A War in The East

[Wyrmalla]

Note to self: When you think that you have bought enough DShK machine guns, you're wrong. This is about the third time I've reached into a bits box looking for one only to find that git Older Me has used it for another project. Grr...

Edit: Reviewing that picture of the BTR-80 with the DShK, that appears to not be a regular BTR-80, but the command/ ambulance variant with a raised roof. I was wondering what was going on with the slat armour (its taller at the front) and stowage, so that makes sense.

The position of the DShK also fits it having a raised roof. I've placed the machine gun on the turret on mine at a similar height, but instead of the gunner standing as they would with this one he'll be crouching. Which is fine, but that explains why on other DShK's I've seen mounted on top of turrets like this usually are on raised plinths.

...Ah, so there's another short dive into ...something. OK, back to playing with my toy soldiers.

[Rich H]

Just catching up - nice work as ever!

[Wyrmalla]

For the moment more models aren't forthcoming, though I'm almost finished with the builds of those three BTR-80s. ...Well, besides the issue that every other time I look for more pictures of the 82A and Nona-SVK I find another little detail which I missed out or is seemingly different on individual vehicles (the commander's cupola on the SVK has been a pain). However, they're almost done at least.

Rather, I've been pondering what to do with the IS-2. So far its down to either being a monument, or being abandoned in some scrapyard/ children's playground. However, I'm more invested in turning it into a usable vehicle.

Whilst an IS-3 has wound up being a pointless endeavor considering that it'll just wind up being turned into a monument/ wreck for all the use they see nowadays, other variants of the IS-2 have seemed more appealing. So far I'm trying to find more on the Post-War support vehicles based on the chassis. Unfortunately the usual sources are no help on these, as they only go into the IS tank family, rather than derivatives of the chassis (a common problem I've found with these Soviet vehicles).

I'd like to find some form of artillery tractor which looks similar to the 2P19, as I'm sure there's something out there somewhere. Otherwise a 2P19 itself would do, just without the Scud. Ah, perhaps itself just something that was abandoned, or possibly converted for some reason. Whatever the case, this thing's winning out on the conversion options so far.



 

[Ultravanillasmurf]

That reminds me of the Mole from Thunderbirds.

If you wannt something totally bizarre but pointless, you could backdate that Russian rig they assembled to put out oil fires in Kuwait - that was a T55 (I think) chassis with a big jet engine in place of the turret. The "front" of the engine was at the back of the vehicle. It was driven up to a fire, the jet engine started and it just blew the fire out!

There is probably film of it on youtube.

EditO

This thing.

""Hurricane" firefighting vehicle, which uses the engine from a MiG-21 to blow water mist over a fire."

[Wyrmalla]

Yeah, I know the one (and others..). I'm just sitting with an IS-2 kit, and don't know what to do with it. It'll do as another war memorial / terrain, but I'm pondering the other options.

The IS-2/3 didn't see as much service post-war as other vehicles, and the whole line were done away with in the 60s, so there aren't as many variants based on there chassis out there from what I could find. I'd assume that there's an artillery tractor variant with a cabin in the style of the 2P19, purely in that every other Soviet tank had one, though haven't found much on the subject.

Hmn, I wonder if there's a book similar to the Encyclopedia of German Tanks, but for Soviet armour. That would be pretty handy with those obscure variants. Janes could work too, at least one covering the 60s, however from what I remember from the 80s edition I have it didn't list any IS derivatives.

If only I was crazier setting. Those damn Europeans can be so damn professional about what they do with their tanks. If I was working with a Middle Eastern setting I'd just stick half of a BTR-60 on its roof and call it a day.

[Lord Raglan]

Outstanding thread, so informative.

[Ash]

My kind of  thread, great collection of models, superb conversions and awesome painting.

[ErikB]

Wow!  Fantastic!

What's with the mattress?

[Wyrmalla]

Thanks guys.

The mattress on the front of the BMP-2 from way back in the thread? Uh, I had one and wanted the vehicle to more like a tip. Realistically it should be rolled and stowed somewhere, but no, there it is.

As a tangent, and I'm not sure if it has any reflection on reality, in a WWII comic Soviet soldiers burst into a Berlin home. They steal the mattress off of a bed, leaving the bed frame, thinking that the mattresses offered the protection against HEAT weapons, not the frame. So ah, let's just all think that someone thought throwing a mattress on the front of that BMP would protect the engine more. Sure.


As ever I have a load of stuff at that terrible "almost done" stage, but haven't managed to push it over the edge. Once things make it that far, adding and tidying up (hah) the last details always takes that bit more effort than I can bother myself with. So instead I start something else...   I'd say that I'll try my best to finish something today, but I've just distracted myself with a new unrelated project. 

[carlos marighela]

That reminds me of the Mole from Thunderbirds.

If you wannt something totally bizarre but pointless, you could backdate that Russian rig they assembled to put out oil fires in Kuwait - that was a T55 (I think) chassis with a big jet engine in place of the turret. The "front" of the engine was at the back of the vehicle. It was driven up to a fire, the jet engine started and it just blew the fire out!

