Russian Tank Destroyer SU-122
Etched Detail Set#HLX48086
1:48 Scale
Review by Terry Ashley

The main items in the set are the engine deck grills and screens plus replacement front and rear fenders which require sections of the Tamiya hull to be cut out beforehand but care is needed when fitting the etched grills.

Other items are the two fender storage boxes completely from etched parts with multi-part hinges, latches and attachment brackets plus the hull side hand rail supports, the bracket for the large saw and shovel as well as the head light mounting bracket and the small tie downs along the right hull side.

Etched parts

The upper engine grills have to be cut out using the engraved panel lines as a guide taking care not to remove any plastic outside of the grill panel lines. The side intake grills are separate parts in the kit so this saves having to cut these out.

Fitting the fenders is fairly straightforward after bending to shape; I used the handle of the X-Acto knife to get the curve on the front fender as this was about the right diameter with the fenders needing only minor adjustments to fit so long as you are careful when removing the plastic fenders but overall the fit was very good.

Small indentations made on front hull for etched fenders (both sides)
and the attached front fenders

The upper two engine grills have to be cut out using the engraved panel lines as a guide taking care not to remove any plastic outside of the grill panel lines. The side intake grills are separate parts in the kit so this saves having to cut these out.

On the rear engine deck cover (part G9) you have to carefully cut out the entire plastic grills level with the inside of the moulded outer grill frame (this frame stays in place, don’t cut this out). Once you have the grills removed the resulting plastic part is quite fragile so handle with care. The remaining outer grill frame has to be sanded smooth either by shaving with an X-Acto #11 or sanding, I prefer the blade as it offers more control than sanding.

The etched mesh for the rear engine deck cover has the mesh section and the six frame ribs separate and you first add the small bend in the mesh and frame sections to correspond to the curve of the door (again I used the X-Acto knife handle).

Carefully position the screen mesh section using tweezers to hold in place and with a fine blade dipped in thin cyanoacrylate just touch the outer join with the cyanoacrylate and it will run around the mesh using capillary action.

Once the mesh is attached the six frame ribs are attached using the same method and you have the finished engine door.

The inner etched louvers are simply glued to the inner recess kindly included by Tamiya and the louvers bent to the desired angle, but be careful not to bend these too often or the join will snap off. Fitting is very easy but I did find the etched louver frame partially covered the locating holes for the door and the locating pins on the inside of the door (part G9) had to be trimmed slightly to fit.

The other thing to note is when the louver panel is attached you no longer have access to the hole used to screw the upper hull to the metal lower hull so you either have to fit the etched parts after fitting the hull together or use epoxy or strong cyanoacrylate to attach the hull part together after adding the etched panel.

The forward side and top grills needed a bit of work as the etched grills are the exact size as the hull cut-outs and they need to be mounted flush with the engine deck panels. To fit these I added small locating brackets from thin plastic strip inside the grill openings leaving room for the grills which then sit on the brackets for a snug fit.

The grills are made up of inner grills and outer frame sections and I glued these together using thin cyanoacrylate before fitting to the hull as this made the job easier, the sandwiched grills were also stronger than the individual grills so it made handling them a little easier also. But a word of caution here with the grills are very fine and any minor slip will cause a bit of damage so take care when handling these.

The two fender storage boxes and lids are firstly bent to shape using any etched bending tool and there are also raised ridges to be embossed into the top lid of the larger box.

After bending the boxes and lids to shape and attaching the lids which fitted perfectly the small hinges, latches and end brackets are attached and a good pair of fine tweezers will come in very handy here with the resulting boxes having superb definition.

Finally the numerous tie downs and straps can be attached to the hull sides as required.

Tamiya hull showing areas to be removed to fit the etched parts
click image for additional construction images

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Conclusion:
This is another nicely detailed update set that adds many fine details to the Tamiya kit with the engine deck grills again being the standout but care is needed when fitting these but the end result in very impressive. Using all the parts provided will certainly add considerably to the final appearance of the model with the fenders allowing realistic damage to be included if you wish.

It would be advisable to have some experience working with small etched parts as this set requires a fair bit of surgery and additional work to fit some of the parts.

Highly recommended.

Other Hauler sets for the T-34/SU-122 are set #HLX48084 Fuel Tank Holders and #HLX48085 Fuel Drums.

Thanks to Jan from Hauler Shop for the review set.

Page created June 3, 2006