ZSU-23-4 "Shilka"
Commentaires
James CI made a start on this kit a couple days ago.
It's putting up a bit of a fight, but I think that I'm slowly winning.
Main hull is finished with the exception of the smaller delicate running lights which I'll leave until the end.
The tracks look a little wonky due to none of the wheels being permanently secured yet.
The instructions don't indicate how many links to use or which way they should be orientated?
A test fit using 89 links looks a little tight, so will probably settle on 90 instead but will make a final decision after everything is painted and I'm ready to mount them properly.
Will make a start on the turret later today.
James CGot the main turret almost finished today, but was held up by spending most of my time filling the unsightly gaps.
Just the quad 23mm guns and radar assembly to go...
James CAssembly finished. Just needs a final clean up before I tear it apart again for a coat of primer.
James CWelcome Rui 🙂
I finished spraying the camo scheme yesterday.
Next up will be to break out the oils. Pics to follow...
James CThanks John, and yes I believe it is. This kit is NOT a newly tooled release from Zvezda, and so has all of the issues of typical Dragon kits released back in the early 1990's... Average molding quality, vague assembly instructions and with mis-numbered parts callouts etc.
The Zvezda plastic is quite good though.
James CBackground
The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapon system (SPAAG).
The acronym "ZSU" stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka, meaning "anti-aircraft self-propelled system"; the "23" signifies the bore diameter in millimeters; the "4" signifies the number of gun barrels. It is named after the Shilka River in Russia.
Afghan soldiers nicknamed it the "sewing machine" due to the sound of its cannons firing.
It is also referred to by its nickname of "Zeus", derived from the Russian acronym (ZSU).
The radar-guided ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" SPAAG, with its four 23 mm autocannons was a revolutionary SPAAG, proving to be an extremely effective weapon against (low flying) enemy attack aircraft and helicopters under all weather conditions.
The ZSU-23-4 has a very high density, rate and accuracy of fire, as well as the capability for each of the four autocannons to fire its own type of projectile from separate belts.
While it is technically possible for each cannon to shoot a different type of ammunition; there were two types commonly used in the late 1970s: OFZT incendiary fragmentation and BZT armour-piercing tracer, which were loaded in 3:1 ratio—three OFZT, then one BZT, every 10th BZT round equipped with so-called "copper remover" and marked.
In 1965, the appearance of the "Shilka" caused significant changes in NATO tactics in aircraft use at low altitude over the battlefield. Despite its present obsolescence as a modern short-range anti-aircraft weapon, the ZSU-23-4 is still deadly against lightly armored vehicles, infantry and firing points as an infantry-support vehicle. With its high rate of accurate fire, the ZSU-23-4 can even neutralize tanks by destroying their gun sights, radio antennas, or other vulnerable components. ZSU-23-4's (especially later models) have excellent performance and good systems reliability.
Based on the GM-575 tracked vehicle chassis, which used components from the PT-76 light amphibious tank, the ZSU-23-4 mounts an armored turret holding four liquid-cooled 23mm 2A7 autocannons linked to an RPK-2 "Tobol" radar (NATO designation: "Gun Dish").
The vehicle weighs 19 Tonnes (later modifications up to 21 Tonnes), has an operational range of 450 km (280 mi) and a top speed of 50 km/h (31 mph). Additional weapon upgrades on later variants come in the form of a roof-mounted pod of six short-range SA-18 SAMs, or side-mounted SA-16s.
The crew consists of driver, commander, gunner and radar operator.
The driver's compartment is located in the nose of the forward hull, and isolated from the other crew members.
The fighting compartment is in the center, with the engine compartment in the rear of the vehicle.
The transmission consists of a multi-plate metal-contact main clutch, a manual gearbox with five forward gears, two planetary two-step steering gears (with locking frictions) and two final drive groups. The vehicle chassis has six single rubber tired road wheels, a rear drive sprocket with detachable sprocket rings (lantern-wheel gear) and one idler wheel per side. The first and fifth left, and sixth right road wheels have hydraulic shock absorbers. The track is 11.904 m long, 382 mm wide and consists of 93 links.
The "Shilka is powered by a V-6R, 6-cylinder 4-stroke airless-injection water-cooled 20-litre diesel, which produces 280 hp (209 kW) at 2,000 rpm. It has a top (road) speed of 50 km/h (31 mph) and 30 km/h (19 mph) off-road.
Each water-cooled 23 mm 2A7 autocannon has a cyclic rate of 850–1,000 rounds per minute for a combined rate of fire of 3,400–4,000 rounds per minute, which gives a continuous fire time of 30–35 seconds before running out of ammunition (not considering the constraints that limit the practical rate of fire, such as barrel overheating).
