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MAQUETTE'S 1/35th SCALE SOVIET D-1 152mm FIELD HOWIZER

By Ray Mehlberger

HISTORY

The D-1 152mm howitzer was created in 1943. A new gun barrel was mounted on the carriage used for the M-30 122mm howitzer. This new gun had multiple roles: anti-personnel, and anti-fortification.

The D-1 had two-part ammunition: the war-head and the powder charge. It could fire the type 530 high explosive, the type 0-530A fragmentation, the F-533 and F-534 fougasse (anybody know what these were?), and the type G-530 concrete coated shell.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Firing Order Weight:	3600 KG
Transport Weight:	3540 KG
Shell Weight:	40 KG
Powder Load Weight:	3480 KG
Max. Initial Speed of Shell:	508 meters per second
Max. Range (of 0-530 shell):	12,400 meters
Caliber:	152.4 mm
Overall Barrel Length:	4207 mm
Recoil Length:	960 to 1070 mm
Firing Height:	1240 mm
Elevation Limits:	-3 + 63 degrees 30'
Firing Sector:	35 degrees
Rate of Fire:	3 to 4 rounds per minute

WHAT'S IN THE BOX ?:

There are dark dark green trees of parts in the kit. Both of these trees have the Zvezda brand name on them. So, it is obvious that this kit is a cooperative effort between Maquette and Zvezda. There is also a small cello bag full of resin and white metal parts. So, the kit is also a multi-media one too.

Tree letter 'A' of the plastic parts holds the gun trail arms (there are some nasty sinks in these), shovels, and other assorted parts (57 parts here)

Tree letter 'B' of the plastic parts holds the wheels, gun shield, gun barrel (this barrel is excess, as there is a resin one given for this kit), barrel cradle, breech (again, a resin one is given for the kit), wood ammo cases, and ammo etc. (57 parts here also)

The sinks in the sides of the trail arms look like they will be a real booger to fix. There is rivet detail etc. on either side of this groove that runs almost the whole length of these parts.

A small bag of resin and white metal parts is included. These consist of the gun barrel (two halves), breech, muzzle brake etc. nine resin and four white metal parts. The metal parts are for the breech block assembly. However these white metal parts are not mentioned on the instruction sheet as being metal ­ but called out as being resin. Strange!

There are no figures in the kit or any decals. I doubt the weapon ever had any markings on it.

The instructions is a single 8" x 11" sheet, printed on both sides.

A short history is given in Russian and English. Six steps ­ sometimes rather confusing, are given for assembly. No mention is made of the wood ammo boxes or how to assemble them. Colors are called out in a short sentence that says 'Over-all khaki green. Sometimes over-painted with white wash in the winter. Camouflage rarely, if ever, used.'

Conclusion

This kit looks fairly good, except for the sinks (mentioned earlier). A gun crew and clearer instructions would have been nice.

Because of its obvious complexity and small parts and the dissimilar materials used to mold the kit, I recommend this kit only to modelers that have a few artillery models under their belts .

I got this kit in trade from my friend Kevin in Australia and want to thank him for providing me with it. It is a limited run kit and could be a little hard to locate a source for it. Not many of this kit are due to be pressed.