Warsaw Pact self-propelled artillery

Like all armies, those of the Warsaw Pact included self-propelled artillery, the most common being the 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm:

Gvozdika is Russian for "carnation". The next most common was the 152mm 2S3 Akatsiya, which is Russian for "acacia" (naming artillery after plants seems a bit odd to me):

All WarPac armies were chronically short of self-propelled artillery, and indeed most types of tracked vehicles, throughout the Cold War, but the shortage became critical in the early 1980's, so for my East Germans (and all other WarPac forces I do), I'll be relying more heavily on towed artillery, as was the case in reality. However, I do want a couple of self-propelled batteries, because I like the look of them, if for no other reason. Therefore, here's my East German 2S1 battery, with command and FAO:

The battery commander would've ridden a 1V14:

The FAO could've been mounted in either a 1V13 (externally almost identical to a 1V14) or a 1V18:

The Soviets would very likely have used the 1V13, but given the severe shortage of tracked vehicles in 1981, it's probable that the East Germans would've used a 1V18 instead. 

As you can perhaps see, I went a bit heavier on the "muck" I added to the tracks and the bottom half of the vehicle than I have in the past. In my defense, I'll just say that if you never been in or around tracked vehicles that have been in the field for even a relatively short period, you really cannot overdo the filth you add to your miniatures. This Czech 2S1 would be typical during a rainy period in Northern Europe:

And this one is typical of a drier period:

In both the above photos, you can see that the particulate spray from the moving tracks absolutely peppers the lower part of the vehicle, most heavily aft.

I do still need to do three stands of ammunition supply vehicles, but O8 doesn't make the AT-T tractors I need:

and, as usual, I'm out of the alternative, in this case URAL 375D's, so I'll have to order more. Ok, that's this weekend shot. More next time.