The welded turret has a race ring transplanted from the T-54 medium tank with a 1,840 mm (6') diameter.
The 360° rotating turret is fully stabilised and capable of firing on the move.
The turret rotation and autocannon elevation mechanisms provide very good speed and guidance accuracy.
The hydraulically driven aiming mechanisms have been proven to be very reliable.
Manual aim is used against ground targets. The quad automatic anti-aircraft gun AZP-23 "Amur" has a range of elevation from −4° to +85°. The GRAU designation for ZSU-23-4 turret with 23 mm (0.9") AZP-23 "Amur" quad automatic gun is 2A10.
An armored plate inside the turret protects crew members from fire and explosive gas during intense firing.
Early versions of the ZSU-23-4 sometimes had problems with "runaway guns".
After prolonged periods of firing, the guns would get so hot that chambered rounds would "cook off" even if the operator was not pulling the trigger – discharging the weapon and chambering a new round, which would then also cook off.
This would sometimes continue until the entire belt of ammunition had been expended.
Overheating barrels could jam and even break away from the vehicle.
The problem resulted from a deficient cooling system and made the early "Shilka's" dangerous even to friendly troops standing nearby. Despite the fact that this seldom happened. It was not recommended to perform continuous fire (bursts of more than 15 seconds without pause) on earlier models until the problem with the autocannon reliability and overheating during intense fire was solved on ZSU-23-4M (welded tubes of coolant outlet were replaced with flexible pipes).
After the autocannon cooling system was improved, the autocannons became extremely reliable.
Approx 6,500 "Shilka's" were manufactured between 1965 - 1982, and in addition to the Russian military, it currently remains in service with many former Eastern Block countries, as well as in the Middle East to this day.
In 1982 it was superseded by the more modern 9K22 Tunguska ( NATO reporting name: SA-19 "Grison")
The kit
A very disappointing release by Zvezda (2020) and a step backwards from their newly tooled offerings of recent years.
This kit is just a re-release of the much older Dragon kit which was first released back in 1991... and unfortunately it shows.
Not being familiar with the Dragon kit myself, I don't know what, if anything has been changed regarding the molding or assembly instructions.
I'm not going to go on a rant and point out all of its faults (of which there are a fair few) but anyone who has built a Dragon kit from the same era will probably have a good idea of what to expect.
As such, I would not recommend this Zvezda kit unless your on a tight budget.
To be fair, it will eventually build up ok if your prepared to put the effort in, but I cant comment on its overall accuracy... but it looks like a "Shilka" to me.
If you don't currently have a "Shilka" in your stash, but would like to get one, I'd recommend the newly tooled (2016) kit from Meng instead.
Cheers for following 🙂👍
Youtube Video
CaptGPFYet another beautiful build! Thank you for the background info as well, it's funny how people tend to use machines in other ways than originally intended! With the proliferation of drone warfare in Ukraine, I will imagine SPAAGS are going to be back in fashion as a cost-effective weapons platform.
James CThanks mate and yes, I believe that the German Gepards are getting a new lease of life serving in Ukraine at present 🙂
Album info
Background
The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapon system (SPAAG).
The acronym "ZSU" stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka, meaning "anti-aircraft self-propelled system"; the "23" signifies the bore diameter in millimeters; the "4" signifies the number of gun barrels. It is named after the Shilka River in Russia.
Afghan soldiers nicknamed it the "sewing machine" due to the sound of its cannons firing.
It is also referred to by its nickname of "Zeus", derived from the Russian acronym (ZSU).
The radar-guided ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" SPAAG, with its four 23 mm autocannons was a revolutionary SPAAG, proving to be an extremely effective weapon against (low flying) enemy attack aircraft and helicopters under all weather conditions.
The ZSU-23-4 has a very high density, rate and accuracy of fire, as well as the capability for each of the four autocannons to fire its own type of projectile from separate belts.
While it is technically possible for each cannon to shoot a different type of ammunition; there were two types commonly used in the late 1970s: OFZT incendiary fragmentation and BZT armour-piercing tracer, which were loaded in 3:1 ratio—three OFZT, then one BZT, every 10th BZT round equipped with so-called "copper remover" and marked.
In 1965, the appearance of the "Shilka" caused significant changes in NATO tactics in aircraft use at low altitude over the battlefield. Despite its present obsolescence as a modern short-range anti-aircraft weapon, the ZSU-23-4 is still deadly against lightly armored vehicles, infantry and firing points as an infantry-support vehicle. With its high rate of accurate fire, the ZSU-23-4 can even neutralize tanks by destroying their gun sights, radio antennas, or other vulnerable components. ZSU-23-4's (especially later models) have excellent performance and good systems reliability.
