Mirage 1/72 Dzialo Samobiezne 76.2mm "Leningrad" Self-Propelled Gun By Bill Kreuger

Historical Background:

With the introduction of the T-26 tank into the Russian Army, work was begun on converting it to other uses. One of those conversions was into a self-propelled gun to be used in support of infantry. After the Germans launched their invasion of Russia, the armies of the Northern Front approached the city of Leningrad in the autumn of 1941. As the city became cut-off from the rest of Russia, tanks that were damaged in combat had to be repaired by their own means in the city. The General staff of the Leningrad front asked the Ministry of Tank Industry (NKTP) to rearm existing BT and T-26 light tanks with Mark 26 - 76.2mm naval guns that were stored in Navy arsenals. The gun was developed from the Schneider Mark 1916 - 76.2mm gun. The gun was fitted onto a platform and was protected with an armor shield on three sides. This arrangement proved to be very stable during firing; the rate of fire was 10 rounds per minute. The crew consisted of one driver and four gunners. Several of these converted tanks were used in the defense of Leningrad.

The kit is produced in 1/72 scale and consists of 149 pieces that are cast in dark gray and light gray plastic, along with a set of rubber band like tracks. The parts are very well detailed and flash free. There was very little clean up needed for the parts during assembly.

The instruction sheet consists of six pages of exploded drawings, and 21 steps, which clearly show how the parts are to be assembled. The instructions provide a brief history of the tank in Polish, English, and another language that did not look familiar (possibly Russian). Included in the historical background is a list of specifications of the original. The painting guide is very minimal and provides for colors only in the Humbrol range. Each step lists the parts to be painted by code numbers of that shade of Humbol paint, however there is no list indicating what those colors are. The only definitive statement I found regarding painting came toward the end of the assembly with a "Note." This indicated that the entire tank was painted olive green and that H102 shade is an approximation of that color in the Humbrol range. This was really my only problem I had with the kit. It would certainly behoove Mirage to include a listing of paint colors to be used in any future issues of this or any other kit.

The parts are packed in two plastic bags, instructions separate, and all placed in an end-opening box. No decals were included. The boxtop has artists’ rendering of the actual tank, showing it on the battlefield.

Construction:

I began the assembly of the kit by washing all parts in soapy water to get rid of any mold release agents. When dry, I painted the road wheels and bogie wheels. Using a fine brush, I painted these on the sprue since they were so small. I used flat black and olive green from Model Masters Acryl. I next painted the drive wheels and idler wheels using the same olive green as described above.

The first step in assembling the kit is to attach the tank fenders to the sidewalls of the chassis. However, a small "note" in fine print indicates that you need to remove 31.2 mm of the fender support between the points where the front set of road wheels are attached to where the idler wheel is attached. I had thought it said (I said it was fine print) to remove 31.2 mm of the fenders between these two points. In order to make sure of what I was doing, I looked forward in the instructions, as well as the box art. It indeed shows that the fenders have been removed so the gun platform can fit snugly onto the chassis. I made my measurements and cut, but my cuts were not the entire length to be removed. I wanted some "wiggle room" in case my measurements were off. I also removed the sections of the fender supports. I then glued the fender sections to the chassis sidewalls.

Steps 2 - 5 were the assembly of the idler wheels, bogie wheels, road wheels and drive wheels. These steps were straightforward.

Step 6 is the assembly of the front and back top of the chassis, as well as the rear wall of the chassis. This step was also straightforward, all parts fit together very well.

Steps 7 - 10 are the assembly of the gun. This was pretty straightforward too, except there are no locating holes for the gun barrel. My barrel kept sliding a little off center until my cement set properly.

Step 11 is the construction of the gun shield. This is straightforward also, but the parts are quite small and need to be glued inside of the shield.

Step 12 was a little fiddly, as it was the assembly of the gun to its carriage. The gun is meant to move up and down so you have to carefully glue the carriage sides to the bottom, but not the axis of the gun. You also glue the range finder and elevation handles to the left side of the carriage. The elevation wheels are attached to spindles on this side of the carriage; the range finder is attached to the front section of the left side.

The next two steps are the fitting of gun to the platform and the gun shield to the platform. These steps are pretty straightforward. Just make sure the gun is sitting level on its mount. There are lines drawn on the top of the platform indicating where the shield is to be mounted. These are covered if the shield is properly positioned.

Step 15 is the construction of supports to the bottom of the gun platform. There are eight in all, four to a side, and graduated in height. The instruction sheet shows pretty clearly where to attach these plates. Make sure that the notches in each plate face to the inside. The front and back supports have a lip at their bottom that fit under the cut-off fenders.

Steps 16 and 17 are the construction of the exterior of the tank, including the placement of the gun platform. You need to complete the assembly of the rear deck air intake and exhaust ports before adding the platform, as the platform covers many of these items. The instructions show placing the platform before cutting the fenders, however as indicated above I had already cut the fenders - just not all the way. If you don't make some cuts into the fenders, the platform will not be seated correctly on the chassis. Additionally, it appears as if the instructions show the front and rear platform supports as resting on the fenders. However, if you do this the platform will not be seated right and leave a large gap between it and the chassis. It was at this point that I completed my measurements and carefully fitted the front and back platform supports so that the raised edges would be just under the fenders. This allowed the platform to fit neatly onto the chassis.

Step 18 is the completion the detailing of the exterior. This includes adding tools and ammunition. I decided to leave this to the very end. As a result, I went right onto steps 19 and 20, which are the assembly of the drive wheels, bogie wheels, and road wheels. These steps are pretty easy, just be aware of the smallness of the parts. The road wheels are assembled between their "springs" and then attached to spindles on the chassis of the tank. This can cause some frustration if you try to do this step too quickly.

The final step, 21, is the assembly of the idler wheel and the rubber band tracks. Again, this is pretty easy to follow. You will need to measure how much tread is needed, because if you don’t you will have an excess hanging and the track will not look right. I also superglued the track to the bogies to give some appearance of sag.

I painted the tank overall with Model Master Acryl olive green. I used Model Master brass and gunmetal to detail the 76.2-mm shells that are provided. This is a nice touch that Mirage graciously provides to add more detail to the exterior of the gun platform. I weathered my model using an overall dry brushing of Model Masters steel and then finally used a wash of raw sienna.

Conclusion

I enjoyed putting this kit together, as it was challenging but fun. I continue to be impressed with the detail that Mirage provides for their 1/72-scale tank kits. For a very small-scale tank, there is lots of detail. There was very little flash and really no clean up on the kit is needed before assembly. As with some of the other Mirage kits I have done, the only fault is a lack of a color chart that provides a listing of the colors necessary. Code numbers are fine if you know what they mean. If you don't, then they are useless. I did some research on this tank, but many of the colors I used were by guessing what might have been used.

I would like to thank Internet Modeler/Ray Mehlberger and Squadron MMD for providing the review sample.