UM 1/72 Su-122

Stolen from Scott’s preview and copied here to give the article more fluff and so you don’t have to follow a link to get it. Based on the T-34/76 chassis, the SU-122 entered production in late 1942. The 122mm M-30 gun could pierce 100mm armor at a distance of 1 kilometer, not bad by current standards and enough to wreak havoc with any enemy tank that got in its way.

It was relatively fast with a top speed of 55 kph in perfect conditions, but  rarely are conditions perfect in the field! The biggest draw-back of this and other self-propelled guns is that there was little actual azimuthal  variation allowed once the gun was in position. Regardless of this, it was quite successful and over 600 were built during  the war.

Please visit the preview for a look at what is in the box.

Let me start by saying I think of myself as a beginner modeler. I have started lots of kits but very few make it to completion for one reason or another (operator error mostly). This kit is very similar to all the other Eastern European small scale kits I have seen and failed at….I believe it is because I am not part octopus. I broke the kit down to four smaller sections to make it easier for me to handle and finish: Lower hull, Upper hull, Gun  mantle and tracks.

Lower Hull:
Made up of four basic parts, I glued the sides to the bottom piece and added the ends to hold it up. I like the guides giving (is there a word missing here?) but could have used one in the middle to help out better. Picky I  know, but I sometimes enjoy the little things in life. The glue had almost a small melting action on the soft plastic, something I had not seen on other harder plastic like Revell, Haseagwa, Tamyia and others. I think it helped in some areas, whereas with other parts would have need to be reglued after I hacked away at it. I attached the road wheel arms, added paint and set aside till I finished the upper hull. The road wheels were a little different -- they have rubber rings for the outside. I slipped them on and sanded around the wheel. I didn't do anything different, though I have flashbacks to the AMT Tigercat problems, we shall see what happens.

Upper Hull:
I attached the two major pieces together and put it aside thinking all was good (famous last words). My first clue of a problem was when I put the fenders on. It did not all line up right. Test fitting it to the lower  revealed a big problem. A bow was created when gluing the two halves together and it didn't fit well on the lower hull. I hacked and chopped away like a madman on the inside of the halves till it all fit together. I  attached the small parts to the kit. I would have liked to have some attachment points to line up the hand rails on the side and rear. Next came  the PE part, my first time trying with PE. With no attachment points for this I made it flush with the back deck. I guessed and test-fitted the spot to bend the PE with tweezers until it looked good to me. After that section  was finished I built the four gas tanks. The instructions showed the front and rear clamps faces parallel to the ground, but when built, one side was parallel and the other side was perpendicular to the ground. The only way I know how to fix it is with major cutting, which at this time I don't want to do.

Gun Mantle:
I never thought three pieces would give me such fits. I glued the two barrel pieces together and drilled out the end a little and set it aside. As I tried my best to test fit the mantle halves together with the elevation  mechanism (one piece of plastic to make the gun go up and down), I grew impatient with trying to have multiple fingers and plastic occupy the same space at the same time. I dabbed on some glue and threw the pieces in the hole and let them work themselves out. I attached the barrel, than came back later and sanded the top down and added putty to fill the trench that was there.

Track:
I painted them on the spruce with MM buffing Aluminum Plate (1451). I cut off and trimmed edges. I had waited till the hull was together before attaching the track. I attached the individual links to the return and  sprocket, then slid the long section on top between the road wheels and fender, then rotated the "wheel" back until they joined. I then laid the two smaller sections along the bottom of the road wheel and added the longer section, adjusting the "wheel" back and forth until the fit looked good, giving more presence to the exposed sections.

I used MM SAC Bomber Green (FS34159), sprayed from a rattle can. I did a few  coats along the way in building -- no more than 2 or three coats total. I brushed the model with a coat of Future, and then added the white 850 decal and slogan. I had no problems with the decals. I sealed the markings with another coat of Future. I followed up by my first attempt at adding a wash to a kit. I had a homemade bottle of something - I am still not sure what the paint color is, but it was dark. At any rate, I added the wash to the track with what I think are good results. I also tried it on the bottom of the tank as a test, except I didn't add Future to the bottom of the model first, which was pointless as it didn't work at all. I also applied the wash to the top, which had been Futured, but I didn't like the results and wiped it off.   I definitely need a lesson on how to apply a wash to a tank, something I will do soon with one of the armor pros in my club. Frustrated with the whole affair I sprayed a coat of Flat Clear Lacquer.

I am happy I did build the kit and it was not as bad as thought. I tried out a few new things on a kit: PE and a wash/weathering.  The result is good enough for me, but I would like to know more about the wash part.  I would  recommend this kit to anybody that has built a few kits with fiddly parts.

Upon further review, it’s amazing what you see in a picture that you didn’t  see before……ughhh the tracks. I need to go back and repaint the spruce attachment points on the tracks. I am know there is a million other things I  could also do, but I think the most would be a wash on top and drill out the exhaust. She is no contest winner, but she is good enough for me.

I would to thank Scott for the kit and Lee Kolosna for the pic's.

Ryan Koschatzky

April 2005

None, built out of box and blindly went with UM's information.