Tuesday 19 August 2014

ASU-57 air portable assault gun

As part of my quest to find suitable models for Little Cold Wars, I picked up this tiny terror on eBay.  For those of you unsure about what an ASU-57 looks like, here are a couple of photos of the real thing.
 
It was designed not long after the Great Patriotic War as a means of giving paratroops some armour support.  It thus forms part of a Soviet tradition of experimenting with airborne armour - they've been at it since the 1930s.  The tiny ASU was used as an assault gun and improvised APC by the pre-BMD Soviet paras.  It must have been rather cramped in the latter role - the length including the gun barrel is under 3.5 metres and  it is only 1.18 metres tall.

Here is the model - sent all the way from Bulgaria.  It is a real Soviet-era diecast which had at some point (and quite understandably) lost part of it's gun barrel.  Despite it's small size it scales out at around 1/43 - which is bang on for my LCW toys.
It even has little wheels so I can push it around the table.
And so to the missing gun barrel.  After a bit of measuring I discovered that a bamboo skewer was just the right 'calibre' and a sleeve of plastic tube was cut to join it to the existing barrel.
More photos when the glue is dry and it's had a lick of paint.

16 comments:

Chris Kemp said...

Cool! Otherwise famous as the inspiration for the Unfeasably Long Gun tank in my Munchkin collection. You must spend far too long on the internet to pick up something like that Tim :O)

Regards, Chris

Brian Carrick said...

Ooooooh! Nice old toy,haven't seen that one before, if you find another do put my name on it!

Best wishes,Brian

Robert (Bob) Cordery said...

Tim,

This was always one of my favourite a Soviet AFVs, and I mocked up one or two in my youth from Airfix Bren a Gun Carriers and the 6-pounder Antitank Gun.

I look forward to seeing it when it is finished.

All the best,

Bob

Tim Gow said...

Chris Kemp
Something that small is bound to take a long time to find....

Tim Gow said...

Brian Carrick
Will do!

Tim Gow said...

Bob Cordery
How well did your conversions fight?

Peter Douglas said...

Tim

What a delightly silly little vehicle! Enjoy!

Cheers
PD

Pete. said...

Nice find Tim. How many did you manage to find?

Cheers,

Pete.

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said...

Nice little piece. Have you figured out yet how you are going to safely air drop a diecast model?

Paul Foster said...

Good find Tim!

Rather rare I think.

Tim Gow said...

Peter Douglas
I'm hoping the enemy will be too busy laughing to shoot straight....

Tim Gow said...

Pete
Just the one. So far......

Tim Gow said...

Ross Mac
Very carefully!

Tim Gow said...

Paul Foster
Rare, yes. But how many do you need?

Archduke Piccolo said...

A far out little vehicle! There can't be very many of those things flopping around to be snapped up and resurrected by creative bodge artists. It gives I think a certain eclat to an army to include inventory no one else has! Excellent!

Tim Gow said...

Archduke Piccolo
'Creative Bodge Artist.' I rather like that title!