HobbyBoss 1/35 Soviet Cold War ASU-57 Assault Gun

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
The plating on this thing is so thin it scarcely qualifies as armour, but here it is:
hb asu-57.JPG
No figures included - it was only used in the Soviet Union by Airborne/Parachute units, so the uniforms would probably be difficult to source...............
The Sprue shots - all crisp and flash free:
DSCF0842.JPGDSCF0840.JPG
DSCF0853.JPG
Next up a few detail shots..................................
 
Last edited:

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
This thing was small 3-4 tonnes, and had a crew of 3 ( refs say 3+6, but that must be wrong.........)
DSCF0845.JPG
DSCF0847.JPGDSCF0849.JPG
Really dainty parts, but some of the sprue attachments look a little large.
DSCF0851.JPGDSCF0846.JPGDSCF0848.JPGDSCF0850.JPG
The gun parts - single piece barrel, racked ammunition & a severely lightened gun mounting. Good to see the shrink holes on the sprues, not the parts!
And what will be the the most difficult/tedious parts, those track links ( 80 a side............ )
DSCF0852.JPG

I've got the dithers at the moment, so any benchtime is limited.
The instructions are standard HobbyBoss, pretty clear. The colour variants are an all green Soviet Union version, or an all sand Arab ( Egyptian? ) model. I'm going for the Green version, as being more representative of it's use.
Dave
 

dave

SMF Supporter
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
1,918
Points
113
Location
Brussels
First Name
Dave
Looking forward to this, according to Zaloga it was only used by the Soviet and Egyptian armies and it was paper thin just 6mm of armour on the front and sides. The crew was just 3 although it was also used as an impromtu troop carrier on occasions but from the photos I have probably only 2 or 3 rather precariously perched. There was also a gunless command version used by the Soviet Airborne, the space gained being filled with radios.
 

KarlW

Mediocre modeller extraodinaire.
SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
1,433
Points
113
Location
Cushendall, Co. Antrim
First Name
Karl
Didn't the airbourne troops wear the same as the regular troops but just had blue shoulderboards? Going off my shakey memory. Would make sourcing figures a bit easier.
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Don't think I'd care to be part of the crew, it only had a 50hp engine, and must have been underpowered, the armour was only proof against small arms fire - it was called a 'tank destroyer', but the 57mm gun must have been pretty useless against an M60, or a Centurion even with fancy ammo. It was open topped, so shrapnel, or a hand grenade would have been devastating. Self defence would have been by the crew's personal weapons, it wouldn't be long lived on the battlefield! The fact that it could be air dropped by parachute must be the only reason this curiosity was in service - the West didn't have any real equivalent ( unless you count the Ontos! )
Dave
 

Jim R

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
13,595
Points
113
Location
Shropshire
First Name
Jim
Hi Dave
I'm in, especially as I voted for it to be built. Looks a nice kit. It certainly is tiny. All the best with the track links.
Jim
 

KarlW

Mediocre modeller extraodinaire.
SMF Supporter
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
1,433
Points
113
Location
Cushendall, Co. Antrim
First Name
Karl
Jeep mounted 106mm M60 recoiless rifle would of probably been closest in the Nato arsenal.
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Searching for crew pictures on the internet - the 3 crew seemed to wear the distinctive Soviet tankers helmet
ASU-57 crewed.jpg

And I found the inspiration for the HobbyBoss boxart...............
HB inspiration.jpg
Dave
 

Jakko

Way past the mad part
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
10,583
Points
113
First Name
Jakko
it wouldn't be long lived on the battlefield!
I suspect the intended deployment would have been much the same as other SP tank destroyers: wait in ambush for the enemy, open fire before you’re detected (but at as close a range as possible) and then … well, either hope you’ve killed everything that can put serious firepower on you or pull out ASAP and hope you survive.
 

BattleshipBob

Bob, bob, bobing along!
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
6,173
Points
113
First Name
Bob
Interesting vehicle Dave, but not much use it seems?

