Review
This offering from Zvezda of a Katyusha in 1/35th scale arrives in a flip top cardboard tray, with and additional card sleeve with all of the artwork. Inside the main sprues are packaged in 2 bags, with the decals and clear parts in a Ziploc bag. The mouldings look generally good, with ejector pins marks being the only thing to look out for. The gates between the sprue and the parts are a very nice small size, which should make clean up easier and reduce the risk of damage.
The model in this offering is I believe one of Zvezda’s own kits, the original release of this model was in 2022 as an artillery tractor and Zvezda has now added a Katyusha system to that artillery tractor. This offering from Zvezda is provided with a reasonably complete engine and gearbox. The detail is generally very good, with the modeller only being required to add some wires to replicate the electrical elements. The engine and drive is set up with the engine at the front and the drive at the rear, and I am unclear why this is not at the front of the vehicle unless it is to do with weight distribution. The suspension and wheels appear to match reference; there is some manoeuvrability in the suspension which would allow it to be accurately shown on uneven ground. But, the tacks are provided in e link and length format which has enabled the depiction of accurate track sag, but does not really allow the model to be shown on an uneven surface.
The cab of the model has not been designed for crew comfort, but functionality only. Knowing how cold it is in Russia during some points of the year, I would imagine that the engine at least makes the cab cosy when it is cold - but a nightmare when it is hot. The instrument panels inside the cab are painted and then a decal is supplied for the final detail. Clarity of the clear parts is good, and so should not cause any unexpected issues. The doors in the cab are provided as separate mouldings, but it is not shown to have been designed for the option of having them open but I cannot see why this would be difficult to do. The exterior of the cab and protective grids appear to be well represented and should be pleasing visually when completed.
The Katyusha launching unit is quite a complex design, but it is that complexity that will make it pleasing to see. The ability to show the launcher elevated is not covered in the instructions, and so the modeller will have to do some research on how they can accurately depict this. ICM has released a detailed set of figures showing the loading of a Katyusha and I believe these would be a perfect match for this release. The rockets in the set are fairly basic in design, but with careful painting and build up should be up to the task of accurate representation. It is pleasing to see that the metal plates that are lowered in front of the windscreen when launching have been included in the model with the option of them being stored or in use. Zvezda has only provided 1 finishing option for this model and has provided no details on what it represents - which is something that disappoints me on many of the Zvezda releases. The paint references for the model cover a Russian paint maker that I do not know and Zvezda, but modellers never seem to have too many problems deciding on what paint to use.
Conclusion
When Zvezda releases a model of their own making that is a fairly recent release, I am nearly always very pleased with the model itself. The model is let down by a single unidentified finishing option and not covering details for showing the launcher in a raised position. With the addition of some wiring detail I believe that the finished result will make for a pleasing model both visually and detail wise.