Academy

1/35 R.O.K. Army K9 Self-Propelled Howitzer

Kit Number: 13219

Reviewed by  Michael Novosad, IPMS# 36721

MSRP: $46.00 Review kit courtesy of MRC Academy - Website: www.modelrec.com History and Performance- The South Korean K9 self-propelled 155 mm howitzer prototype was first tested in 1996 . The K9 is called "Thunder". The Republic of Korea Army received the first production batch of K9's in 1999. Currently there are just fewer than 400 of these vehicles in the R.O.K. Army inventory with 1,000 more on order. The main armament consists of a 155 mm caliber ordnance with a maximum firing range of 40 km. The maximum rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute and the K9 is capable of multiple-round simultaneous-impact firing. It is able to fire three rounds in 15 seconds, each in different trajectories, so that all of the shells arrive on target at the same time. Sustained rate of fire is 2 rounds per minute. The K9 has all-welded steel hull and turret with a maximum thickness of 19 mm, providing crew protection from small arms and artillery shell fragments. The crew consists of commander, gunner, assistant gunner, loader and driver. The Kit The parts are molded in a tan plastic that has a bit of a "waxy" appearance, with somewhat "soft" detail, although still adequate. The interior sides of the road wheels are marred with crater-like ejector pin marks, but those can be expected to be concealed with assembly of the front and rear road wheel halves. Many of the turret and hull component parts are fitted into surface recesses.

Instructions - The fold out instructions consist of twelve pages. the last page is a parts breakdown with the unused parts noted in a legend. The painting and marking options are shown on page 11, with a single three-color vehicle being the kit topic. All internet resources showed these vehicles in this particular scheme. The construction sequence is depicted in several half page exploded views that are easy to follow. The views are quite clear and I found none that were confusing. All parts were accounted for in each step: no sudden or mysterious appearances. Sprues and packaging - There are five sprues packaged in three clear baggies, with the hull upper and lower halves combined in common packaging. This is a rather large vehicle. Time to make room on the display shelf! There are no clear parts or photo etch included but there are three figures whose heads, arms and legs are molded separate from the torsos. Running Gear and Tracks - The tracks are vinyl band type, and appear quite realistic with fine details for the wear pads. Decals/Markings - A small decal sheet is included. Miscellaneous - There is a short strand of nylon cord for fabricating the tow cable. Construction Lower Hull - The bottom surface of the hull has no detail whatsoever. There are three openings that will be filled with plastic plugs during the construction. The oval plug fit in from the bottom and required filler to smooth the joint. The two circular openings are filled with matching sized flanged plugs fitted from the inside. I deviated from the instructions and fixed the two circular plugs from the bottom side with the flange on the outside, thus avoiding the need to fill and sand. It really does not matter what is done as the bottom surface is completely out of sight.

Upper Hull - Step 6 shows the rear multi-part assembly of the vehicle fitted to the lower hull. I was concerned with the square fit and final assembly of everything, so I installed the upper hull to the lower hull, and fixed the rear assembly in place. Solvent was liberally applied with a Touch-N-Flow applicator along all the join lines. Several of the joins would not fit together and filler was required to eliminate the gaps. I did clamp several parts to improve the fit while the solvent cured. Turret and Armament - The howitzer gun tube is made from six parts, and is about 9" long once completed. I used a Flex-I-File to smooth the construction seams. The gun tube does flex quite a bit during the sanding process so care must be taken to avoid breaking the assembly. The travel lock was assembled and was a bit tricky to install on the hull mount. I did not glue the travel lock in place and it did pop off once, twice, three times during the finishing process. The gun mantle assembly fits into a cavernous recess in the front of the turret. Poly caps are used to allow the gun to be elevated and depressed. Several small plastic pimples on either side of the mantle are intended to act as ratchets and allow the gun to elevate and depress, while holding a selected position. The fit on my model was so tight that when I inserted the mantle into the turret recess the parts were compressed and the gun tube could not be moved up and down. I discovered this after the mantle was glued in placed. It is possible some solvent crept into the moveable parts, but I would be surprised if that had happened. A multi-part .50 caliber machine gun with ammunition box is provided for installation on the right-hand circular hatch. Several tools are mounted on the side of the turret, but no tool clamps are included. The four turret lift rings have rectangular bases that fit into matching depressions in the turret roof. The installations result in noticeable gaps on most sides of the mounting pad. Stretched sprue was glued onto the gaps, solvent applied liberally, and texture added with a hobby knife to represent welds. The grab handles on all hatches were replaced with bent brass rod or heavy gage copper wire. I glued a styrene block behind each handle location for a solid installation. The pilot holes were drilled through the kit part and styrene backer. All handles were fixed in place with Gorilla Super Glue. Step 15b shows a five part enclosure that is fitted around the base of the gun tube. Several references do not show this enclosure installed on real vehicles, so the builder has a choice in the matter. If this assembly is installed parts A30 must be left off and the gun tube placed inside this assembly before the gun is fitted to the turret: this enclosure will not fit over the muzzle brake. The face plate has mounts on the interior surface that will be fitted to the joined parts A24 and A25. I replaced the nylon tow cable cord with two twisted strands of .010' diameter lead cord to create the tow cable. The twisted cord was super glued to the tow loops. Running Gear and Tracks - Although I initially thought the ejector pin marks on the interior road wheels would be concealed after assembly I changed my mind with a test fit of the first pair. I felt that a wash would collect in the depressions and make them all the more obvious. I used a punch and die set to make several styrene discs to fill the voids. They were sanded smooth after the solvent fully cured. This action was taken with the inboard wheels only.

