Trakz
ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" Turret Interior & Driver's Compartment
Trakz 1:35 Set #TX 0122
Review by Terry Ashley
DragonDragon
The Set:
This latest interior set from Trakz provides the Driver’s Compartment and Turret Interior for either of the Dragon ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” kits (3518 and 3521) and as the name suggests only has the crew compartments are included and not the turret ammo compartments which will most likely be released as a separate set in the future.

The set consists of 55 parts in light cream resin cast to a very high standard without any warping but there are a few very small air holes on some of the finer detail but nothing that will make the parts unusable.

The casting blocks are quite substantial on some parts requiring care in removal and other larger parts have a large resin backing that will require either a razor saw or dremil type tool to remove (with appropriate mask worn) but on others such as the turret basket floor and inside driver’s compartment wall you don’t have to worry about removing the casting block as these are out of the way after assembly.

The detail on the parts is superb with clean crisp dials, switches, wiring and other details that will come up very well with careful painting the assembled parts look very impressive even before painting.

The detail compares very well with reference photos with about the only noticeable omission is the eye guard on the Gunner’s sight mounted centrally on the Gunner’s instrument panel but of course you can add additional wiring and other smaller details to add even more detail.

Before assembly there is some minor surgery needed on the kit lower hull and turret basket to make way for the resin parts with the raised recesses on the inside of the lower hull to be removed. The instructions show to cut away a rectangle but if you just cut away the raised detail this will leave the lower hull escape hatch in place. The turret ring requires the filled in centre section cut-out which is quite easy and you are ready to add the resin parts.

The Driver’s compartment has the lower floor with hull side panels and upper instrument panel as well as the two cylinders mounted next to the Driver plus the forward panel with cast on foot pedals. The Driver’s control levers are all separate parts as well as two part seat with the inner and rear wall/bulkheads added to complete the assembly. Inside the upper Driver’s hatch opening are the two periscopes and small junction boxes on the lower hatch sill to complete the impressive assembly.

The only trimming needed was to increase the bevel on the left side of the floor to better fit the hull tub contours with all other parts fitting superbly as there are making for a quick and easy assembly. You will of course paint many of the parts before final assembly and the good fit makes assembling the painted parts that much easier.

The upper hull fitted into place without any trimming needed which is very good but just watch the location of the two junction boxes on the lower hatch sill as these can foul on the final drive recess if fitted too far outwards but other than that the fit was excellent.

The Turret interior has the complete rear basket wall and floor section provided which fits snugly into the kit turret ring after cutting way the filled in plastic. All the superbly detailed electrical boxes, consols, seats and other parts again fit together without problems or trimming required and again you will want to paint some of these parts before fitting in place.

The large gun computer boxes on the right side are superbly detailed as are the radios on the left side and the lower Gunner’s seat/tub with the larger wiring cast in place as well as separate smaller details.

The Gunner’s instrument panel is also superbly detailed and assembled without problems with the addition of a very fine hand wheel and triggers with this panel fitted into the upper turret without any trimming needed. I did add two supports on the inside from plastic rod for a more robust assembly but this is up to you if you think this is needed?

Fitting the upper and lower turret parts together necessitated some minor trimming for a proper fit, the right side of the Gunner’s panel needed about 1.5mm trimmed to clear the forward Gun Computer box and the upper rear of this box and the left side radio required a small cut-out to clear the turret side walls but that was it. This is surprisingly little considering the crammed interior as there are few spaces left after assembly and the interior detail matches photos very well.

To fit the turret top panel (part D5) may require some trimming off the top of the Gunner’s instrument panel but this depends on the positioning of the parts as you fit resin part 22 to the rear panel part 20.

There is also a fitting added to the inside of the upper panel (kit part D5) and care is needed when positioning this so it doesn’t foul the Gunner’s instrument panel or rear wall box (part 33).

Instructions:
These are in the form of photos of the assembled sub-assemblies from different angles with the parts called out by number with a corresponding parts layout to help identify the parts. The only text refers to the areas to be removed from the kit parts and some parts are not really clear in their location as the photos were a little fuzzy in places but careful study of the parts and the photos should alleviate any problems.

Additional references will certainly be helpful especially for painting as no colours are indicated for any of the parts in the instructions but the Concord book and sites listed below have colour shots of the interior that show most of the areas supplied in this set.

Conclusion:
Mike Kerchoff has done another superb job with this interior detail set complimented by the high quality casting and good fit of the parts making for a relatively simple assembly job as far as interior resin sets go. The alterations to the kit parts and minor trimming needed is well within the capabilities of modellers with only limited experience with resin sets. It’s a shame much of the superb detail is hidden especially the Driver’s compartment but if the large hatch is left open you can see most of it.

Highly recommended

Resin parts and assembly images
Click on thumbnails for larger view
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References:
On the Net;
Armorama.com: ZSU-23-4M Shilka
panzer-modell: ZSU 23-4M "Shilka"
photoka.info: ZSU-23-4 "Shilka"
Prime Portal: ZSU-23/4 Shilka Photos 1
Prime Portal: ZSU-23/4 Shilka Photos 2
Prime Portal: ZSU-23/4 Shilka Photos 3
svsm.org: ZSU-23-4 Shilka

Book
ZSU-23-4 Shilka & Soviet Air Defense Gun Vehicles
Concord #1039
By Steven J. Zaloga
ISBN: 962-361-039-4



Page created March 24, 2006



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