This is a detour from the current “It’s a GAZ (GAZ, GAZ)” thread over on the Diorama forum & it seems I’ve inadvertently picked one of the more complicated 1/35 vehicle kits of recent times – around 600 parts on 23 sprues assembled via 88 steps – and it doesn’t look like anyone else has done a build log on it (?). Still, Cookie Sewell’s mid-2015 review (or rather box-preview) on Missing Links gave it a big rap and my first impression concurs…

Steps 1 - 13 build the engine and basic chassis elements, no dramas except assembly of the double-axle at 13 is a headache. Tip = glue the 2 pairs of springs together first, and triple-check that they stay properly aligned while drying because they’ll defy gravity to get out of shape. Then spend an hour in meditation before attempting attachment of the whole sub-assembly to the chassis…



Steps 14 - 19 are also challenging - no less than seven parts to each of the 12 t*res (incl 2 spares), each slice representing a peak or trough of the tread, with the hub laid between slices 4 and 7. Detail is one thing, but given the impressive quality of the finer parts in this kit surely MiniArt could have just provided 12 complete t*res. The two “Ce 1” hubs are particularly badly formed & need a lot of scraping/sanding to fit properly. On top of that about a third of the slices and the other 2 types of hubs also need work (warps, sanding, trimming) to varying degrees - note essential use of strong clamps to hold the slices flat when glued. Perhaps some might want factory-fresh treads but I always sand & muddy them anyway, so all that detail’s wasted on the likes of me…



It makes me wonder how many modelers were consulted when they planned this kit - for example, hands up who’d want the multi-slice treaded t*res, and who’d prefer whole t*res that are flattened so that they look like they’re actually bearing the weight of the vehicle? I suspect the latter would win by a landslide.

Next time: I find out why some parts are labeled “F b”

Looking good so far and I'll be following. I built the base Gaz-AAA from Mini-art and added a Resin aftermarket kit to make this same set up. I do like the sliced Mini-art wheels, I've made at least three of there Gaz based trucks and not had any real issues with those tires.

G'day Tim!

Gotta' love those segmented t*res! I also built the GAZ-AAA Cargo Truck (similar chassis, etc.) — one of the many great offerings from MiniArt! Once the baloney skins are cleaned off the sprues, organized, assembled, and finally painted, I thought the treads looked pretty good. However, I did find the tires a bit tedious, and agree that a weighted look would be nice. If I ever build one of these trucks again, I would definitely lean towards aftermarket.

I'm gonna' go make a bologna sandwich now. Lol!

Cheers!🍺
—mike

Greg – good to hear your t*res went on OK, I should have added there are a number of other warping issues in my kit others may not have had, probably too long in BNA’s Melbourne warehouse thru the last summer. But those “Ce” hubs were definitely poorly mo*lded – rather than having smooth inside rims they’re like…hexagonal.

Mike – agreed the treads look great & for sure they’ll make excellent spares of which there are two. I just wish there was more wheel saggage in t*red kits - ha! geddit?! Now if you guys used the “y” we could easily differentiate between rubber and fatigue! I did think about home-sagging (do that a lot especially after a sneaky Chianti) i.e. putting the t*res on a warming plate, but I can see what’ll happen – those slices will start separating & it’ll look like the truck’s driven over a giant dicing grille.

Step 20 has some particularly delicate parts – the pairs Fb4 & Fb5 – which appear to be brake actuator rods although I’m no mechanic. I had difficulty understanding the diagram, but looking ahead Step 27 clarifies it enough. It’s symptomatic of the kit thus far that if you don’t get the early-stage sub-assemblies and parts EXACTLY in the right place and PERFECTLY aligned, successive steps built on tiny errors become increasingly out of whack, like a house of cards. So you’d think it crucial, therefore, that there would be positive attachment points and clearly marked target points on parts to prevent this…but alas the opposite is the case. I would strongly recommend saving FB’s 4 & 5 until Step 27 when you can use their third micro-attachment points – the wheel drums Cc2 – to get them into the correct position and orientation.

I get the feeling the kit-designers weren’t experienced model-maker - the above tip is obvious if a test-build had been done. Neither did they appear to do proper stress-tests of the sprues, a basic CAD feature. Otherwise two of these four parts and a couple of others (so far, there’s 60 more Steps to go) wouldn’t have been pre-broken, because they’d have shown up as bright red on the CAD screen and been given far sturdier sprue-supports. MiniArt’s plastic is very good i.e. not brittle, but it seems too much store was set in its flexibility. Yet there are strange inconsistencies, later on you’ll find the windscreen frame – a relatively thick item – has no less than eight sprue attachments. I don’t throw kit boxes around (although the Oz Post Office might have done during shipping) but in any case a good designer should allow for box-abuse, so packing them all into a single bag in the box wasn’t very smart.

Back to the build - alternatively, unless you’re a purist, just leave Fb’s 4 &5 out altogether and save your sanity…they have apt initials. And they’re virtually invisible & incredibly fragile, the three I did manage to install are not my finest hour & mud will come to the rescue.

Steps 21 – 25 require advanced watch-making skills to install linkages, front axles & tracking rods, but Step 26 is the real doozie. I’m not sure what parts Bb9 & Bb10 are for, some kind of link rods from the steering geometry to (presumably) vary the rear-axle drives. They’re about 0.75mm diameter with no locating pins, they just rest on points at either end…opposed by 180 degrees in the vertical plane i.e. one end up, the other down. “CYEMENT THAT!” the designer seems to be saying…



Normally I’d side-step with wire replacements and make positive attachment points but no, this is an oob build so… nurse bring me the bucket of cyano…





What are the odds of those remaining intact by Step 88? And what is it with Ukranian (and Russian) manufacturers? They seem to have a phobia about locating-pins & holes/slots - Zvedza’s GAZ AA and Masterbox’s Type 170 Merc were the same. I guess it’s a measure of how good a kit is when you decide you’re not going to let it beat you. I really want to like this kit and forgive the over-engineering and unnecessary fragility. We’ll see…

Step 27 is straightforward except you’ll need to babysit the four rear wheel drums on their axles while the glue sets (vague & wobbly connecting points on the axles) because you’ll regret any vertical or horizontal misalignment later when the wheels go on. Here’s an example attachment point for the wheel to the drum…



…and the drum to the axle…



Call me a wimp but even using cyano, the contact points are so small and unreinforced that the chances of the wheels hanging on thru the next 40-odd steps with all the handling involved are slim. Therefore I’d recommend the front drums/t*res and all rear wheels should be held back until Step 88, in fact after all painting/decaling too. As you can see the wheels were never designed to rotate, an even stronger argument for providing sagging t*res rather than slices





And yep anyone who’s built this might spot where I screwed up…well it’s not getting fixed as I consider it immaterial. For anyone who’ll use this thread as a build-guide, look three times at the position of the Fb parts in Step 3. Also, a warning that there’s a special treat in store – literally a sting in the tail - to complete the chassis; the tail/convoy light…



Syimples, eh?



Tip 1 – book an Anger Management session (and attend it) first. Tip 2 – bend the last 1mm of the two PE strips so they make a more reliable join to the chassis, and then adjust the length of the (plastic A61) cable accordingly…once you’ve glued that part back together on the sprue, it will probably be pre-snapped like mine.

At last the chassis’s finished, time to paint…but paint-code numbers petered out of the instructions at step 3 on completion of the engine, and I’m on step 27. Surely the six colour plates of options will help…nope not really, it might be either the general “Military green” or any murky brownish greenish darkish shade you like. I used Humbrol Met. 53 (gun-metal) enamel as a base with black/brown acrylic washes.

Hopefully the cab will be more fun, I need to step on the GAZ (the thought had occurred) but to be fair the interim report isn’t bad apart from the issues mentioned:

Manufacturer – a personal favourite.
Price – good value considering the quality.
Subject – Rare, specialized clientele, great choice.
Detail & accuracy – brilliant.
Flash, seams, knock-out pin holes – minimal.

