Trumpeter 1/35 SA-2 Guideline Missile on Transport trailer - Plastic Model Kit

The Vehicle: (The SA-2 and ZIL-157 Truck)
The SA-2 missile which became operational in 1959 is the most widely used air defence missile in the world. The Western NATO code name is SA-2 "Guideline" (SA meaning surface-to-air) but in the former USSR was called the V-75 Dvina.
The SA-2 has a maximum range of 31 miles, a maximum operating altitude of 82,000 ft, and speed of Mach 3 and usually carries a high explosive warhead of 430 lbs.

The SA-2 is a two stage missile measuring 10.6m long, the booster stage is 0.65m in diameter and the missile itself is 0.5m diameter with a large solid propellant jettisonable tandem booster stage fitted with four large clipped delta stabilising fins. The missile has four clipped delta-shaped wings with a second set of small fixed fins at the nose and a third set of slightly larger moving control fins at the tail.

The guidance system consists of automatic radio command signals transmitted to the missile from the ground "Fan Song" radar unit which detects and tracks the target.

The SA-2 and later variants were used by the former USSR and at least 29 other countries and has seen extensive use in combat with an estimated 13,000 being fired. This was of the missile types shipped to Cuba in 1961 that brought on the Cuban missile crisis.

The missile and its trailer were usually hauled by a ZIL-157 cross-country truck but it should be noted that the missile was not fired from the trailer, only transported to a fixed firing platform site.

The SA-2 gained most notoriety from its use in Vietnam and in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and of course the 1960 shooting down of the Powers U2.

The Kits:
The two kits from Trumpeter are of the SA-2 and ZIL-157 Truck (Kit #00204) as used by the former USSR and many of the export countries and is the version used in the Middle Eastern wars. The second is of the HQ-2 (Kit #00205) which is Chinese produced version of the SA-2 and ZIL-157 which has minor differences in the truck design and is the version commonly used in Vietnam.

As the two kits are basically the same apart from some minor differences to reflect the two versions I will review these together with comments on the different parts. Most of the different parts are included on sprue C for each kit.

The kits are basically three kits in one all joined together to form the final assembly, these are the ZIL-157 Truck, the missile trailer and the SA-2 missile itself.

The kits each contain 549 pieces in olive plastic (light grey for the missile parts) and a further 11 in clear plastic, a photo etched sheet with 20 parts, two lengths of copper wire, two sections of spring tube, a length of twine for the winch cable, 10 vinyl tyres, the decal sheet and a 24 page instruction sheet.