From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

The end is in sight!

Today Nadya and Elena went out for a walk so I could have some time for the model.

I continued as planned with the remaining steps on this page:

The work was much the same as yesterday—no problems, and all the parts fit together almost perfectly. Just be careful how you orient the assemblies 9a, because their component parts C30 turned out not to be symmetrical. My advice is to position them without gluing them, cut part C27 off the sprue, and try fitting it over them. If something does not look right, turn one or both around and try again until you find the correct orientation.

All I have left is to “assemble” the tracks… That worries me a little, because I want to glue almost all of them together while still being able to remove them from the running gear for painting. Well—we shall see how I get on.

So, after 45 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

Today Nadya and Elena went out to see our maid of honour, while I—well, I got the model out.

First, I wanted to finish the last few steps—29a and 29b, and the finishing touch in step 32: gluing on part A4. Why they left that until now, I have no idea, but…

Then I moved on to the last remaining steps: assembling the running gear.

I started with step 5a and continued with 5, 6, 7a, 7, 8 and, to top it all off, 11a.

Contrary to my expectations, there were no problems with any of the steps or parts—everything fits together perfectly.

So, after 70 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

It was hot today, so at around 20:30 Nadya and Elena went out for a walk, while I carried on. Today it was time to assemble the loading “trolleys”—the shells weigh 100–150 kg each, after all, so loading requires a winch to lift the trolley holding the shell.

I completed steps 30a, 30, 31 and 32c—the last of these is assembling the shells.

Surprisingly annoying steps: the parts are small and need to be aligned very precisely using practically invisible locating pins, sooo… It was not much fun. Especially since the “lids” C38 are not glued on, but have to remain movable. I also managed to leave my fingerprints on the shells, although I still have two more to assemble, so hopefully I can glue those more cleanly. I think I may look for turned metal aftermarket shells, if any are available.

So, after 50 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

And to finish, a “macro” photo:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

Nadya is ill and resting, Elena is watching some series, and I got the model out again to keep myself from getting bored.

Briefly, I continued following the instructions:

Once again, very easy and enjoyable steps with no problems. Except that I am a scatterbrain, and I have just noticed in the photo that I forgot to glue on part D44 in step 27a. It does not affect the assembly at all, so I simply need to attach it in the next session.

As for step 27d (and the similar 28a below), here is how I approached it:

First I assembled 27c, then glued B13 to it, aligning it with B23. Only when attaching this assembly to the carriage did I add D8. It worked out quite easily.

Then I carried on:

At this point I decided to finish assembling the main part of the model and leave the separate components in steps 30a, 30, 31 and 32c for later. These are entirely separate items—two shells and two… err… loading trolleys for the shells—and can be assembled, primed and painted independently of the rest of the model.

Watch out! There is an error in the instructions! Part D29 in step 29 and part C29 in step 32 are swapped. In step 29, use C29 instead of D29 as shown in the instructions; in step 32, use D29 instead of C29. You can thank me later. Not that it is a huge drama, but still…

So, after 75 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

If you have been following my progress, you can actually see it this time…

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

Last night I introduced Elena to The X-Files—specifically the mytharc—and we watched the relevant episodes from the first season until about 01:00 this morning, hence the later start.

Briefly, I continued following the instructions:

Overall, easy, enjoyable and logical steps with no difficulties. Only step 24a puzzled me—why did this need to be two separate parts?

Oh, yes—there is an error in the instructions. In step 24, the part is D38, not B38. Once you see B38, you will understand

Then I carried on:

Again, no problems—everything is fairly easy and logical. The only difficulty was aligning parts B9 and D42 in step 25a, but eventually they “clicked” together and lined themselves up.

So, after 90 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

Visually, it does not look as though I have made much progress, but that is how it goes—most of the parts are too small to add much “bulk” to the model…

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

Last night, as on almost every Friday now, I went to bed at 21:30. Today I got up at 04:00, shaved, showered, made myself some coffee and… decided to do a little building while I drank it, before the rest of the household was up.

I decided to “take a chance” and assemble steps 16a and 16. I have some reservations about painting them, but these particular parts will not be very visible anyway, so…

Step 16 turned out to be a little awkward. Getting assembly 16a into the correct position was not particularly easy, and the illustration does not show very clearly how it should sit. Still, after a little struggle, it “clicked” and everything fell into place!

I also finished step 19, which caused no problems. Having already accepted the priming and painting complications with the assembly from step 16a, I decided there was no point putting it off any longer.

The problems came in step 21: one of my C41 parts was broken in two, apparently during transport, and it took quite a struggle to make it whole again.

