Kit From Hell - Shanghai Dragon 1/35 MAZ-543 w/Scud missile

Background
The SS-1 'Scud' (or more appropriately R-11, R-17 and/or R-300 Elbrus) is a series of tactical ballistic missile developed by the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. Developed from the German V-2 missile, the Scud can carry conventional (HE), chemical or tactical nuclear warhead. The missile are carried onboard a TEL (transporter-erector- launcher) based on the chassis of the IS-3 heavy tank (early versions) or the MAZ-543/9P117 8x8 truck. The Scud missile became infamous during the 1991 Gulf War when the Iraqi Army launched several missiles into Saudi Arabia and Israel. Such was the impact of the Iraqi Scuds that their own modifications and other nations' tactical missiles derived from the original Soviet missiles are 'Scuds'.

The kit

Honestly I can't recall when did the Dragon offering enter the market (probably in mid-90s in the wake of Desert Storm). Certain sources in the internet argue that the Dragon kit is not of their own mould as the kit came in rather thickish sprue gate plus some short-cuts (such as the underbelly). I bought the kit at Hobby HQ KL for RM85 in 2003. The kit bought by me is a re-issue by Shanghai Dragon which IIRC re-release Dragon/DML kits at lower prices.

ConstructionConstruction starts with the cockpit, I mean driver and crew cabs. The interior is very spartan (as if Spartans use the Scud!) and almost devoid of details. There are instrument decals provided but I decided to diregard them as they look 'funny'. Instead I just paint the relevant areas flat black and add circles using white paint to represent dials. This is the start of my adventure with ugly gaps throughout the building process. The roof of the cabs need careful aligning - even that does not eliminate the gaps fully and liberal amount of putty is needed.

The same story goes for most of the kit...the worst however concerns with the undercarriage. I believe the original manufacturer based their kit on pictures alone...and pictures don't show the underbelly of the vehicle. So what we get are 8 large wheels without axles or connection with each other and no detail whatsoever! Oh boy, the least the manufacturer could do is to study the underneath of large trucks and makes the approximation for the underbelly. Fit is quite OK for the 4 front wheels but not for the rest. To make matters worse, one of the rod pretending to be an axle broke. In true Krapp Plastik tradition, they are left like that, misaligned wheels and all!

One other thing, the windows are to be made using templates and clear acetate supplied. I need to have a very steady hand (or learn to fine tune the controls) - some of the windows are undersized! I also left off the tow cable as the part look more like a 'string' than a 'cable'.

Painting

At first I want to paint the model to represent a vehicle used by the Red Army. However I later decided to have the model in the colours of its most famous (or infamous) operator-Iraq. Unable to find the best approximation of the Iraqi vehicles colour, I settled for Tamiya's XF-59 Desert Yellow. The missile is suggested to be painted white. However, research through the internet reveals that some missiles exported to Iraq are painted in its original green colour. This finding, coupled with the inherent difficulty in painting whites, makes me paint the missile in (supposedly) Russian Green (XF58 + a dash of XF-3 and XF-2).

I'm too lazy to coat the model with gloss coat and as the result some of the decals silvered (but not too badly). Dragon includes what is supposedly a graffiti in Arabic but since I cannot make out the characters, I just leave it off. I was thinking of applying my own graffiti (such as 'Death to the Iranians!' - in Arab of course!) but in the end I decided to shelve it. Oh, in case one is wondering why my proposed graffiti reads 'Death To Iranians', it is because the Iraqi flag supplied lacks the inscription 'Allahuakbar' (God Is Great) added in 1990 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. So my model represents a MAZ-543 during the Battle of The Cities in mid-1980s between Iraq and Iran.

The model is finished with a general wash to bring out details. I would only do further weathering much later.

Conclusion

The Dragon Scud kit is not easy to assemble. Apart from suspect accuracy, the kit also suffers from poor fittings and details. It however makes a nice display, especially when you can pull everything off.