Bob
 

Jakko

Way past the mad part
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
10,583
Points
113
First Name
Jakko
It was really only useful to countries who had a sizeable paratrooper arm and big enough aircraft to carry vehicles for them — plus, of course, deep enough pockets to pay for all that. Anyone else who needs a tank destroyer probably isn’t looking for one that won’t even stand up to GPMG fire.
 

Steve Jones

Steve Jones Scale Modelling Site
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
6,698
Points
113
Location
Plymouth
First Name
Steve
You certainly have a challenge there Dave with all those fidley bits. Will look on with eagerness to the progress of this lovely AFV.
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Been struggling with one of those intermittent computer problems, my internet connection kept on dropping out - I couldn't keep on line for more than 10 minutes a time. After several hours of messing around, rebooting the computer, changing the router, filters, telephone cable, I finally discovered that the RJ45 cable ( from the router to the computer ) was faulty. Why? that cable hasn't been unplugged since the day I bought this computer, and the router is older! A quick search in my cupboard produced a brand new cable, fitted in less than 2 minutes - problem sorted!
.........................Anyway, finally got to joining plastic on the ASU!
DSCF0860.JPG
The suspension arms are keyed to fit at the correct angle, but are very spindly - I might add a drop or two of CA to strengthen them up.
Some of the parts are tiny, and you discover that the wheel mounts are slightly asymmetric from side to side ( torsion bars ). Which is why the instructions tell you not to glue some parts, until thay are on the model.
DSCF0861.JPG

Some of the suspension levers are a tight fit, and I had to use a sanding stick to ease things up, it would be too easy to snap them off, trying to force them into position.
I'm going to prime & basecoat the hull sides, wheels etc, before moving onto the elephant in the room........................those tracks!
Dave
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
The chassis is complete, primed, basecoated & tyres painted....................
DSCF0862.JPG
Trying to work out the best way to assemble the tracks - I'm going to assemble them in pairs, using the sprue to hold them, then in 4's, 8's etc - It's going to take some time, I think!! Paint will have to wait until after gluing, the cement areas are pretty small............
Dave
 

Jakko

Way past the mad part
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
10,583
Points
113
First Name
Jakko
If you don’t feel up to assembling an entire track in one go, that’s probably the best solution, I would say. And wrap them around the wheels as and when necessary, of course, so you don’t end up with entirely flat tracks :smiling3:
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Absolutely pouring down & blowing a hooley here - no intention of going out in this, so it's track time..........................
DSCF0864.JPG
When the pairs have dried, I'll snip one end off, then make 4's and so on, leaving the sprue stubs make them much easier to handle.. Any casualties, I'll use as singles on the idlers/sprockets. One of these jobs that I'll do 15 minutes, then go away ( and recover). Not going to be the speediest of tasks!
Dave
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Even though the rains have subsided, the winds are still howling, so undisturbed benchtime - after a hour or so, I've used up the first ( of two ) sprues of track links - and I didn't even drop one!
DSCF0865.JPG
The sprockets & idlers have their complement of links already added, just ready for paint.
The edge of my little mitre box is just the right width for the track guide horns to fit over, whilst they are drying..............
I only (!) have straight runs, albeit sagged to do now - it definitely speeds things up to leave the sprue stubs as handles, luckily I have a pair of very sharp miniature sprue cutters, which if I am careful leave the tracks without any clean up.
Dave
 

Dave Ward

Still Trying New Things
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
8,557
Points
113
Location
South Gloucestershire
First Name
David
Slow progress - yesterday, I didn't drop one part - today I only dropped one part, but that one part had 5 excursions into the realm of the carpet monster and was rescued 5 times
DSCF0866.JPG
It's the sheer tininess of the links that is the problem, my sausage fingers really struggle, and I can only go so far with tweezers. I can see that after the tracks are finished there will be a lot of touching up needed!
Dave
 

Jakko

Way past the mad part
SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
10,583
Points
113
First Name
Jakko
Looking good, though I see one minor problem: the track is on the wrong way round … Compare to the photo you posted earlier:

asu-57-crewed-jpg.395898


Not that this would never happen in the real world, of course, so you can almost certainly get away with it :smiling3:
 
Top