Ural-4320 Soviet Military Truck
Omega-K
Catalogue No.: | 3501 |
Scale: | 1/35 |
Media: | Styrene and Vinyl |
Review Type: | In-Box |
Rating: | Recommended |
S u m m a r y |
|
Contents: | 293 parts; 274 in light olive styrene, 12 in clear styrene and seven hard black vinyl |
Price: | L17.99 (around $30.60) |
Advantages: | First kit of this truck in this scale in styrene; first in a projected series of modern Soviet softskins; ambitious kit is a nice first effort |
Disadvantages: | Sinkmark and ejection pin marks present, but not in unacceptable locations; seams in the tires; many "working" features may compromise scale effects |
Recommendation: | To all modern Soviet and Warsaw Pact fans |
F i r s t L o o k |
For many years, there was only the Tamiya T-62 kit on the market to cover the wealth of
post-WWII Soviet military equipment. Beginning with DML's first efforts in 1990, and
followed up by the explosion of new kits from eastern Europe since the collapse of the
USSR, most of the armored vehicles are now well covered by armor kit manufacturers.
However, softskins have been sadly lacking. Now comes another new manufacturer, Omega-K
from the Ukraine, with a projected series to cover this gap in our modeling selection. The
first of their kits to hit the west is the Ural-4320.
Most modelers may have little recognition of this vehicle, but it, and its immediate
predecessor, the gasoline powered Ural-375, are probably the most common trucks in service
with the Russian Army and the former republics and Pact members. Nominally rated at five
metric tons' capacity in off-road situations, they form the backbone of the logistic core
of those armies. While the first kit is the cargo or troop carrier version., the Ural has
been used for many other types of vehicles, particularly the legendary BM-21
"Grad" 40-round 122mm rocket launcher. Omega-K has also forecast the release of
this vehicle and a fuel tanker version among other selections on this chassis.
The kit is incredibly detailed, and includes a complete chassis with diesel engine and cab
interior. Troop seats with a choice of positions are included, but no top bows nor tarp
(the latter is not missed, as it is the most commonly overly thick part included with
softskin models). A host of working features are included, such as opening hood, rolling
wheels, steerable front wheels, opening doors, and working rear suspension. Most of them
appear to be close to scale thickness, but require old-fashioned building techniques such
as the "hot screwdriver" method to complete. While the model is shown in
built-up form on the boxtop, there is a bit of "swayback" in the cab which I
hope is haste in assembly and not error. Check the cab before making final fit and
assembly cementing.
The model includes seven very well detailed tires, but these are marred by a large seam
right down the middle. While the tires are at least not victims of mold shift, the seams
will be hard to remove. The clear parts are very well done and fairly distortion free,
which is a sign of improvements in eastern European injection molding. Some parts are very
simplified, such as the cab seats, and modelers may want to add some texture to those
parts to get a more realistic appearance. (I also suspect that from the looks of the
engine they really modeled a late-model Ural-375 with the gasoline engine, as this appears
to have a carburetor and not fuel injection.) The spare tire mount is quite impressive and
consists of some ten parts with the oil tank included. Also, note that step 5, if you want
the suspension to work, you have to avoid getting cement on parts A15 when you install
parts B16 and caps B8. Oddly enough, the tailgate and troop seats are fixed.
Decals are not covered in the directions (!) but include markings for Soviet GSFG (no.2),
Soviet Guards (no. 1), Soviet forces (no. 3), the DDR (no.4), Poland (no.5),
Czechoslovakia (no.6), Rumania (no.7), the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (no.8),
Ukraine (no.9), Russia (no.10), the Russian Military Vehicle Inspectorate (VAI) (no.11),
Soviet Komandatura convoy controllers (no. 12) as well as the Transcausasus Military
District (no. 13). However, only one set of Soviet military markings/license plate is
included (56-08 NT) (no.15). The insignia all go centered on the driver's and mate's
doors, with the "plates" on the left front bumper and tailgate.
Overall, this is a nice kit, and I suspect we will see it in a number of dioramas as a
"supporting player".
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