The other concern was the extremely thin parts, especially D48 and D50, but they came off the sprue without any problems.

So, after 45 minutes, this is where I got to:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

Something came over me late at night, and I decided to do a little building, just to unwind. Since I am still wondering exactly how to tackle one of the earlier steps, I decided to carry on from here:

Quite easy and trouble-free steps, apart from attaching the little C3 parts in step 19a. Not that it is complicated, but the parts are sooo thin that I managed to snap one in two while cutting it off the sprue. Sadly, I could not glue it back together, so my howitzer will have some battle damage

I decided not to glue on parts B11 and B3 from step 19 for now, so I can prime and paint the rest with less hassle…

So, after 20 minutes, this is where I got to:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

According to the instructions, I should have continued from step 5 onwards—I stopped after step 4 last time—but I decided to skip some steps. Why? They involve assembling the howitzer’s running gear, which is… let us say, a little more complicated. It needs painting during assembly, and I am considering replacing the kit tracks with aftermarket parts: this set. The “awkward” thing about the Friulmodel tracks is that they also come with new sprocket wheels—the Zvezda ones are probably incompatible with the tracks, so… you see what I mean.

Anyway, I turned to a new page in the instructions and found this:

I decided right away to skip steps 16a and 16, for a similar reason: part D9 in step 16a needs painting before assembly can continue. Anyway, I got started.

The steps turned out to be quite easy and enjoyable. You assemble much of the howitzer’s carriage, which is essentially a fairly large “box”. The instructions have you assemble the “floor” first—steps 13a, 13, 14a and 14—then one “side” and the “lid”, parts B37 and D20 in step 15, and only then the remaining “side”, B36. I assembled both “sides”, B36 and B37, first, and only then fitted the “lid”, D20. I think that is a little—but only a little—easier. Just be careful with parts B1 and B17: each has a small “bump” at the front that is easy to mistake for a leftover sprue attachment and file or sand away. In fact, these are locating pins: part D1 has small holes they fit into to make assembly easier. Naturally, I filed and sanded them off first and only then realised I needed them. Nothing disastrous, though—the assembly is easy enough without them.

So, after 60 minutes, this is where I got to:

From this point onward, unless stated otherwise or obvious from the context, all abbreviations use the Latin alphabet.

What is a “weekend” model, you ask? The explanation is a little longer and more complicated.

Building a model—and especially painting it—is usually a long, labour-intensive and, above all, time-consuming process. For example, assembling my very first model, SS-010 Doobi, took 22 hours and 15 minutes. That was just assembly, without even thinking about painting or anything else.

Now that I think about it, that would qualify as a “weekend” model these days… These days, that is—I have raised the bar!

So, briefly, what are we talking about? A 1:35 Zvezda B-4 model: a “Soviet high-power (special-power) howitzer of 203.2 mm (8-inch) calibre”, with the GAU designation 52-G-625. For getting around the various marshy areas of Karelia…

The kit is inexpensive enough—I bought mine for BGN 51.35 from Hobbyland, with the various regular-customer and online-order discounts—that I can afford simply to “play around” with it without feeling too bad financially if I ruin it.

This time I decided not to film the build, but just photograph the result of each step. Why, you might ask? Filming takes far too much time and energy: arranging for the family to stay quiet, setting up lights (two) and cameras (two), choosing a time when neither the dishwasher nor the washing machine will be running… I do not live in a castle with a separate mancave; I build in the kitchen. It is a lot of work. So I decided it would be easier just to sit down for 45–60 minutes after work—especially now that Preslav and Katya are on holiday and staying with their grandmothers outside Sofia—and make whatever progress I can… But I seem to have wandered rather far off topic!

The kit itself is a little odd. Although it is from 2024, it uses “green” plastic. For anyone unfamiliar with it, model manufacturers used “green” plastic about ten years ago; most kits now use “beige” plastic and, more recently, “white” plastic. The difference is that the “beige” and “white” types are much harder—and much nicer to work with, at least in my opinion—and presumably allow finer detail. The “green” plastic is much softer and more flexible. Perhaps this has something to do with the sanctions against Russia: Zvezda is a Russian company, although I have had their 2022–2023 kits in “white” plastic, and those were nicely detailed and pleasant to work with. But let us not get into political arguments…

So, let us begin with the first four numbered steps—1, 2a, 2, 3, 4a and 4:

Nothing complicated; almost elementary, really. The only thing was that the instructions called for painting the inside of the barrel black, but I think I will handle that with black primer…

So, after 45 minutes, this is where I got to: