Hello everyone,
Thanks for the great ideas!
Jelger, unfortunately the interior is practically not visible, but I'll try making a bird's nest and stuffing it in some handy nook if I'm happy with the result. I tried melting the tires for the deflated look, but I wasn't happy with the two I melted, so I decided not to risk the other ones. Number plates are sadly just decals, and will have to do as they are.
I'm using these two galleries as a reference:
http://saoirse-2010.livejournal.com/23478.html http://saoirse-2010.livejournal.com/23553.html Contrary to common sense, it seems that spare wheels are present on most vehicles, guess either the soviets had an overabundance, or a puncture was too much of a rarity to bother. Oddly, most of those vehicles' tires also still look under the proper pressure.
Mike, I am planning on a small dio, the truck will be posed next to a chainlink fence with barbed wire on top, I'll be adding a couple of figures to make it a bit more interesting. The wheels will be dug in the groundwork, I may add ruts, still not decided on it.
Jonathan, I thought of having properly smashed glass, but my skills are rather limited at this point, so I went for the rock-through-the-windscreen look. I thought of shaving off some small pieces of clear sprue and putting them inside the cab, but again the small scale and lack of visibility made it pointless.
David, I would have taken a tire or two off, but they're molded in a single piece with the rim, and at the time of building it I didn't have the tools to grind the wheel down. I've since got a handy rotary tool as a Christmas gift, but I already broke the stupid flimsy axles on which the wheels fit enough times to try and make any changes.
Alex, I was thinking of chucking the extra spare tire from the kit in the back, maybe making a few boxes to go with it, but I love the idea of the truck being used to store old parts. I'll go through the boxes to look for spares that would go well here, I should be able to find something fitting. Both headlights don't have the glass in them, unfortunately the guards' bars are too thick for a clear view, but I couldn't think of any way to make them thinner and still hold their shape, and I'm still not sure it was the right decision. What I'm assuming is the infrared light in front of one of the mirrors is also broken, but looking at the reference pictures, I should paint the inside in a different color, as the reflector should be missing.
Thanks again everyone for the great ideas, now I can get busy on weathering and adding the other finishing details