Introduction

This is one ‘Bear’ of a truck and one bear of a kit! The KrAZ weighs twelve tons, has a payload of seven and a half tons, and is nicknamed ‘The Bear’. The kit will definitely not fall together out of the box on a Sunday afternoon. A difficult kit to assemble, it’s worth the effort and builds into one massive truck!

Background

Excerpt from the instructions:

The Parts

The parts are secured in a small plastic bag with two stickers applied. The first of those stickers matches the product number “35674”. The second sticker might represent the number of part sprues, “2”, or it might be an “inspector” number. Sprue “A” has 14 parts and Sprue “B” has 19 parts, with a total of 33 parts making up the machine gun and wheeled carriage. All parts are clearly marked with an I.D. number that is an alphanumeric combination. For example, the gunner’s seat is on sprue B and is part #16 on that sprue. On the kit instructions the gunner’s seat is identified as “B16”. This makes part identification very simple, very easy, and very clear.

The Aircraft

The KC-135 was the US Air Force’s first jet refueling aircraft, replacing the KC-97. The 135 was developed from the same prototype as the 707, but has much more in common with the Model 720. The 135 entered service with the USAF in 1957. The last KC-135 was delivered in 1965.

The KC-135E was an interim between the KC-135A and R. The E model came about when it became apparent that the A model just didn’t have the power and range needed to support the global mission of the US Air Force. The fix is the same one used on the Boeing 707 and 720, updating the engines from P&W J-57s to TF-33s. The re-engining continued with the KC-135R, which has GE/SNECMA CFM-56 engines. The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve flew the E model.