The 2S23 is a self-propelled 120 mm mortar system built on a BTR-80 chassis. It is derived from the tracked 2S9 Nona-S used by the airborne units. Its development started in the late 1980s and the first deliveries occurred in 1990. The number of vehicles produced is estimated to be 50.

It is armed with a 120mm 2A60 mortar-gun similar to the one of the 2S9. It has a firing range of 8850 m which can be extended to 12800 m with rocket-assisted projectiles. It can make direct fires. The vehicle carries 30 rounds. The effect of the HE round is similar to a 152 mm artillery shell. The 2S23 is compatible with the precision-guided munitions Kilotov-2.

In addition to the mortar, the vehicle is armed with a remote-operated PKT MG and is equipped with 6 smoke grenades launchers. It is protected against small arms fire and splinters. It is fitted with a NBC protection system and a fire suppression system.

The vehicle has a range of 500 km, a speed up to 80 kph and is fully amphibious.

It recently saw action in the war in Ukraine where several vehicles were captured by the Ukrainian army.

The kit

Released in 2018 by Trumpeter, it comes with 20 light grey plastic sprues (6 coming from the BTR-70 kit and 12 from the BTR-80), 1 BTR-80 lower hull, 1 new tooled upper hull, 1 turret, 2 clear parts sprues (of which the BTR-80 one), 8 vinyl tires, 8 polycaps, 1 length of braided brass, 1 photoetched part plate and 1 decals sheet. The instructions come as the usual booklet which has 16 pages and an additional color sheet for the 2 decoration options.

The level of detail is good and the cast is high quality. Weirdly enough the brand new parts are of less quality. Some parts feature large sprue attachments and sometimes in excessive number (6 for the turret commander hatch). The positioning devices for the new parts are often ill-sized and it is better to test-fit before gluing. Like most of the time Trumpeter does not systematically provide jig to shape the large PE parts. Fortunately there is one for the rear bumpers. But there is none for the headlights protections.

The instructions have some numbering mistakes and even parts omissions.

The kit is not fully accurate. Trumpeter chose to re-use the BTR-80 hull whereas it is not exactly the same for the 2S23. It will be mentioned later on. Likewise several details and accessories which are present on the BTR-80 but not on the 2S23 are shown by Trumpeter in the instructions.

The build

Before starting the build you need to fix the front of the hull by filling the winch hatch which does not exist on the 2S23. To do so you first need to erase the molded on details. A square of styrene larger than the opening is glued inside the hull. A second square of styrene is glued in the opening and the gaps are filled with putty which is sanded when dry.

The hull

The build begins with the suspension. As soon as step 2 I decided not to stick to the instructions which have you assemble at steps 2, 3 and 4 parts of each 8 sub-assemblies. I preferred to fully assemble each of the sub-assemblies.

At step 4 do not glue the winch hatch.

Steps 5 to 10 deal with the interior and mainly the front stations. Few will remain visible when the hull is assembled even if you let the roof hatches and the windows shutters open. The colors given by Trumpeter are wrong. The floor is greyish blue and not light green. To paint the various details you need to source some BTR-80 interior pictures.

At step 6 part numbered H63 on the drawing is in fact G63.

At step 7 the dashboard is painted grey and not olive drab. When it is dry the decal with the dials is applied and its background is painted light grey. Boxes A10 and B4 are painted light green.

At step 9 you need to drill the holes to glue the trim vane. Do not take into account the warning notice about part L7 at page 14! It is in fact the trim vane H10.

At step 10 all the episcopes need to be trimmed to be inserted in their location. The exterior details are not glued yet. Beforehand the upper hull is glued to the lower one.

At step 11 you need to thoroughly sand the edges of the hatches F27 so they fit properly. The molded-on headlights cables are erased and replaced by 0.3 mm styrene rods. The rearview mirror is assembled and set apart for the moment.

At step 12 the edges of the exhaust F14 are thinned. Shaping PE parts PE-A3 is tricky as there is no jig and the brass is thick. The second rearview mirror is assembled and set apart again. The hatchet is modified to keep only the latches. The positioning hole is filled.

At step 13 it is unnecessary to assemble the pulley.

At step 14 do not assemble the searchlight F31. The shovel is modified too to only keep the latches.

At step 15 the rear part is H16 and not G16 as stated on the drawing. The clear rear lights M9 are not glued yet. Above the right light there is a grab handle on the drawing. It is not numbered and it is G36. The rear bumpers are shaped with the jig provided. Beforehand they are annealed.

Step 16 does not need any commentaries.

At step 17 you have to shorten the polycaps by 2 mm. The cover C8 as an option is useless. It is never seen on any reference pictures.

Step 18 requires you install the wheels. This will be done only after the lower hull is painted and weathered.

The turret

A lot of parts need a thorough cleaning.

At step 19 you have to thin the hinge of part K47. The fit of the shutter arm of the panoramic sight K8 is tricky. On the small hatch K1 there are 6 attachments to the sprue. Fortunately the alignment of the four parts of the gun tube is perfect. The brass fins are replaced by styrene ones easier to handle.

At step 20 the MG support is assembled however the MG is not installed like on the reference picture I used. The edges of the spent cases collector are thinned.

The build ends with the installation of the tow cables. You first need to insert the cables into the eyes. The long cable measures 158 mm instead of 165 mm as stated by Trumpeter. To install the PE securing hooks Trumpeter does not give any marks on the hull. You have to guess their location from the drawings of the instructions.

The decoration

Trumpeter proposes a plain green camo and a sand, green and black 3-tone one. I had decided to represent a Russian vehicle captured by the Ukrainian army as seen on a picture I found on the internet.

So I painted the vehicle XF-65 Field Grey. To give some shade variations, I used the mottled effect technique by spraying the base color enlightened with some XF-57 Buff. Then I created the markings. To do so I make templates for the Russian Zs. As I only had one side on the reference picture I had to imagine the location of the other markings. Then to make the Ukrainian crosses I just painted them with a brush like for the actual vehicle.

For the weathering, I applied many darker patches by tapping some diluted paint. The mud effect on the lower hull is done with pigments fixed with mat varnish. To finish, the whole model was sprayed with several layers of well diluted earth tones.

Conclusion

Trumpeter proposes an interesting version of the BTR-80 the building of which is pleasant. However it is a shame the newer parts are not the best in terms of quality of cast. One can also regret that Trumpeter did not make more effort accuracy-wise.

Last updated: 10/2023