Based on the GM-575 tracked vehicle chassis, which used components from the PT-76 light amphibious tank, the ZSU-23-4 mounts an armored turret holding four liquid-cooled 23mm 2A7 autocannons linked to an RPK-2 "Tobol" radar (NATO designation: "Gun Dish").
The vehicle weighs 19 Tonnes (later modifications up to 21 Tonnes), has an operational range of 450 km (280 mi) and a top speed of 50 km/h (31 mph). Additional weapon upgrades on later variants come in the form of a roof-mounted pod of six short-range SA-18 SAMs, or side-mounted SA-16s.
The crew consists of driver, commander, gunner and radar operator.
The driver's compartment is located in the nose of the forward hull, and isolated from the other crew members.
The fighting compartment is in the center, with the engine compartment in the rear of the vehicle.
The transmission consists of a multi-plate metal-contact main clutch, a manual gearbox with five forward gears, two planetary two-step steering gears (with locking frictions) and two final drive groups. The vehicle chassis has six single rubber tired road wheels, a rear drive sprocket with detachable sprocket rings (lantern-wheel gear) and one idler wheel per side. The first and fifth left, and sixth right road wheels have hydraulic shock absorbers. The track is 11.904 m long, 382 mm wide and consists of 93 links.
The "Shilka is powered by a V-6R, 6-cylinder 4-stroke airless-injection water-cooled 20-litre diesel, which produces 280 hp (209 kW) at 2,000 rpm. It has a top (road) speed of 50 km/h (31 mph) and 30 km/h (19 mph) off-road.
Each water-cooled 23 mm 2A7 autocannon has a cyclic rate of 850–1,000 rounds per minute for a combined rate of fire of 3,400–4,000 rounds per minute, which gives a continuous fire time of 30–35 seconds before running out of ammunition (not considering the constraints that limit the practical rate of fire, such as barrel overheating).
The welded turret has a race ring transplanted from the T-54 medium tank with a 1,840 mm (6') diameter.
The 360° rotating turret is fully stabilised and capable of firing on the move.
The turret rotation and autocannon elevation mechanisms provide very good speed and guidance accuracy.
The hydraulically driven aiming mechanisms have been proven to be very reliable.
Manual aim is used against ground targets. The quad automatic anti-aircraft gun AZP-23 "Amur" has a range of elevation from −4° to +85°. The GRAU designation for ZSU-23-4 turret with 23 mm (0.9") AZP-23 "Amur" quad automatic gun is 2A10.
An armored plate inside the turret protects crew members from fire and explosive gas during intense firing.
Early versions of the ZSU-23-4 sometimes had problems with "runaway guns".
After prolonged periods of firing, the guns would get so hot that chambered rounds would "cook off" even if the operator was not pulling the trigger – discharging the weapon and chambering a new round, which would then also cook off.
This would sometimes continue until the entire belt of ammunition had been expended.
Overheating barrels could jam and even break away from the vehicle.
The problem resulted from a deficient cooling system and made the early "Shilka's" dangerous even to friendly troops standing nearby. Despite the fact that this seldom happened. It was not recommended to perform continuous fire (bursts of more than 15 seconds without pause) on earlier models until the problem with the autocannon reliability and overheating during intense fire was solved on ZSU-23-4M (welded tubes of coolant outlet were replaced with flexible pipes).
After the autocannon cooling system was improved, the autocannons became extremely reliable.
Approx 6,500 "Shilka's" were manufactured between 1965 - 1982, and in addition to the Russian military, it currently remains in service with many former Eastern Block countries, as well as in the Middle East to this day.
In 1982 it was superseded by the more modern 9K22 Tunguska ( NATO reporting name: SA-19 "Grison")
The kit
A very disappointing release by Zvezda (2020) and a step backwards from their newly tooled offerings of recent years.
This kit is just a re-release of the much older Dragon kit which was first released back in 1991... and unfortunately it shows.
Not being familiar with the Dragon kit myself, I don't know what, if anything has been changed regarding the molding or assembly instructions.
I'm not going to go on a rant and point out all of its faults (of which there are a fair few) but anyone who has built a Dragon kit from the same era will probably have a good idea of what to expect.
As such, I would not recommend this Zvezda kit unless your on a tight budget.
To be fair, it will eventually build up ok if your prepared to put the effort in, but I cant comment on its overall accuracy... but it looks like a "Shlika" to me.
If you don't currently have a "Shilka" in your stash, but would like to get one, I'd recommend the newly tooled (2016) kit from Meng instead.
Youtube Video
Completed 15th January 2024
