled version of their 1/72 scale kit. It doesn't have any engraved panel lines. I'd recommend the more recent Trumpeter kit instead in 1/48.

John
Good to know, if disappointing. For what they're asking for it, I would hope it would be updated and not just scaled up.

Cliff Kidd
Many thanks James!…it looks a more 'elegant' vehicle visually! Looking forward to viewing your album.