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In-Box Review
135
2S6M Tunguska
Russian 2S6M Tunguska Anti- Aircraft Artillery
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by: Jim [ TEAKER11 ]

introduction

Panda Hobby’s 2nd 1/35 scale offering is a 2S6M Tunguska.
The Soviet 2k22 Tunguska is a self propelled anti-aircraft armed with 2 - 30 MM auto cannons and 8 SA-19 “Grison” missiles. The program started in June 1970 with production starting in 1976 to present, with the M system starting in 1990 to present.
Russia, India, China, Peru, and Ukraine are currently using the Tunguska, and were used in the Kosovo conflict, reportedly shooting down several NATO warplanes.

the kit

The kit is injected mold plastic with 18 sprues of parts plus 5 large molded parts for the tank hull and turret. The tracks are molded in a light tan color with the rest of the parts a dark green. 2 frets of PE .012 mm thick with a plastic film on both sides, 1 sheet of waterslide decals and a copper wire tow cable. All in all this brings the total to 984 parts.

The plastic is almost flash free so clean up will be very little. The tank treads are separate links with 8 sprues of treads and 3 sprues of guide horns. The tank treads will have to be glued toghter as the fit is not tight. The top and bottom hull have a good fit although a little filler will be needed on a couple of seams on the bottom. There are no rubber band tracks included so the only option will be the indy links. Also included are 2 SA-19 missiles for display as the missile tubes are sealed.

The instructions are 16 pages long with color photos on the front and back.
Page 2 has a layout of all the sprues with the numbers listed with each part. This also includes the PE, but there are no numbers that can be seen. The assembly of the kit spans the next 15 pages There are 24 steps for building the kit and the last page is the painting and decal guide for 1 version of the Tunguska.

The over all length of the hull scales out to 7.70 m long, 2.90 m wide. The height would be hard to determine without building the kit so we will see how that scales out at a later date. The build starts with the lower hull and followed by the tracks.

The upper hull will have some options of leaving hatches open for the driver and/or the commander. If you leave the hatch open for the driver to you will need to provide a glass window. This part of the build is where you run into the small parts such as handles, door latches and hinges. Also the side skirts are all plastic, with the 1:1 version consisting of half steel, half rubber.

Following this we start on the turret, once again there are a multitude of hatches that can be left open. I did find a small drawing of the turret and it matches what Panda supplied.

Next is the 30 mm guns, this by far is going to be the challenge with the small parts and PE. The gun is a small kit in its own, with 36 parts for the right and the left. Parts A 10 and 11 are keyed so that if you elevate the guns both will move tighter. It appears Panda did a good job here, comparing to one of the few M series photos I could find. Again it would be hard to get a scale measurement with out building the kit. The missile launchers contain 30 parts per side and are mounted to the gun assembles and will move with the gun.

The 2 radar units are well detailed and again they consist of multiple parts and PE. The rear radar will be able to turn and also can be moved to transport position.

The plans are very straight forward with blow ups of all sub assemblies with no other instructions. There are very small parts to contend with, but it will be a good build when done. One thing that I liked on the kit is all hatch openings are open with a hatch cover that is detailed on the inside. Another improvement would be PE for the frame work on the back radar as it is plastic and looks to be bulky, an interior and engine would look good as an aftermarket kit

I did a glue test on a scrap piece of plastic to see how the plastic would respond to liquid glue. Using Tamiya extra thin, Weld.on #4, Tenax-7R, and Weld.on #3, all the test pieces welded the plastic to a tight bond using this range of adhesives.

With this being Pandas 2nd kit in 1/35 scale, I look forward to the next kit they make.
I think this kit will fill a void of post war anti aircraft systems that the builder, collector will have to add to their collection.

conclusion

This is a highly detailed kit with many plastic and photo etch parts, it will also be a bit fragile with the radar, guns and rocket pods. This is not a beginner’s kit; it is more geared to the intermediate or advanced builder.
SUMMARY
Highs: Highly detailed anti-aircraft weapon with clean parts that are flawlessly molded. The availability of having open hatches will be helpful in scratch building, or aftermarket parts.
Lows: The tracks do not have locator pins and will be difficult to assemble, and the rear radar brackets are a bit bulky in plastic.
Verdict: With time & patience this will build into a highly detailed kit, and it fills a void in Soviet Cold War weapons.
Percentage Rating
90%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: PH 35002
  PUBLISHED: Nov 02, 2012
  NATIONALITY: Russia
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 83.33%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 80.69%

Our Thanks to Panda Hobby !
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Jim (Teaker11)
FROM: CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

I started Modeling when I was 10 , Airplanes as I lived in the flight line of WPAFB and started my first Model railroad. Through the years I have Built and flowen RC airplanes, helicopters, cars , boats and I still fall back on modeling. I now build Soviet armor Cold war era and all countries of Tru...

Copyright ©2021 text by Jim [ TEAKER11 ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

It can be... So this is the reason why the Voyager's set does not contain this part. I have to check the assembly guide some times before building ... They did the same as before There were a lot of mistakes in their MRAPs book too. Thanks for the idea
JAN 01, 2013 - 04:49 AM
It is very nice to have the review and thanks for that, a friend of mine bought it but I have not see it yet. I know he gave around 55euros that is quite expensive. However the theme is great!
JAN 01, 2013 - 05:11 AM
The Dish Model site walkaround shows what this should look like, though it appears there should be two? However I've seen plenty of pics with this not in position so I'll probably just leave it off. HTH Andy
JAN 01, 2013 - 05:28 AM
[Question] Do I absolutly need that Voyager P-E set to make my Tunguska better? Will it miss something if I do not buy it? I already plan on buying Friul's track in a couple of months, like they answered me in an email, so with those tracks, the value of the model will be high. Adding that P-E set will put it higher than I'd like. I don't plan on having Armed Security here to guard my models
JAN 03, 2013 - 05:32 AM
Did Friul or anyone else (Spade-Ace etc) come out with tracks for this kit? Thanks
FEB 08, 2014 - 02:34 PM
The tracks in the Trumpeter 2S3 can be used. I cannot remember if they are a complete swap out with the Panda Hobby kit or if the sprockets need to be changed too...
FEB 09, 2014 - 12:44 PM
The Friulmodelismo coming out Tunguska Track set 1/35!!! :-) http://www.friulmodel.hu/en/ Coming Soon!!!
FEB 11, 2014 - 01:52 AM
Thanks for the review, Jim! This is the next one I plan to put on the workbench!
SEP 15, 2014 - 03:32 AM
   
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