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Description
Pears and apples blossomed on their branches,
mist was creeping on the river.
Katyusha set out on the banks,
On the steep and lofty bank.

History
It was July 14th 1941, the 23rd day of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The German troops were advancing quickly. Soon they reached the city of Orsha, an important railway node in eastern Belaruss. One of the German commanders, Hauptmann Bernard Lentz, was sitting in an abandoned hut west from the city, studying maps. His troops were already engaged in combat with Soviet forces and managed to capture the rail station. As he went outside to smoke, he noticed something unusual. Far behind Orsha, he saw a series of eerie lights, flashing in regular pattern. After that, he felt a light tremor coming through the ground, just like during the artillery strike. He looked up, but he saw no clouds, so it couldn't be a storm coming. Unable to solve the mystery, he returned to the hut.

But just a few minutes later, he heard noises to the outside. Just as he rose to his feet, the doors slammed opened and his subordinate, oberleutnant Losche, brought in a man in a horryfing state. He was covered with a brick dust and his uniform was burned in several places, showing his skin. The man was in a state of utter shock, unable to speak a word. Lentz forced the other men to the outside, leaving only himself, Losche and the injured man in the hut. When he was given water, he was able to identify himself: leutnant Walter Dorn from 52nd Panzer Regiment which captured the Orsha rail station. As the soldiers sat down to regain strength, an unimaginable roar erupted from Western outskirts of the city, and within seconds the station was engulfed in flames. The soldiers were hit by a massive barrage of unknown forces, which they compared to meteorites or comets. Fuel tanks turned everything around into blazing inferno. One of the Panzers was blown off its tracks and overturned. The whole incident lasted for mere seconds, leaving nothing but a burning ground around the station. The force of the attack was enough to snap and bend rails. Most of the Germans on the stations was killed and those who survived escaped in panic, abandoning their position. Lentz was astonished by the results of a short attack. He gave the orders to the surviving soldiers - to find out who and how managed to spread such a destruction unnoticed.

As Hauptmann Lentz was speaking to his troops, the mysterious aggressor was already moving to another position. This time, its target were the German troops attempting to cross river in Orsha's vicinity...

The Germans couldn't find out the true nature of the attackers until several months later, when they finaly managed to put their hands on one of these weapons - or what was left of it, because its crew attempted to blow it up in order to remain a mystery.

Shortly before the German invasion, ltn. Valery Kolachkov, chief of Moscow shooting range, was waiting for the arrival of high Soviet commanders, including marshall S. Timoshenko - Soviet defence comissioner (minister) and marshall S. Budyonny, commander of Moscow Military District. They came to the range for testing of various weapons which could be introduced in Red Army. First they were shown small anti-tank rifle grenades and 82 mm mortars. When the repairing crews disappeared from the range, Kolachkov announced that now they'll present a new weapon developed by GAU (Main Artillery Bureau). As soon as he fired a red rocket into the air, a roaring sound exploded from behind the comitee's back and what looked like fireballs or comets fell on the bunkers, vehicles and mockups, turning the range into inferno. Timoshenko and Budyonny, both war-proven veterans, looked as if they've lost their minds, terrified by the noise and shockwaves. When everything finished, and Kolachkov announced that the second salvo will fire in few minutes, Timoshenko ordered the tests to be abandoned and ran out of the bunker to see the effects with his own eyes. The trenches were half-buried, and the bunkers were totally destroyed. When asked what kind of infernal weapon was that, Kolachkov replied "rocket launchers". Impressed comitee advised them to be developed and incorporated into Red Army's arsenal.

Rocket projectiles are not, surprisingly, weapon of modern times. The first examples appeared in ancient times, developed by Chinese inventors, who learned how to produce gunpowder and use it to propell empty bamboo sticks as a mean of "self-propelled arrows" which could be fired upon enemy. They were used in many European conflicts, but were pushed to the side by rapid developement of conventional artillery. After the October Revolution, they were being developed in USSR by enthusiasts who decided for cooperation with military for the sake of financing of their ideas. There are too many scientists to point one as "Katyusha's father", each of them having solved one or more problems facing the rocket artillery - unstable flight of the projectiles, instability of fuel's combustion, small range.

