Call It Done: 1/72 Hobby Boss DANA Self-Propelled Howitzer

The DANA self propelled 152mm howitzer is an improbable looking vehicle, evoking a drunken Prague hookup between a BTR-80 armored personnel carrier and a naval gun turret. I have wanted of a model of the DANA self propelled 152mm howitzer since I first saw a line drawing of this vehicle—like the MT-LB, it first came to me via a deck of vehicle identification cards while I was in the US Army. ‘DANA’, by the way, is not girl’s name, and is actually an acronym for something like ‘auto-loaded self-propelled artillery’ in the Czech language.

The DANA has been offered in resin in 1/35 and 1/72, and the inevitable 1/35 injection styrene version by the Hobby Boss/Trumpeter manufacturing complex has been around for a decade or so. In the past year or two, Hobby Boss has carved out a niche for itself as a go-to source of oddball multi-axle Russian and former Warsaw Pact missile and artillery vehicles in 1/72, with the DANA kit released earlier this year. I picked mine up almost as soon as it was available.

Hobby Boss’ 1/72 DANA is molded in yellow-ish tan styrene, with soft rubbery wheels and a small sprue of clear parts. Overall engineering and mold quality is quite good, with joints in logical places, manageable parting lines, and virtually no flash. The kit has a mercifully low parts count, with large, rigid suspension and drive train parts that are all but guaranteed to form flat and square. Brush guards for the front’s many headlights and turn indicators are molded separately while numerous grab irons and handles are crisply molded into the hull and turret, as are pioneer tools.

While the builder is provided optional parts to pose the vehicle in either firing (stabilizer feet extended) or road (stabilizer feet retracted ) configurations, other posing options are all but absent. All hatches and doors except the armored front windshield shutters are molded shut, limiting how crew might be posed with the vehicle. The suspension, while sturdy and fool proof, is not easily poseable for rough terrain, as the DANA is shown in box art.

The rear view mirrors should be left off until final finishing. The instructions indicate that the crew steps, part A19, should be attached for road configuration, but this is incorrect as these stairs are necessary for the crew to either and exit the vehicle during firing operations, not on road travel. I obtained reference photos only after I was most of the way through the build, and my guess at how to use the stairs in road configuration are completely wrong—as a result, my model has two sets of folded crew stairs.

Subassemblies for painting the DANA are not intuitive. It should be noted that the engine compartment is not quite, but close to being open. A grate that faces the turret provides an obscured view of the engine and its compartment, necessitating painting of the engine and its compartment before the engine compartment is closed. The turret and gun are also fairly complex; I build the gun and attached it to the turret base, keeping the turret halves separate until most of the camouflage had been been applied.

The wheels also demand some careful strategy. The soft tire moldings are fairly good, with virtually no flash, good tread, acceptable sidewalls, and decent receptiveness to weathering treatments. The tires are captured between inner and outer wheel halves, and care must taken to ensure each is square and evenly joined. Unfortunately, the axle ends are split barbs that have significant play, so making sure the wheels are square and on-plane with each other takes patience and persistence. I used to two 1-2-3 blocks and scraps of basswood strips to form a jig that mostly worked; I still found myself frantically adjusting the wheels and holding up straight edges to the model as slow-cure black CA glue set.

I chose a post-Warsaw Pact, non-NATO Czech camouflage scheme of olive green, green, and black; it seemed off my usual path of straight green or NATO camouflaged vehicles. Painting began with my customary Mr. Surfacer Black primer. I used my usual AK Real Colors paints, using paintRack and AK’s compatibility table to back appropriate matches out of Hobby Boss’ painting guide, which calls out Mr. Hobby, Tamiya, Vallejo, Acrysion, and Model Master colors. The camouflage lobes were masked with MIG masking putty, which is more or less Silly Putty.

The front lighting details were challenging to paint, what with the numerous brush guards on the front of the vehicle. The red and white aiming stake ought to have been a decal; nonetheless, it was oddly satisfying to mask it off and paint it with the airbrush.

The decals were fussy—either not moving off the sheet, or actually falling off the sheet before they could be slid on the model. I opted not to even try to use small service stencil decals and focused on the major markings, such as license plates. Based on past experience with Hobby Boss decals, I made sure the soaking water was warm, and only applied Mr. Mark Softer once the decals were in place. No preparatory application of Mr. Mark Setter was usesd

The tires were given a wash of Abteiling 502 Light Earth oil and turpenoid to fill the tread and sidewall details, followed by drybrushing of a very dark brown blend of slow-drying acrylic tube paint overall.

Weathering of the overall model began with a wash of Mig Dark Wash, followed by oil dot filters, which I deliberately kept small and uniform. A final bit of weathering was a generous dry brushing of Abteiling 502 Light Earth oil on the bottom third of so of the vehicle, to mimic the tank trail kick-up these vehicles seem to show in reference pictures.

Taking a queue from my local club members and also from my recent experiences with transporting models to shows and club meetings, I mounted the DANA on a base. I have a sizeable collection of resin molded and printed bases into which I would have dipped for display of the DANA, but none seemed an appropriate size for this long-ish vehicle. I made one with some scraps of .100” and .060” styrene and Vallejo acrylic scenery putty I had on hand, and used some stashed model railroad scenery foliage materials and scenery glue to add texture. Once dry, it was primed with cheap rattle can black enamel primer, with colors marbled back on with an airbrush. A dark brown wash and drybrushing with Abteiling 502 Light Earth oil completed the base scenery, and the edges were touched up with black. The DANA model is attached with dabs of clear silicone seal, which provides a sturdy and resilient bond.

Overall, the DANA was a rewarding build that required a few instances of extra skill—particularly getting the wheels right. Fit is very good overall, and given its size and complexity, builds quickly. I could have kept the finish very simple with one of the green schemes, and nearly did do the Warsaw Pact-era version with large Czechoslovakian roundels. I’m pleased to have this long-time dream model in my collection.