Next time: Body issues

Tim, I feel your pain on this. The only solice is the model, once entirely built, is actually sturdier than you might imagine. It is just getting there that is so much fun. Keep up the good work.

I think your over the hump now, that under carriage is a challenge.

Exactly what the guys above said. ... And you'll be amazed when all ten tyres actually touch down!

—mike

Thanks for the pep guys, you’re right of course, part of me is enjoying the challenge...the other part’s just vaguely homicidal. Mike I’m humbled by your faith in my ability to keep it all aligned, I’m studiously avoiding dry-fitting the wheels – well it’s actually impossible to do that – because my private nightmare is that it’s going to look like it’s rearing up on its hind-quarters, like a cartoon jalopy accelerating. My dio-base plans have already been amended to cope with that contingency

Steps 29 -33 attach the front wings, radiator and cab floor to the chassis & the wings are a welcome addition because once dry, handling via the delicate sub-frame can - at last - be mostly avoided.

Steps 34 – 40 tackle the windscreen and cab front, and yeech they want you to glue the glass to the front of the frame, then glue the ultra-delicate assembled wiper mechanism on top…



…so how to paint? If the glass had been designed to set into the BACK of the frame it would have been so easy, dry-fitting the glass while the wiper’s glued in place and flattened against the glass, then removing the glass to paint everything. So for anyone building, I did it this way: glue A33 to frame, then cyano PE11 to A33 & wait until dry, so that when you slide the glass (dry-fit) into place (a) the cyano can’t cloud the glass (b) you can gently bend the wiper to lay flat on it. I cheated by replacing the kit glass with thinner flexible acetate so it’s easier to slide it out/in.



Having dealt with that problem there’s a new one. With the wiper mechanism and two more PE brackets attached to this ultra-fragile windscreen sub-assembly (tip – don’t do it, leave the two PE4’s off until step 40 is completed), you’re expected to wrestle the dashboard (A38) into place on it but…uh oh it doesn’t appear to fit flush with A97…



That’s because it isn’t supposed to, but you’d never guess because the diagram only shows them joined together from the other side. Tip –attach A38 to the windscreen frame first, cut off the tab on the back of A97 (it’s too big - and unnecessary) then glue it to the frame too.

Steps 39-46 build the cab and it’s mostly plain sailing. For builders I’d suggest not gluing the steering wheel, doors or cab roof unless you’re ready (and want to) put in a driver, or going to leave it vacant. It looks cramped and he may require drastic amputations to fit properly and hold the wheel – I’m not ready yet. The instructions forget to prompt you that the inside door panels are cloth, it’s time to paint those & the seat/seat-back…





Steps 47-52 - now I had issues with how the bonnet/hood panels aligned - or rather didn’t . I’ll cop some of the blame for that but if Tamiya or Dragon were in charge I’m sure they wouldn’t have given the model-maker so many opportunities to mess up. Out came the cyano bucket again and much plastic-wrestling ensued in order to eliminate various panel gaps…





The cab’s now as complete as possible…



The green’s not as pale as it looks here (and this was a first coat so brush marks still showing), although weathering/dirt washes will tend to darken it anyway



I had to depart from the oob principle for the windows – the kit’s are OK (clear if a tad thick) but I’ve used none of them because (a) I cracked the rear window on the sprue (b) I wanted lowered side windows ( the kit’s are both full) (c) I already explained the windscreen problem.

Given MiniArt’s capacity to make highly detailed components, I can’t believe they didn’t make workable door-hinges so that the doors could be posed open – if I can do it, they should have. Ah but of course they’d have needed to use LOCATING PINS and answering collars – nyet on your life!



