Dragon ISU-122

[chippybomber]

Hello everybody,
I've decided on what to join this build with: Dragon's ISU-122. As inspiration I'm using this picture:
(for discussion purposes only)

Starting with the lower hull, I've inserted some 3mm strips to bring it to the right height:

A well-known short-coming of the Dragon kit is that the road-wheels are too small, so I'm using resin replacements by Komplekt Zip. They are made for the Zvezda kit, requiring the axles on the Dragon kit to be shortened by about 50%.
The difference in size is obvious: left Dragon, right resin:

The after market resin set also includes drive-wheels, return rollers and lifting eyes - all reasonable priced. To fit the return rollers the holes in the hull need opening up a bit - I haven't decided yet wether to stick with the kit parts or not.
The drive-wheels still need cleaning up, but here's what it all looks like dry-fitted:

I'm also going to throw some PE from ET model at the kit. In preparation I've removed the platic mudguards from the upper hull and offered it up to the lower hull:

All comments, hints and tips welcome,
Dierk

[chippybomber]

Seems this site only gets visited by severly shy people (or illiterates?) - plenty of views, but no comments...
Maybe this'll get someone out of their shell?
Added some texture to the rolled steel plating with my no-namo Dremel-a-like, some pistol-port plugs - and just so Alex doesn't have to get a hissy-fit about the flat PE chains I flew back to England just to pick up my Tiger Models chain

Fuel tanks were made using some of the ET PE and etching foil - I found the PE for the body of the tanks to be too thick...annealed the hell out of them, but they wouldn't stay rolled

I think I might get away with using the two-part kit barrel - what do you think?

Some grab handles added:

ACW
Dierk

[Minsk94]

I think the weld lines are little bit "overdone". They are not that prominent on the real thing. Same with the armor texture.
Here are some photos of the vehicle with paint stripped to a bare metal.



As far as the original barrel goes, IMHO, if the barrel is straight (which is not often the case it should work just fine.

[chippybomber]

Thanks for that Alex - yes, those old Dragon kits have a few traps for the unwary, and I had a feeling I had overdone the texturing. So, I've reworked the kit welds and toned down the texturing:

ACW
Dierk

[Brawler3_2]

Nice job on a venerable kit. Those old Dragon kits aren't exactly smooth sailing.I like how you toned down those welds.

[chippybomber]

My apologies for the long absence - turnes out RL can get in the way of modelling...other models got in the way of this one too and I only recently picked it up again.
So, quick recap of what I've done so far:

Added some PE and welds:





Found a reference picture that showed some detail missing from the kit (for discussion purposes only):



And one that showed some pretty horrific welding:

http://svsm.org/gallery/JSU-152/IMGP1917

Combined the two:



Initially I tried green stuff for the welding, but it stuck to anything but the model, so I ended up using Vallejo putty instead:



Most of the lifting hooks got weld beads too:





Gun is only dry-fitted at this point, hence the gap:





Did quite a lot of work to the horn that nobody's ever going to see (didn't have any Magic of Models horns at the time)



Headlight replaced with one from elf:





Kit shovel (below) got replaced with PE and a handle made from a sanded down tooth pick:



Added a divider to the exhaust, that will be invisible



Not a very good picture, but I replaced the opening/closing mechanism of the hatch with wire as the moulded on plastic one looked





Some more PE stuff:



Decided against replacing the tank mountings with PE - the assembly looked both complex and fragile and would be all but invisible once the tanks are fitted:





At this point I noticed that I should've glued the edges of the mudguards on top and not underneath







Shackles:





The shackles for the tow-cables weren't included in the kit, so I copied some from a Tamiya kit:



Mountings for the towcable shackles looked to thin in PE so I added some meat by glueing them on some thin styrene:



Put it all together and:









And paint:





And that's where I left it for about six months. Mostly because I wasn't sure how to do the number '176' and I felt trepedacious about tackling the paintjob.
As I couldn't find any decals of the right size, I contemplated making a stencil for the number, but in the end I just practiced free-hand for a while before commiting to painting it on the model:



I'd seen several drawing of this tank showing the amoeba camoflage coving the whole side of the tank, but I was sure it didn't extend past the fighting compartment. The recent arrival of a reference book on my doorstep backed up my suspicion, so that's what I went with. For the white wash I used AKs 'Washable White' applied by brush:



The rust on the spare tracks is not as vibrant in real life, but I'm having problems with the editor in Photobucket:









And some muck added:



The exhaust soot was made by holding a piece of glass over a candle and then brushing the resulting soot on by brush:







The wet-looking mud was created by mixing MIG Russian Earth pigment with Vallejo Still Water:





Still some way to go, but contrary to my own expectations I might get this done before the dead-line.

Hope you like it and all comments welcome.

[chippybomber]

Alex, I have a question: the three poles fitted across the top of the fighting compartment - would they be red and white, like their German equivalents? And if so, how wide should the stripes be in milimetres?