Review
This offering from Hobby Boss arrives in a cardboard tray with a separate cardboard lid. Inside is a segregation area to protect the items that Hobby Boss feels need extra protections. The sprues are individually bagged, except where duplicated. Foam is secured over some areas of the sprues to protect the finely moulded elements. An examination of the mouldings reveals no obvious problems with moulding quality. There are some ejector pin marks that will need to be addressed, and for the most part as far as I can see, Hobby Boss has kept the size of the gates between the sprue and parts a reasonable size.
The S350 missile system has only been in service somewhere between 2013 and 2019 depending on your reference. The vehicles task is to launch surface to air missiles against multiple targets, but these need to be located and locked using other vehicles. In this release Hobby Boss has provided a vehicle that is made using individual chassis rails, with quite a large amount of construction having to take place prior to the two chassis rails being brought together. Looking at the amount of detail between these two rails, I am more than a little concerned that getting all of the elements correctly aligned will be problematic at its least and a nightmare at its worst. With that said, it does mean that the mechanicals and structural elements are very well replicated and will make for an interesting visual area of the completed model.
Hobby Boss has also provided a full engine and gearbox for this release, only requiring the modeller add some wire detail to end up with a very convincing area of the model. Hobby Boss has continued the fine replication of the engineering when it comes to the suspension units, which I believe although not intended, could be used to show the vehicle on mixed terrain. The wheels have well replicated bolt detail, but the tyres are vinyl rubber which is an unpopular material with many modellers. With that said, I have looked at the tread pattern and it does appear to be a very good match for on-line reference. The cab detail has a logical lay out, but I was unable to find any reference images of the interior to confirm that it is an accurate representation. I have noted that Hobby Boss has provided a number of decals most notably for the instrument cluster inside the cab. The driver’s seat also replicates the interesting height adjustment system used on lorries today. Air tanks are towed under the cab of the vehicle, which is a first for me as they normally attach to the chassis rails. The engine and transmission is actually behind the cab structure and so displaying it is a possibility due to how Hobby Boss has tackled the cover. So the fans of the oily parts can show the detail well. The fuel tanks for the model appears to be accurately replicated and located judging by the rib detail I have been able to observe on the real vehicle.
The feet used to support the vehicle when in use are in my opinion rudimentary but accurate; I would suggest an instant improvement would for these legs to be able to extend outwards and thus creating a much more stable platform. The hydraulic arm that elevates the missile launching structure has some nice detail present, however, the hydraulic pipes for the hydraulic ram are not replicated in any form that I can see and so you will need to decide how to logically route this pipe to the compressor and also from the hydraulic fluid container that sits behind the right hand fuel tank.
This vehicle is equipped with 12 launching tubes, no missile detail is present and would have perhaps been a nice subject to add to the model. However the launching tubes as far as I can see match reference very well, but as I have said photographic reference seems to be minimal on the subject matter. Looking at the available reference the cap at the front of each missile tube does not appear to be domed sufficiently to be an exact replica. The missile carriage can be shown elevated or flat and any stage in-between. The detail of the carriage itself I have found to be extremely difficult to assess the accuracy of, with my inability to locate any large high quality images of this vehicle, making my review difficult.
Hobby Boss has only provided 1 finishing option for the model with the camouflage pattern chosen looking to be a very good replication of reference photographs on-line. Of particular note Hobby Boss has done a very pleasing job of the decals provided for the launching tubes, these will be one of those details that you enjoy seeing as it breaks up the monotony of an all white missile tube.
Conclusion
This release from Hobby Boss would appear to be a nice replication of a newly fielded weapons system of the Russian Federation. I am not going to argue the accuracy or in-accuracy of the subject matter as details are surprisingly scarce, with the number of images I found on line being minimal in number and difficult to know if you are looking at the correct SAM launching vehicle. I was also unable to find accurate measurements of this vehicle, but the model scaled up comes in at just under 12.1 metres in length, and just over 2.8 metres in width. Details that I was able to check look accurate, but I obviously could not verify all aspects of this release. That said, it will make a sizable addition to your model shelf.