The BM-13 launcher was a simple design. It consisted of eight parallel rails. Each rail carried two rockets. They were attached to the rail and connected to the electric firing system. The crew would hide in the truck's cabin and fire the rockets remotely. After the launch, they'd usually change their position due to the flash and smoke generated by the weapon to escape the enemy counterstrike. Smaller launchers, like the BM-8 (for 82-mm projectiles), had shorter rails, but could carry 32 rockets (two sets of rails, one above another). The BM-31 (for 300 mm rockets) carried 12 projectiles in a tube-like containers.

No one knows who adopted the name "Katyusha" for the first time and why soldiers named such a terryfing weapon with diminutive girl's name. One thing for sure is that it comes from the Russian song "Katyusha", about a girl longing for her beloved one who left his home to fight for his country. Perhaps the reason is that Katyushas, on many occasions, saved the soldiers from inevitable enemy breakthrough, gaining their everlasting gratitude. The Germans gave no less poetic name to the launchers - due to the enormous roar of rocket engines, they were known as "Stalinorgel" - the Stalin's Organ.

Katyusha's firepower was immense. A single Katyusha battery (four BM-13s) could deliver over 4 tonnes of explosives over the area of four hectare. This devastating saturation bombardement was less accurate than conventional artillery, but it made up for the rocket's low accuracy with the amount of rockets alone. Katyusha launchers were organized in batteries ("squadrons", 4 launchers), brigades (72 launchers) and divisions (216 launchers).

Initially, the launchers were set on the Soviet ZiS-5 and ZiS-6 trucks. They were very resistful, reliable and simple in construction. However, the recoil of launching rockets and the jet of fire generated by the projectiles could easily damage the truck. Some were fitted with steel plates used to cover the cabin before firing. Later the Soviets utilised the American US6 Studebaker trucks. Ironically, the Katyusha launchers are typically associated with these trucks, rather than the ZiS. Aside from the trucks, the Soviets used tanks (usually T-60 or T-70 light tanks), Willys jeeps sent from America, naval and riverine ships and also adapted the projectiles to be used as unguided air-to-air missiles. During fierce urban fights in Stalingrad, Poznan, Berlin and others, the Soviets sometimes utilised pieces of rail to launch the rockets from buildings, as an improvised weapon.

As soon as Germans realised that the weapon they are facing is a rocket artillery, they accelerated their own program of such warfare. In late 1941, German troops were given the Nebelwerfer - a six-tube launcher capable of delivering heavy HE shells over the distance of 2 kms. It was just 1/4th of the Katyusha's range, but the Germans kept developing their weapons till the very end of war.

The legacy of Katyusha lived after the war. Most of the post-war Soviet and Russian MLRSs are simply called "katyusha", though the name "Grad" (after BM-21) is also very common. The multiple rocket launchers were used in almost every conflict of the second half of 20th century. During one of the most recent - the Lybian Uprising - insurgents created makeshift "katyushas", using any material possible, from BM-21 launcher cut down into 2x2 sections to the UB-type unguided rocket pods taken off the fighters and set on pick-up trucks.

The kit
Well, guess what Yes, another Zvezda's 1/100 glue-free kit.

Unlike the previous land vehicles, this one comes with two sprues instead of one. Why is that? First, the kit is slightly more complex than the tanks and armoured carriers. I was surprised to see fully detailed chassis, with suspension, axles and everything. The last time I've seen something like this was my 1/76 M16 anti-aircraft gun (M3 Halftrack-based). There's even a tiny engine which is hidden under the hood (which can be made open or closed, because it's elastic part which you have to bend to fit in place). Second, one of the sprues is also used for the ZiS-5 truck kit Zvezda also produces - instead of the launcher, it has a cargo bed.

The pieces are very delicate and one has to be careful when cutting them off the sprue. They remind me my PAK-36 and (now destroyed) M-20 howitzer, which too had very delicate parts around the wheels. I managed to break the whole chassis in half, but I glued it together. Some pegs are too big for the holes, and instead of trying to drill them bigger I opted for cutting the pegs and glueing the parts.

I painted the whole thing with Polish Khaki and added some black on the tyres and windows. However when I was taking the photos I noticed that I've unintenionally left a fingerprint on the right-hand side window - I fixed it later.