The drive sprockets consist of two parts, with a poly sleeve inserted between the two. The sleeve was a bit too long and a slight gap resulted between the two halves. This was filled and sanded smooth. I found the poly sleeve almost impossible to trim down without risking bodily injury to my fingers. The return roller supports (parts C35 and C36) must be installed correctly: each has a top and bottom side. Close review revealed a slight difference in the top and bottom of these parts. Installed correctly they will result in the return wheels axis being horizontal. There are two pairs of part C32 on each of the C sprues. Only one from each sprue will fit on the previously installed part C35. I was concerned about the strength of the return roller installations, but after setting up over night the fit was quite solid. There are two antenna mounts located on the rear corners of the turret, but antennas are not included. Parts C28 represent the antenna spring bases. Both base required drilling out for the installation of wire antenna. References often show the antennae in a tied down configuration. I elected to leave mine upright as most references were not entirely clear on how the antenna were tied down. The rear storage cages consist of several parts to form the cage, and the fit requires some cleanup after the joins cure hard. The forming members appear rather stout and the finished cages beg to be filled with tarps and miscellaneous gear. Finishing/Painting All references as well as the kit instructions show the vehicle finished in a three-color camouflage scheme. I eagerly anticipated the painting phase of this project as the camouflage scheme appeared to be challenging. Tamiya paints thinned with 91% isopropyl alcohol were used to finish the model. Weathering was done with oil paints. Everything was sealed with Floquil flat finish. The vinyl tracks were first washed with soapy warm water and allowed to dry thoroughly. Next, the tracks were airbrushed with Tamiya flat black and allowed to again dry for 48 hours. Pactra rust was dry-brushed onto all metal surfaces, followed by a light dry-brush of Silver Rub-N- Buff, a little heavier on the track teeth. Last, the rubber pads were painted with PolyScale Grimy Black. The tracks were strung though the return rollers and around the drive sprocket and rear idler. I wanted to have the joining connection on the bottom of the track run. Gorilla Super Glue was used to fix the overlapping joint, and the four nubs trimmed off. The painting and fixing of the tracks was much easier than I had anticipated. Decals Where the decals were to be placed I burnished the painted surface with and old tee shirt. The decals went on quite nicely, and had very little carrier film. Even though they were all placed on flat surfaces I used MicroSet to fix them in place. Conclusion I generally prefer to model World War II military vehicles, but was intrigued by this particular modern vehicle. I knew absolutely nothing about the ROK K9 when I offered to review the kit. When it arrived I Googled the R.O.K. Army K9 self-propelled howitzer and found a wealth of information that was quite useful in the project. How was it possible to build models before the Internet? I could not find any aftermarket parts for this kit, but expect they may be available in the future. This kit is not overly sophisticated with many small parts, complicated subassemblies and intense assembly phases, so it should be a nice break for a "quick" build, and will result in an interesting modern vehicle for addition to any collection. The surface detail appears somewhat "soft", but is quite adequate. The weld lines were quite fine and realistic in appearance. Where parts fit into depressions or mounting holes there is often some play in the fit, and therefore care must be taken to assure the part is correctly oriented with a uniform space all around before the solvent cures. This is especially important for the road wheel axles (parts C37, C38, C39 and C40. Small gaps may also occur between the molded depressions and parts. The many hatch have rather sharp edges that should be lightly sanded before installation to eliminate the unrealistic "razor edges" Overall, this kit was not a challenge to build. It was a nice change of pace. The finished model is quite impressive in size and appearance. With all the pose able hatches this model lends itself to adding interior detail either by scratch-building or with the addition of possible future aftermarket accessories. I would recommend this kit to anyone interested in modern armor, especially of the lesser known variety. I am quite pleased with the end results and truly enjoyed the time spent on the effort. I thank MRC Academy and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to build and review this kit.