1/35 Trumpeter BM-21 Grad MRL

[doogsatx]

I seem to fall into a weird funk every year around this time. Maybe it's a weird confluence of life events. Maybe it's the changing of the weather and the armada of insects that appear out of nowhere. Whatever the case, I have a hard time pushing through certain projects and getting a start on others. Last year I had to set aside my 1/32 P-40F conversion and HK B-25. This year I've found my interest in 1/48 just evaporate, couldn't muster up the will to do all the sanding and fitting entailed on my 1/32 F-8C Crusader, and had a total non-start with a MiG-17F.

Clearly, a radical change of pace is in order. After awhile wondering "WTF do I want to build?", I saw someone's stunning build of Trumpy's BM-21 Grad on Facebook and was instantly sold. From the Katyush and Calliope in WWII to the MLRS in Desert Storm, I have a crazy weak spot for rocket artillery vehicles. A few hours later, I the kit was ordered.



I've only had time for a brief perusal, but this is a pretty slick looking kit. Leaps and bounds ahead of the last Trumpy armor I played with, their KV-2. I'm planning to start it very soon, and will show off some of the detailing as I go.

For now...I'm very much eyeballing this scheme.

[eastrock]

The Reference looks great

[wbill76]

What's not to like about a weapon system that unleashes huge sheets of flame every time it's fired? Hope it gets you out of the funk Doogs!

[iking]

goodluck and enjoy comrade! i also built that kit (finished it with Iranian colors) and i was happy how trumpy did the mouldings:D
happy modeling brother!

cheers!

iking

[Leon]

I'm in Doogs,love that camo scheme.

[mokush]

Nice choice, but beware... what You have in the box, is not what is in the photo in your post.
The combo, Trumpeter created is pretty rare (if there's any). What You have the pic about is an Ural 4320 with "late type" launcher and the "early type" was (is?) mostly used on Ural 375D chassis. You can see the diff. here:

Trumpeter also promised the late type...

[doogsatx]

It's a good thing I've given myself permission to ignore accuracy on this build, but this may veer me back toward something else. Need to see what my other reference photos contain.

Now, question. What are the differences between the 375D and the 4320? From what I can gather, the biggest change is the swap from a petrol V8 to a diesel engine. I'm looking for any styling differences, but without exactly comparable angles they're looking basically the same from a design standpoint.

[mokush]

The main diff. is the front of the vehicle.
375D

vs
4230

HAD Models has a conversion kit, but it's for the old ICM (Revell, Omega-K...) kit. I dunno if it's OK for the Trumpy.
www.hadmodels.com/resin35010_ural_375_conversion_set_186?keyword=375

[doogsatx]

Yes, I see now. So basically Trumpy's kit is a mismatched pairing of early-style BM-21 launcher with a Ural 4320? And it's either pick your poison re: which will be incorrect, or engage in scratchbuilding to correct.

[mokush]

Well... this is a Soviet vehicle, so nothing's impossible
On the other hand Trumpy is in big hurry nowadays (or they just don't care), they produce strange kits (telling the truth... they always had silly errors).

[danb]

Im liking this one a lot Doog i dont know much about modern russian vehicles so im hoping to learn more through this build

Dan B

[doogsatx]

Jun 13, 2013 11:19:32 GMT -5 mokush said:

Well... this is a Soviet vehicle, so nothing's impossible
On the other hand Trumpy is in big hurry nowadays (or they just don't care), they produce strange kits (telling the truth... they always had silly errors).

Tell me about it. They seem very good at going 8/10 of the way, and then little errors slip in. Coming off their big P-47 recently, the tires on that thing are a mess, the R-2800 engine has all kinds of little errors going on, and the included HVARs just aren't right (so far as I know...I've never seen HVARs mounted on a P-47D of any kind. The -N yes...it had the rocket stubs...but the Ds used the bazooka tubes).

[mokush]

Jun 13, 2013 11:45:58 GMT -5 doogsatx said:

Tell me about it.

Well...
BTR-40 - it's not 1/35, but 1/33, because they measured the length with the spare wheel
RF-8 Aerosan - full of rivets, but the original vehicle had just very few of 'em
SA-2 AA missile - "No photo sorry" decal on the decal sheet
MAZ-537 Last prod. - Also on the decal sheet... a Hungarian text "A GÉPRE FELMÁSZNI TILOS!" "Do not climb onto the vehicle" this is a
warning sign from a museum vehicle in Hungary
BM-21 Early - Missing air intake in front of the windscreen
2S3 - no tools (saw, axe, etc...)
Trumpeter T-64B Model 1975 - Not the mass produced version, but a prototype
ASU-85 - missing canvas mantlet cover and a "sight"
+1 BRDM-2 - no welding maks marks at all
Well, that's all I can remember right now... these are all silli errors, that could be avoided with just a little attention.
In spite of these I like Trumpy, and have a lot of their kits on my shelf.
The biggest shame that they have no after sales support...

[eastrock]

Lotsa haul you got there, Mokush

[406 Silverado]

ooh this is gonna be very cool. Man those are some huge tires. Nice ref pics.

[mokush]

Jun 16, 2013 9:15:30 GMT -5 eastrock said:

Lotsa haul you got there, Mokush

I do not have all of I mentioned... but have some more, I did not mention LOL