Model: Zvezda
Paints: Pactra, no exceptions
Scale: 1/100

Description
Pears and apples blossomed on their branches,
mist was creeping on the river.
Katyusha set out on the banks,
On the steep and lofty bank.

History
It was July 14th 1941, the 23rd day of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The German troops were advancing quickly. Soon they reached the city of Orsha, an important railway node in eastern Belaruss. One of the German commanders, Hauptmann Bernard Lentz, was sitting in an abandoned hut west from the city, studying maps. His troops were already engaged in combat with Soviet forces and managed to capture the rail station. As he went outside to smoke, he noticed something unusual. Far behind Orsha, he saw a series of eerie lights, flashing in regular pattern. After that, he felt a light tremor coming through the ground, just like during the artillery strike. He looked up, but he saw no clouds, so it couldn't be a storm coming. Unable to solve the mystery, he returned to the hut.

But just a few minutes later, he heard noises to the outside. Just as he rose to his feet, the doors slammed opened and his subordinate, oberleutnant Losche, brought in a man in a horryfing state. He was covered with a brick dust and his uniform was burned in several places, showing his skin. The man was in a state of utter shock, unable to speak a word. Lentz forced the other men to the outside, leaving only himself, Losche and the injured man in the hut. When he was given water, he was able to identify himself: leutnant Walter Dorn from 52nd Panzer Regiment which captured the Orsha rail station. As the soldiers sat down to regain strength, an unimaginable roar erupted from Western outskirts of the city, and within seconds the station was engulfed in flames. The soldiers were hit by a massive barrage of unknown forces, which they compared to meteorites or comets. Fuel tanks turned everything around into blazing inferno. One of the Panzers was blown off its tracks and overturned. The whole incident lasted for mere seconds, leaving nothing but a burning ground around the station. The force of the attack was enough to snap and bend rails. Most of the Germans on the stations was killed and those who survived escaped in panic, abandoning their position. Lentz was astonished by the results of a short attack. He gave the orders to the surviving soldiers - to find out who and how managed to spread such a destruction unnoticed.

As Hauptmann Lentz was speaking to his troops, the mysterious aggressor was already moving to another position. This time, its target were the German troops attempting to cross river in Orsha's vicinity...

The Germans couldn't find out the true nature of the attackers until several months later, when they finaly managed to put their hands on one of these weapons - or what was left of it, because its crew attempted to blow it up in order to remain a mystery.

Shortly before the German invasion, ltn. Valery Kolachkov, chief of Moscow shooting range, was waiting for the arrival of high Soviet commanders, including marshall S. Timoshenko - Soviet defence comissioner (minister) and marshall S. Budyonny, commander of Moscow Military District. They came to the range for testing of various weapons which could be introduced in Red Army. First they were shown small anti-tank rifle grenades and 82 mm mortars. When the repairing crews disappeared from the range, Kolachkov announced that now they'll present a new weapon developed by GAU (Main Artillery Bureau). As soon as he fired a red rocket into the air, a roaring sound exploded from behind the comitee's back and what looked like fireballs or comets fell on the bunkers, vehicles and mockups, turning the range into inferno. Timoshenko and Budyonny, both war-proven veterans, looked as if they've lost their minds, terrified by the noise and shockwaves. When everything finished, and Kolachkov announced that the second salvo will fire in few minutes, Timoshenko ordered the tests to be abandoned and ran out of the bunker to see the effects with his own eyes. The trenches were half-buried, and the bunkers were totally destroyed. When asked what kind of infernal weapon was that, Kolachkov replied "rocket launchers". Impressed comitee advised them to be developed and incorporated into Red Army's arsenal.

Rocket projectiles are not, surprisingly, weapon of modern times. The first examples appeared in ancient times, developed by Chinese inventors, who learned how to produce gunpowder and use it to propell empty bamboo sticks as a mean of "self-propelled arrows" which could be fired upon enemy. They were used in many European conflicts, but were pushed to the side by rapid developement of conventional artillery. After the October Revolution, they were being developed in USSR by enthusiasts who decided for cooperation with military for the sake of financing of their ideas. There are too many scientists to point one as "Katyusha's father", each of them having solved one or more problems facing the rocket artillery - unstable flight of the projectiles, instability of fuel's combustion, small range.

