Introduction
Russia has had a long history with rocket propelled artillery, with systems utilised in WWII. Stalin’s pipe organ mounted on various vehicles chassis’ while inaccurate, was great as an area denial weapon due to being able to put a large amount of explosives over a decent area and at the same time demoralising troops at the same time. In 1963 the Grad with its 122mm multiple launch rocket system came to the foe. The weapons system is mounted on a Ural-4320 3 axle truck that was un-armoured and had no crew protection area on the cab. In this Zvezda release in 1/72nd scale we are offered this weapons system in Braille scale.
Review
This release is supplied in the now usual style from Zvezda of a flip top cardboard tray, with an additional card outer sleeve that provides excellent protection for the contents in most cases. The contents are provided on 3 main sprues, packaged in 2 sealed bags. The wheels are packaged separately in their own sealed bag, with the clear sprue and decals in a Ziploc bag which is something I keep commenting negatively on - due to the risk of damage to the decals.
An examination of the sprues reveals no obvious moulding issues, with the parts and their detail being well rendered, with everything that I can see showing everything that I would expect as regards moulding quality at the present time. Despite the small scale, the model is built up from a multi part chassis that will have to be assembled carefully. Detail is of a very high standard on both faces in many cases, and despite the small scale you still get an engine and transmission. This attention to detail extends throughout the oily areas of the model, with axles, suspension and drive shafts all very well presented giving the fan of the 1/72nd scale models the benefit of its larger cousin. The wheels of course at the front cannot be shown in a turned orientation - but in this scale is not something that I would complain about. A bone of contention will be the tyres for the vehicle, which are provided in a very tough vinyl rubber that need mating to injection moulded wheels.
The cab of the truck has a good level of detail on the interior, and while it could possibly be taken further via the addition of wear and tear it is very good for 1/72nd. The shell of the cab has been tackled in a slightly unusual way in that it is made of flat panels, but this has enabled good detail on the exterior face where it matters. The exterior details of the cab, such as grab handles, tools and wing mirror detail are all separate parts which will make for nice detail, but will require care to avoid breakages. The bed of the truck has been equally well tackled, with a storage area being particularly note worthy, along with the spare wheel storage. The reflective surface of the wing mirrors of the model, I have found are now best replicated by using the chrome pens that have come onto the market, as they provide you with a highly reflective surface that can be easily applied in a controlled manner.
The weapons system itself has been tackled in a slightly unusual way, with the rocket launching aspect being made with separate front and rear parts and nothing in the middle. Flat frames fit either side of these pieces - I can hear modellers swearing now, when it comes to getting this portion of the model assembled. The rotating bed on which the launcher sits is nicely detailed on all faces and does provide the modeller with the ability to show the rocket launcher turned in any direction. Returning to the tubes themselves, the space in the middle is completely hidden by an upper and lower panel, that again has some bar detail which while nice could be easily broken during removal. Another aspect of the model that I particularly like is that the body of the truck with the cab, the storage area between the weapons system and the cab, and the weapons system and launcher itself can all be brought together as sub assemblies, aiding in the painting process and detailing of the model.
Zvezda has provided 3 finishing options for this release:
BM-21 “Grad”, Victory Parade Moscow - May 9th, 2017
BM-21 “Grad”, 4th Guards Tank Division
BM-21 “Grad”, Russian Army Exercises.
Conclusion
This release from Zvezda of a “Grad” BM-21 is a very nice offering in this scale due to providing a much higher level of detail than I would normally expect. I particularly like that it can be assembled using 3 sub-assemblies making the finishing of the model as regards painting and detailing easier. The choice of finishing options allows you to accurately display a pristine finish or down and dirty. My only complaints are packing the decals and clear parts together risking damage and I am questionable about the vinyl rubber used on the tyres. As a whole this is an exceptional model as regards detail in this scale.