The Armed Forces of Ukraine use a wide variety of trucks for different purposes. One notable example is the all-wheel drive ZiL-131, which was mass-produced throughout the 1970s and 1980s for both civilian and military use. Known for its high reliability and exceptional off-road capabilities, the truck proved versatile in many applications.

In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, some of these vehicles received field modifications—being equipped with heavy machine guns or light artillery weapons. Notable examples include ZiL-131 variants fitted with DShKM heavy machine guns, mounted on various pedestals or mounts in their cargo beds. These modifications transform the trucks into fire support vehicles, capable of engaging lightly armored targets and slow-moving aerial targets.

The ZіL-131 AFU with DShKM continues a long line of ICM’s 1/72 scale ZiL-131s. This kit has new parts in the form of the ubiquitous DShKM 12.7mm heavy machine gun. The ICM ZiL-131 made its debut in 2000 (ZiL-131 Army Truck, Kit No. 72811) with a canvas top over its cargo bed. Other versions include a fuel bowser (truck), multiple launch rocket system, command vehicle with mounted hard shelter, Ukrainian camouflage cargo truck (reviewed by Will Kuhrt, https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/zil-131-armed-forces-ukraine), airfield mobile electric unit (reviewed by Ben Morton, https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/apa-50m-zil-131), and another hard shelter with shelter trailer (reviewed by Marc K. Blackburn, https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/zil-131-trailer).

Upon opening the cover, there is a reinforced white inner box that does a good job of protecting the kit’s four gray plastic sprues, plastic wheel sprue, clear sprue for windows and headlights, truck cab (top and bottom), and decal sheet with the distinctive Ukrainian pixel camouflage and national markings. The downloadable instructions are also available separately online (https://icm.com.ua/technique/zil-131-afu-with-dshkm/). This kit is well detailed and is an excellent representation of the new quality and detail that are ICM’s trademark. Take care with small pieces (grab handles, etc) as the plastic is fragile and can break when removed from the sprue gates.

I liked this model so much that I built it twice. Seriously, pay attention as the lack of locator marks is a hinderance and if you don’t look ahead, it isn’t obvious where parts mate, particularly on the undercarriage. There are also no numbers or letters on the trees, so you will be constantly looking at the parts layout (I photocopied it to make it easier). With this braille scale kit, there are very few locator marks, so dry fit everything before committing glue. There are minor notes that are identified here by their instruction step:

Step 02:

• Take a lot of care with the rear-view mirrors (A16 and A17) as they can break if you look at them hard. Recommend you leave them for final assembly.
• Take care with the fire extinguisher (A26) as the nozzle is very fragile.

Step 03:

• Take care removing the tie rod (B13) from the tree as it is extremely fragile.
• Refer to subsequent steps to determine the correct location of the four leaf springs.
• Pay attention to the orientation of the transfer case (A24) as it will fit in many orientations, but the drive rods will only work, and the spare tire rack will only fit, one way.
• It is easier to assemble the axle assemblies separately, then dry fit the drive rods, to determine where the axles attach to the chassis frame.

Step 04: Take extreme care removing the exhaust system (B1, B4 and B4) from the sprue as the plastic will break with a stern look.

Step 05: Align the mud flaps (2 x E11 and 2 x E12) to the outer wall of the truck bed

Step 07: The spare tire parts are labelled A6 and A7; they should be D6 and D7.

Step 09: There are two fuel tanks (2 x B16 and B17), but only one if called out in the step

The ZiL-131 AFU with DShKM has two marking options, both unknown Ukrainian units in the distinctive pixel camouflage.

I painted the ZiL-131 in an overall 4BO green with a black undercarriage per the instructions and online references. Two trucks are shown as references, but without accompanying unit information. Curiously enough, neither of the trucks has the black pixel camouflage displayed on the box art, yet all three trucks have the same registration front and rear bumper numbers. Even more curiously, the decal sheet has three additional registration plate combinations, along with two different types of hazardous material placards (three of one type, four of the other type). There are lots of spare decals which will be useful in additional Ukrainian 1/72 kit builds. The decals are delicate and conform well to the model, have no silvering, except for the black pixelated decals, really look the part. Care must be taken due to their small size.

This kit looks like a heavy truck on a small scale. The challenges of the detailed undercarriage and small parts put this in the intermediate to advanced modeler category. With a lot of detail hidden once the massive tires are installed, the lack of locator markings means the fiddly undercarriage details can be hidden, particularly if placed on a suitable muddy terrain base.

Slava Ukraini!

Profuse thanks to ICM and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.