History: The YA-12 light artillery tractors were developed by NATI Designers and launched at the Yaroslavskiy Avtomobilniy Zavod YaAZ-Yaroslav Automobile Plant. In 1943, the United States supplied a large quantity of the U.S.-made GMC-4-71 four cylinder, two stroke, 110 horsepower engines under lend-lease contract. Production started in 1943, and within 12 months a total of 285 units were built. In 1945, production of YA-11s and 12s reached 1,270.

Items in the Box: The model is made from injection molded plastic, gray in color. The plans were made up of a book form, printed on both sides. Clear molded plastic windows, photo etch, and a decal sheet were supplied.

Weapon History

Developed in the late ‘60s to replace the M134 7.62mm mini-gun then in use on lightweight helicopter gunships, the M197 20mm 3-barrel rotary cannon is found primarily in the chin mounted turret of later AH-1 Cobras. A derivative of the M61 cannon found on nearly all US fighters since the F-104, the M197 trades 6-barrels and a higher rate of fire for lighter weight and stopping power gained with a 20mm round. The M197 is still in use today on the Cobra, specifically the AH-1W and AH-1Z operated by the USMC.

Kit Contents

More than just an aftermarket part to superglue in place, the Model Master M197 is a very detailed miniature model kit, with extra emphasis on the miniature! The kit is highlighted by three beautifully turned cannon barrels, a small photo etch fret, and an impossibly small bit of brass representing the center nut. My particular kit was packaged with an extra center nut.

This Special Edition dual kit is a re-release of Hasegawa’s DC-3/C-47 kit with decals included to build two variants of the L2D “Tabby,” the Japanese copy of the C-47, and one USAAF C-47. The parts are typical Hasegawa – molded in gray and with super detail. On my sample, something apparently happened to the C-47 during packaging because it had what looked like tank tracks across the left vertical fin, and the antenna and pitot masts were bent horizontal. It all turned out OK with some putty and re-scribing. The kit could use the addition of some details – there are no exhaust stacks, for instance.

The L2D kit has the World’s Smallest Resin Part included for the antenna cover atop the forward fuselage – and that pretty well typifies the main issue I had with these kits: size. The builds are straightforward, but some of the smaller parts are so tiny, it’s difficult to hold them and clean up sprue nubs, sand off mold seams, and so forth.