I know once the headlamp glass is in it’s hard to see through it, but it’s just a foible of mine to always put globes in (those teeny knock-out tabs attached to most “glass” items in kits do the job) and properly silvered, just tin foil…



..and yes that’s the worst panel join right behind the near headlight, but hey this vehicle’s going to be a battered 3 years old in the dio so imperfection’s allowed, that’s my excuse. Good thing this isn’t a spectator sport

Next time: cargo tray & guns

Great job! Your work looks impressive. But the colors are incorrect. Soviet cars & trucks from late 1930’s to 1991 had standard factory color pattern. The cab & bed were Russian green, but the frame, rims, headlamps and bumpers were ALWAYS semi gloss black. I believe semi gloss black paint to be anti corrosive coat. (Only the Russian green tone changed with the years.) Hope it’s not too late for you to repaint.

Thanks Michael

You’re too kind, I’m actually becoming less and less impressed by my own work with every step of this increasingly difficult kit (I’m working on the maxims assembly and beginning to chew furniture)- ever had a dream where you’re the only one not wearing any clothes?! Anyway no it’s not too late at all, I always paint a 1st coat – call it an undercoat – to help identify things that might need fixing (and get a better impression of the kit’s “look”) so your advice is perfectly timed.

All six of the kit’s painting options certainly confirm the headlights are black, & happy to do the bumper likewise. One of the six options also has the whole radiator panel in black too - it’s frustrating they’re all side views so no help for a front-on guide, and the step instructions rarely call a specific colour. By “frame” I assume you mean the chassis, while I’m sure you’re correct it had the anti-corrosive black it’s going to become indistinct under a mud/dust overcoat.

There are contradictions about the overall colour – take the box art at the top of this thread, to me it looks like the entire cab/front & wheels are also in black but none of the six options show that. Five are “military green” and one is “khaki”…except they represent khaki as more green than military green! To me khaki is a brownier-green, not a brighter green. So I’m not going to obsess about the final colour, as I mentioned it’ll get darker and faded after weathering anyway.

Here’s a question for you – the floorboards of the tray: green or bare wood?

Cheers

Tim,

Thanks for tackling this kit. It is amazing. If it were metal it would probably run!

I am a fan of bare wood. Think about it!

You know Tim, there's something about unnecessarily complicated and difficult model trucks!.."hi, my name is Nick and I seem to go out of my way to take on miserable truck kits...often!!!" Haha!! Be brave and keep on building! We're counting on you!! Looking good -

Cheers
Nick

The radiator panel was semi gloss black. The cab on pre-war trucks could (not necessarily) be black sometimes. I wouldn’t refer on the boxart color tones too much. On the main color – khaki was used in the South Russia, Caucasus, with camo pattern. But most trucks were overall Russian green. I’d say your primer color is a bit faded and greyish. 4BO Russian green was actually yellowish green, and somewhat darker. I use a mix of Tamiya XF-13 + XF-4. You can google “restored GAZ-AA” for the colors. The floorboards were usually green, but chipped to wood.

Thanks guys

Fred – yeah it would run if the wheels could go round! I tend towards a compromise as suggested by Michael about the tray, green but worn away to the wood.

Nick – hah welcome to M(odellers) A(nonymous), at least one of us needs an Intervention

Michael – OK it’ll be a little greener, although regarding a “restored gaz AA” search – how many different greens are there just in that www.nvrg.org “Events” section? 5? 6? More? MiniArt’s guide designates the khaki version as “unknown unit Summer 1941”…a year or so before the Caucasus campaign, still in western Russia/Ukraine at that time. Nevertheless do you have any references about that camo pattern, I’d be very interested. My vehicle could have moved from the Caucasus to the Kursk area during early 1943…although I’d imagine it would have been white-washed during the ‘42/’43 winter and roughly washed off in the Spring…so that would make a very strange-looking vehicle by July ’43…I’m not sure my nerves could stand a complex paint-job too.

Try these books.
https://www.amazon.com/SOVIET-1939-45-Essential-Vehicle-Identification/dp/1906626316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500219836&sr=8-1&keywords=david+porter+soviet
https://www.amazon.com/Kamufliazh-tankov-Krasnoi-Armii-1930-1945/dp/B012HIWRDU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500219930&sr=8-1&keywords=Kamufliazh+tankov+Krasnoi+Armii

Thanks again Michael although I think this is quicker & cheaper: http://www.o5m6.de/Camouflage.html

They’ve even got a Quad there, albeit on a GAZ 60. Can’t believe I didn’t find this site before but I wasn’t really looking for camo patterns until you mentioned it. Anyway it looks easy enough to replicate particularly as there doesn’t seem to be any standardization apart from the general colours, I’ll see how I feel.

Cheers,
Tim

G'day Tim!
Nice work handling those tiny parts ... and nice “Corinthian Leather” interior!😁 In addition, I really like that you opted for the thin clear stuff for that cranked-down window look. The fogged-up windscreen really looks the part too.

One of the things I tend to agonize over (when building any kit), is the build/paint sequence (engine, chassis, body, interior, etc.). Then, add figures to the equation — yikes! So, it's nice to see how others tackle those issues.

Keep up the great work!🍺
—mike

Thanks Mike & g’day, yes I’m experiencing what medical experts define as AAA-D = Assembly Anomaly Anxiety-Disorder, it’s a bonus feature with this particular kit. Predictably the instructions don’t mention it, and I can’t decide when it should happen

Hilarious clip, I’d forgotten that before The Hoff there was The Ban! If they shot an ad for my ride/upholstery it would have to be The Donald oops kidding I meant the Poot

Excellent work Tim! .. Despite all the difficulties, it's coming along very nicely..

Looking forward to your next update!

Cheers,

Maher

Thanks Maher - your wish is my command, and for those of you returning for another can of schadenfreude here’s some appropriate Interval ambience while you strap yourselves in…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g9Hs3rnd6s

Steps 53 – 60 build the cargo tray, easy enough and superbly engineered, ultra-perfect fits so they injected a degree of difficulty by mixing up the brackets part numbers. For builders - in Steps 56 & 57 parts F11 & F10 are actually F13 & 14 respectively & in Steps 58 & 59 parts F8 & F9 are F11 & F12 respectively. Options are to have all 4 sides up, or the rear and/or starboard sides down.



Step 61 tells you to build 16 ammo boxes with 15 lids supplied. In fact only build 12 with the standard lids (using part Ac4), Step 66 shows how to build the other 4 boxes with special lids to be mounted on the gun cradle.



While we’re talking about instructional/parts mis-numbering they further jazzed things up by providing two sprues both called “A”, the big one numbered 1 to 101 and the smaller numbered 1 to 10 – check the sprues diagram to see which is what.

Step 62 throws all sub-assemblies together and that’s the tray completed…



Having just spent a couple of hours making those 12 ammo boxes, would I really want to hide them all behind a closed compartment door? No decision about the tray’s side-panel positions yet, the diorama it’s made for requires them to be in both positions for different photos, so scratch-hinges may be necessary.

Steps 63-65 build the Quad’s podium – looks like a prototype Dalek and believe me I considered extermination. Builders, dry-fit as much as possible first to ensure you don’t glue something you’ll later find isn’t exactly in the correct position. I’m here to tell you it’s easy to do that. Very, very easy.



Steps 66 -74 assembles the four mounted ammo boxes, straightforward…except they got in a tangle numbering the brass PEb parts (a) on the fret (b) in the sprues diagram (c) in Steps 71 & 72, so a perfect troika of errors. They’re ALL wrong but it’s kinda obvious that on the fret there are 3 feed/guard plates that are identical – use those at Step 71, and the slightly smaller plate in Step 72.

And so we arrive at the Quad maxims assembly. If you want a glimpse of Modelling Hell, behold…



I’ve built 18th century warships and fully rigged them. I’ve super-detailed 1/24th scale cars. I’ve made WW1 biplanes also fully rigged, & I’ve used photo-etch parts on AFVs for 20 years so I consider my experience & skills reasonably advanced. But this Quad Maxim sub-assembly was THE single most difficult experience I’ve ever had, so much so I stopped taking photos after the first one below in order to fully engage in mortal combat with it - you be the judge who won, I’d call it a draw. The instructions are, surprisingly, correct throughout although a masterpiece of visual understatement. I risked assembly first/painting later, marginally the right decision.