The BM-13 launcher was a simple design. It consisted of eight parallel rails. Each rail carried two rockets. They were attached to the rail and connected to the electric firing system. The crew would hide in the truck's cabin and fire the rockets remotely. After the launch, they'd usually change their position due to the flash and smoke generated by the weapon to escape the enemy counterstrike. Smaller launchers, like the BM-8 (for 82-mm projectiles), had shorter rails, but could carry 32 rockets (two sets of rails, one above another). The BM-31 (for 300 mm rockets) carried 12 projectiles in a tube-like containers.

No one knows who adopted the name "Katyusha" for the first time and why soldiers named such a terryfing weapon with diminutive girl's name. One thing for sure is that it comes from the Russian song "Katyusha", about a girl longing for her beloved one who left his home to fight for his country. Perhaps the reason is that Katyushas, on many occasions, saved the soldiers from inevitable enemy breakthrough, gaining their everlasting gratitude. The Germans gave no less poetic name to the launchers - due to the enormous roar of rocket engines, they were known as "Stalinorgel" - the Stalin's Organ.

Katyusha's firepower was immense. A single Katyusha battery (four BM-13s) could deliver over 4 tonnes of explosives over the area of four hectare. This devastating saturation bombardement was less accurate than conventional artillery, but it made up for the rocket's low accuracy with the amount of rockets alone. Katyusha launchers were organized in batteries ("squadrons", 4 launchers), brigades (72 launchers) and divisions (216 launchers).

Initially, the launchers were set on the Soviet ZiS-5 and ZiS-6 trucks. They were very resistful, reliable and simple in construction. However, the recoil of launching rockets and the jet of fire generated by the projectiles could easily damage the truck. Some were fitted with steel plates used to cover the cabin before firing. Later the Soviets utilised the American US6 Studebaker trucks. Ironically, the Katyusha launchers are typically associated with these trucks, rather than the ZiS. Aside from the trucks, the Soviets used tanks (usually T-60 or T-70 light tanks), Willys jeeps sent from America, naval and riverine ships and also adapted the projectiles to be used as unguided air-to-air missiles. During fierce urban fights in Stalingrad, Poznan, Berlin and others, the Soviets sometimes utilised pieces of rail to launch the rockets from buildings, as an improvised weapon.

As soon as Germans realised that the weapon they are facing is a rocket artillery, they accelerated their own program of such warfare. In late 1941, German troops were given the Nebelwerfer - a six-tube launcher capable of delivering heavy HE shells over the distance of 2 kms. It was just 1/4th of the Katyusha's range, but the Germans kept developing their weapons till the very end of war.

The legacy of Katyusha lived after the war. Most of the post-war Soviet and Russian MLRSs are simply called "katyusha", though the name "Grad" (after BM-21) is also very common. The multiple rocket launchers were used in almost every conflict of the second half of 20th century. During one of the most recent - the Lybian Uprising - insurgents created makeshift "katyushas", using any material possible, from BM-21 launcher cut down into 2x2 sections to the UB-type unguided rocket pods taken off the fighters and set on pick-up trucks.

The kit
Well, guess what Yes, another Zvezda's 1/100 glue-free kit.

Unlike the previous land vehicles, this one comes with two sprues instead of one. Why is that? First, the kit is slightly more complex than the tanks and armoured carriers. I was surprised to see fully detailed chassis, with suspension, axles and everything. The last time I've seen something like this was my 1/76 M16 anti-aircraft gun (M3 Halftrack-based). There's even a tiny engine which is hidden under the hood (which can be made open or closed, because it's elastic part which you have to bend to fit in place). Second, one of the sprues is also used for the ZiS-5 truck kit Zvezda also produces - instead of the launcher, it has a cargo bed.

The pieces are very delicate and one has to be careful when cutting them off the sprue. They remind me my PAK-36 and (now destroyed) M-20 howitzer, which too had very delicate parts around the wheels. I managed to break the whole chassis in half, but I glued it together. Some pegs are too big for the holes, and instead of trying to drill them bigger I opted for cutting the pegs and glueing the parts.

I painted the whole thing with Polish Khaki and added some black on the tyres and windows. However when I was taking the photos I noticed that I've unintenionally left a fingerprint on the right-hand side window - I fixed it later.

Model: Zvezda
Paints: Pactra, no exceptions
Scale: 1/100