The ASU-85 is an airborne self-propelled gun which replaced from 1959 the ASU-57 within the Soviet and Warsaw Pact airborne troops. Developed on the basis of the PT-76 chassis, it got a new 6 cylinder diesel engine.

It is armed with a 85 mm D-70 (2A14) gun capable of firing explosive antitank rounds (HEAT), armor piercing rounds (HVAP) or explosive rounds (HE). It has a practical range of 1150 m with a maximum range of 10 kms. The early version carried 45 rounds while the ASU-85M (M1974 for NATO) carried 39 rounds. The secondary armament is a coaxial 7.62 mm SMGT or PKT machine gun with 2000 rounds. The ASU-85M is armed with a 0.50 cal DShK-M machine gun with 600 rounds. The latter is fitted to the commander cupola. The gun can fire by night with the TPN1-79-11 sight and the infrared L-2 projector.

The main role of the ASU-85 was the support of infantry units and the antitank fighting. The ASU-85 was air transportable by the heavy helicopters MI-6 and MI-10. It also could be airdropped.

It had a crew of 4: 1 driver, 1 vehicle commander and 2 gun crew.

The ASU-85 has been in service with the Soviet, Polish and Vietnamese armies. It saw action during the invasions of Czechoslovakia in 1968 then Afghanistan in 1979.

The kit

Released in 2011 by Trumpeter, it represents a ASU-85M or M1974 with the 0.50 cal MG. The denomination mod.1970 appears to be wrong. In the box, there are 10 sprues of light grey plastic, 11 sprues of green plastic for the tracks, 2 hull halves, 1 sheet of photoetched parts, 1 square of clear foil, 1 length of twisted brass wire, 1 sheet of decals, 1 instruction booklet and 1 color sheet for the painting instructions.

The details are nice, the molding lines are thin except on the roadwheels tread and there is no flash. The instructions are clear even if Trumpeter omitted some parts at different steps. Several PE parts are difficult to bend due to the lack of a jig. However the build is easy thanks to a good parts fit.

The build

Unlike what Trumpeter states, I started by assembling the hull with the hull halves and the rear panel. Then I assembled the running gear and the parts under the hull belly.

At step 1, you build the fenders. To assemble parts B9 it is easier to first glue the vertical part. The PE mudflaps are not used as they are too stiff. Moreover the front ones are not the right shape. They are replaced by aluminum foil. The parts C24 which are optional are only used for a Polish vehicle which is not stated by Trumpeter.

At step 3 you have to assemble the exhaust which is made of several brass parts and a plastic frame. It is advised to do some dry fit tests and to thin the inside of the frame to facilitate the fitting of the brass parts.

The tracks are assembled at step 4. Trumpeter asks you to glue 95 links. In reality 93 or 94 are enough depending on the sagging effect you intend to depict. I didn't glue the sprockets, the idlers and the roadwheels to facilitate the installation of the tracks. The fit of the links around the sprockets teeth is a bit tight. For the first track I assembled one length for the lower part and another for the upper part but I found it easier to assemble a single run.

At step 6 you need to remove some details in order to install the commander cupola. You need to take care not to delete the bolt heads.

At step 7 Trumpeter omitted the part B8 on the right side. It is a vision port. The unditching log is in 2 parts. Once assembled, you have to scratch it to give it a coarser look. The log retaining chains B21 are awful but I didn't have anything satisfying to replace them.
On the roof there is a kind of episcope D26 with a glass on each side. The dimensions of the glasses given by Trumpeter to cut the clear foil are too large. You just have to sand the parts to get a perfect fit. Take care to paint the inside of the part D26.

At step 8 you have to bend the horn bracket PE-A17 without a jig. Dry tests are necessary. Likewise many dry tests are necessary for the protection of the horn PE-A15.
Trumpeter again omitted to give the number of part D23. Fortunately it is drawn on the instructions. I shortened the positioning rod of part A1 and I also thinned the projector bracket B26.

The assembly of the DShK-M MG requires some patience. On the cupola the molded handle on the hatch is replaced by a bit of brass wire.

At step 10 I advise to glue part D32 on the gun mantlet before adding the PE parts PE-A9. If you follow the instructions the latter will be upside down. The grill PE-A6 is tricky to bend. Trumpeter could have provided a jig.
I didn't glue the tanks supports A15 to facilitate the installation of the straps at the next step.

At step 11 the PE parts again generate some difficulties. The searchlight bracket on top of the mantlet has several bending lines but is still hard to shape. The straps for the tanks on the engine grille are very stiff. I preferred to replace them by tin foil. So I assembled the tanks on the brackets and when the both sub-assemblies were glued I installed them on the engine grille.

To finish you put the towing cables in place. Trumpeter tells to cut 22 cm of twisted wire which is too long. To reduce the length at 21.5 cm is enough.

The decoration

The choice of color is limited. It has to be Russian green. So I used Tamiya XF-67 NATO Green as the base color. Then I made some highlights with the base color mixed with some XF-15 Flesh. Once the base paint is varnished, I applied some old Dragon numerals. These were fixed with some varnish before the weathering step.

The weathering starts with a dark brown wash in the recesses. Then some streaking is done with the oil dots technique. When the oils are dry the running gear got some dirt with various pigments fixed with some matt varnish. The dusty look is done by spraying pigments diluted with Tamiya acrylic thinner. In some areas the effect is accentuated by applying some pigments with a brush.

09/2019