Steps 75 – 87



My blade’s pointing at one of the four water-pipes that connect the barrel jackets to the plumbing array, the other 3 are on the sprues to the right, two were pre-broken & replaced with Evergreen 0.5 mm tubing. The ammo-box sub-assembly is resting next to the 4 maxims in the centre & you can also spot that I started chopping up sprues to tackle other ultra-delicate parts separately. The worst of it all was trying to handle the two sub-assemblies while building it. The following views might give some idea of the horror…









The 3rd instruction page for this section then casually tells you to just connect the ammo-box & gun sub-assemblies together in a flourish of simplicity…



It took me an hour. For the record the entire podium/guns assembly took well over 20 hours of my life I’ll never get back, including 2 or 3 hours repairing breakages/dis-asssemblies that occurred during assembly.

The gun-sight nearly made it all worthwhile…except something wasn’t right, and not just because – as you can see - the instructions were vague about its position & how the diagonal adjusting rod connected. Image-research showed the sight mounted closer to the operator although I’m willing to believe it slid back & forth depending on the target range and/or elevation. Whatever, its support- rod position was wrong by 90 degrees along its axis & the sight-adjuster needed shortening.

I’m also doubtful about those ammo boxes – an image search on “Maxim ammo boxes” shows only a square shape, but the kit supplies decidedly rectangular ones. Naturally I’d already glued the 4 to the mount before I checked so it was too late to do anything about it, but for builders you could easily chop about 5mm off the front ends, then slice the front 1mm with the handles from that and (re-) attach to the new shorter ends of the boxes. The other 12 in the storage compartment can hide their dark secret without surgery.

You might also have noticed the ammo belt strips loitering innocently in the background in the above photos…exquisitely detailed in plastic, not brass. Well woopdedoo they only want you to bend each of those 4 belts into a DNA-style double-helix, within a length of approx 10 mm if the guns are horizontal or approx 7 mm if elevated. In the photo below, the belt has to come out of the upwardly curved chute from the ammo box, with the cartridges towards you & pointy ends facing the gun (I checked images of the real thing, it really is that orientation), drop down under its own “weight” and simultaneously twist right around to go up into the slot in the side of the gun with pointy ends obviously facing forwards.



The gun on the end is bad enough - you can get at it - but then try the middle ones, they told you to glue them all together first. Insert your preferred adjective and/or expletive here: ………… I tried such gentle bending… snap. So I tried boiling them for a while but they still started breaking up just as I got to the final twist. Then I tried soaking them in extra-thin cement & manipulating them when touch-dry with the same result. Surveying the debris I concluded there’s no turducken way those belts could ever fit; it’s like the designer lets you fight all the way to the penultimate step and then gives you the finger. Dyakuyu zhopu! You bet I take it personally, I was the one that paid.

So I set the ammo aside to ponder the joys of chopping it all up into tiny 3-bullet segments & gluing my way round the bend(s) - no after-market escape for me, this is an oob build. Builders – consider 3D printing. Now I know why of all the images of this kit on the ’net, just one shows an outer gun with a few pathetic shells hanging out. All the other examples are – surprise – right out of ammo, not even empty belts hanging down the other sides of the guns. What really ticks me off is had MiniArt made those belts out of thin polythene-type bendy plastic it would have been a cinch.

Now, where’s my voodoo doll of Cookie Sewell…

Next time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM5-xFenaZI

And I thought the truck had a lot of parts! Nice work Tim!🍺

—mike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnH_zwVmiuE

Tim, I am loving this build -- and not for the model! Your descriptions are so colorful and sarcastic! (Did I see tear stains on that instruction sheet?)

I have thus far stayed away from MiniArt kits, and now I know why. This one would have gone back on the shelf for sure. I applaud your stick-to-itiveness and your sense of humor.

(Your work, of course, is first-rate. That gun is amazing! All that effort paid off!)

softskinfan