There is probably film of it on youtube.

EditO

This thing.

""Hurricane" firefighting vehicle, which uses the engine from a MiG-21 to blow water mist over a fire."

The Soviets used a similar rig for vehicle NBC decontamination. Jet engine and water/chem sprayer on the back of a lorry.

Fun as it might be, any Scud-A and associated tracked TEL that existed today would also be a monument. Those things were phased out decades ago.

[Ballardian]

I wonder if there's a book similar to the Encyclopedia of German Tanks, but for Soviet armour.

Apologies if you're already aware of these to online encyclopedias, but they're both quite good:
 Engines of the Red Army;http://www.o5m6.de/
Russian tanks & Armour 1915-1997http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/5pansar/index.htm

 Hope they're of some use.

[Wyrmalla]

@  carlos marighela

I'm stuck with an IS-2 and looking for opportunities other than just simple terrain, though I may be reaching a bit considering the post-war service history of those heavy tanks. Though something being out of service doesn't directly conflict with sticking a DShK onto the roof and putting it back into the fight (though ballistic missile characters being used in that role may be a bit of a stretch).

I'll probably turn it into another monument (though too maybe complete overkill for one board, and take away from the first one already being a centre piece. I suppose I wouldn't have to use them both at the same time, but who seriously needs to Soviet war memorials on one board...), or as a rusted out wreck in a scrap yard. That or paint it up in some weird colour and have it as street art or something for the kids to climb on as they're apparently like to do in the East.



(Or don't even bother painting it and stick a Shilka next to the swings. Sure.)




@Ballardian

I believe that I may have wound up on that first site at one point or another over the years Ballardian. Though I can't say that I've seen the second, nor did my office's filters particularly like that picture of a bikini clad lady which I now see at home on the bottom of the page... I didn't give things a proper peruse, though couldn't find much for those really specific variants that I was looking out for.

There'll be some source material out there which covers what I'm looking for I'll bet. I'm forever discovering some obscure mod of a Soviet vehicle which is still in service, let alone covering foreign military vehicles. Someone must be collecting a record of all these somewhere (and no, Jane's doesn't count...).

[Ultravanillasmurf]

In some places in Russia there are multiple tanks as war memorials. There is a whole bunch of tanks in a park in Moscow (whose name escapes me).

[carlos marighela]

Yeah, I get you. You're stuck with an IS-2.

Like a lot of obsolete tank and SPG chassis, the Soviets turned a few into ARV's,  mostly pretty crude, with turret removed, plated over and a winch added. Occasionally a simple A-frame hoist and block and tackle. No doubt some of these passed on to state enterprises/ civilian use as wreckers/ Forestry vehicles/ heavy tractors etc.

Pretty easy conversion, Easy to retrofit a Dshka (Eureka make the best ones BTW) and you could either paint it a vivid yellow with rust streaks or a totally rusted up version of the original paint scheme. Your justification? Expropriated from a wreckers yard. Makes a change from another monument anyway.

Here's a photo of a model made by some chap in 1/72. I can't account for its accuracy but these things seem to have been locally made conversions, so go with whatever suits your tastes and means.

[Wyrmalla]

Mild problem.



Military Modelcraft International's February 2018 issue featured an odd conversion of an ISU recovery vehicle. Where one was turned into a service vehicle in train yards for pushing trains. The article mentions that T-34s were more often used for this role, but one example existed (the example was however recently torn up and used in a restoration project).



So an option if I make a rail yard. Sure.

Which is leading me to wonder if there's maybe some obscure conversion to turn the IS-2 into say a firefighting or logging vehicle out there. I.e. painting it up in a garish red or orange and then adding a load of civilian elements to it.



A concern for another day perhaps. Inspiration will creep up on me eventually. Till then its not like I'm short on other more pressing projects. Just recently I glanced at one of the unfinished stuff piles (they kind of just sit about the floor and on surfaces in corners...) and noticed the sheds and portacabins I hadn't did the last bit of build work on. Though predictably I used some of the grated floor tiles I was going to use for exterior platform for a portacabin on another project since I'd started making those things ages ago. At least that's sped along that warehouse I showed off here a while ago a bit (though I'm now awaiting a set of stairs from Fenris to actually go with those floor tiles I'd stolen from that portacabin).

Yes, how unfortunate that I have too much stuff to build. Woe is me. I'm considering taking a holiday from work (I quitting ), which may well give me a good amount of time to churn through some of this stuff again.


And hey, I think Spectre's DShK are better than Eureka's. Better proportions and more detail (though it comes out as longer). Not that I have a half dozen of them going spare for this project... Tsk, hopefully Radio Dish Dash or SASM (probably the latter) come out with their Kord/ NSV machine guns soon so these bloody Eastern European vehicles can have another machine gun instead of that vintage one...

Edit:

A better image of the train pusher from that magazine.



And how it looks today at a museum.



The monsters!