introduction

The Multicar M-22 was produced in East Germany between 1964 and 1974, and in total 42500 vehicles were made. There were ten versions installed on the basic chassis. Construction was simple, reliable and easy to maintain. Because of its versatility it was used by most of the Warsaw Pact armies and civilian operators.

Contents

The kit is packed in a small cardboard box. The box contains two bags of resin parts, a bag with copper wire, clear film for the windows, a photo-etch fret, a set of decals with a correction set for Czech vehicles, and obviously instructions.

Build & Review

At first glance the elements look very good. All are very carefully cast.

The construction begins with the assembly of elements of the rear suspension. All the parts fits well - there are even pin holes to locate the parts. Next we carry on adding the rear axle and drive shaft. I must admit I had a small problem finding the right angle to connect and fit those elements together, simply because the end parts of what should be a drive shaft(made from wire) are straight, and in the real vehicle the shaft angles from the gearbox towards a rear axe. In the end I replaced the copper wire with a piece of styrene and glued all the parts together. The fit is far from good but it will be invisible once the model is complete.

Next step is the front suspension and exhaust. Front suspension went on very well. More problems were found with the exhaust. It contains of three elements: a silencer made of resin and the pipes made of copper wire. Once again, I had to replace the copper wire and resin part (which wasn't included it the kit) with the pieces of styrene.

After fitting all the parts of suspension we are told to install the wheels.
The wheels - Wow! They are a work of art. Perfectly moulded with a lots of details and a tiny beautiful thread - Amazing. I can say they are the really high of this kit.

The next step is a cabin. The bottom part is one piece of cast resin, into which we have to fit the side panel with a lever for a handbrake, pedals made of photo-etch parts, and a very simple dashboard. The dashboard is simple because in the real vehicle it was also very, very simple. I must say that all the elements that should be on it are there. Once the dashboard is in place, we have to add the driver seat and the steering wheel with its shaft made of wire. In the end we glue it to the frame, and finish assembling the rest of the parts mounted onto the frame.

All the mudguards fit well. Same with the battery and a spare wheel. What caused a problem was the part for a hydraulic shaft that raises the bed. It was cast very badly and I had to replace it with a simplified part made of styrene.

Assembling the bed was very easy since all the parts were cast straight. A cherry on the cake are tiny hinges made of photo-etch, which add nice detail to it.

Once we have all the lights in place (made of clear parts) we can start the fight with the upper part of the cabin. It's a one-piece casting, and very careful cutting is required to get rid of all the flash. My advice is to do it with a fresh sharp blade. When this is done we need to add a tiny door frame to it and wipers - both made of photo-etch, and the windows are cut from the film.

Decals allow us to make one civilian vehicle and two army vehicles - one from the Czechoslovak People's Army and another of the German Democratic Republic National People's Army.

Conclusion

The subject and the scale allows us to make a nice diorama with any plane used by the countries from Warsaw Pact, or simply a civilian vehicle. Weaknesses include the use of copper wire for the shafts and pipe elements – small piece of styrene would be much better.

Over all this is a nice and original kit of a vehicle used widely by Warsaw Pact countries - it will fit perfectly with a Mig-21. Not recommended for beginners as some parts are difficult to assemble, but a pleasure to build.