Tamiya 1/48 GAZ-67B by Scott Van Aken

The GAZ-67 and the subsequent GAZ-67B were general purpose four wheel drive Soviet military vehicles built by GAZ starting in 1943. These and the previous GAZ-64 were inspired by the Kubelwagen and the Jeep as the Soviets did not have anything similar when the war started. The only thing close was a 4 wheel drive staff car based on a standard sedan.

The GAZ-67 was a further development of the earlier GAZ-64 using lessons learned from experience with the -64 variant. A main improvement was a wider track of 1446 mm. It also had a strengthened chassis frame, enlarged fuel tank and other improvements.

It was powered by a slightly more powerful 54 hp (40 kW) version of GAZ M1 4-cylinder 3280 cc gasoline motor, and had a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph). Production started on 23 September 1943 (the first serial vehicle produced). From January 1944 it was replaced by the GAZ-67B, which had some mechanical improvements.

Instructions are the vertical road map style that Tamiya uses for these kits and all the options are painted in a dark green. Tamiya calls for XF-61, but any similar shade will be sufficient.

CONSTRUCTION

Since most of the kit was to be painted in XF-61 dark green, I headed for the paint rack. Not finding any, I used Testors Russian Armor Green and painted pretty much all the parts while still on the sprue. I brush painted the seats with XF-64 Red Brown as I did have that shade. I then attached the suspension components to the frame.

The next step for me was building up the body. I left off the seats so I could paint some of the small items once attached. Fit is quite good, though when putting on the back panel I had to remove the alignment dots as something was amiss elsewhere. I also had a touch of trouble getting the outer front fender pieces to mate well with the hood piece. In general, some of the attachment points are not really positive. There are also ejector marks on one side of all the body panels, some of which will be visible to the penlight crowd and some that will be very difficult to fill.

While working on the body, I finished painting and assembling the wheels, which were then glued onto the chassis.

COLORS & MARKINGS

At this time, I added a few pieces to the body, such as the headlights, instrument panel, steering column and a few grab handles. The steering column is not straight as it angles into the firewall. The various grab handles were a pain to clean up as they were so small, but did fit as they should. I then masked the windscreen and painted everything that was there with the aforementioned Russian armor green.

When it dried, I painted and attached the exhaust then installed the seats. The spare tire was next, followed by the headlight lenses. These were also a bit of a paint to install due to their small size. The two canvas top sections were glued to the mounting holes below the windscreen and the windscreen was glued in place. It appears that it should be able to fold down, but the two posts into which it fits were a bit too far apart for a tight fit. The framework for the top was the last item. In hindsight, I should have installed this before the spare as the tire got in the way. Then I glued on the steering wheel. Last thing to do was to choose a set of decals. I picked the option with the white stripe on the hood. These stripes are overly long, but better than too short. I used Mr. Mark Softer to get them to snuggle down. Final step was a speck of red paint for the tail light.

Overall, this one was fun to build. It took me a bit over a week, but then, I usually have other things to occupy my time. It makes an interesting comparison with a Jeep and is something that was used everywhere in the last year of the war so is perfect for a bit of a diorama.

KIT #:	32542
PRICE:	1000 yen SRP$7.00 from a vendor
DECALS:	Two options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES: