MiniArt is certainly getting a lot of mileage of the molds for the GAZ-03 bus. I think this is the 4^th boxing of it, this time as an ambulance (previous ones were passenger bus and a military transport).

When opening the box you find a total of 39 sprues, for a total of 280 plastic parts, plus 26 clear parts and 8 photo-etched parts. Keeping track of all those sprues and pieces will make the assembly of this kit a bit of a challenge.

The instructions come in a glossy paper booklet, with very clean and clear drawings.

I have built other MiniArt models previously and I can tell you, the instructions are superb. There are a total of 49 steps, but some have sub-assemblies, so clearly this is an in depth build, not a weekender.

Construction starts with a very detailed engine (which you want to show) and then it moves to a similarly detailed chassis and transmission. The wheels are of the “slice” kind, with 7 parts per tire. While it sound overly engineered actually those are easy to assemble and provide great surface and thread detail.

From that point on you assemble the fenders, the driver cabin and finally the ambulance area, which includes two benches and a stretcher. Please note that this vehicle was a bus that was pressed into service as an ambulance. As such there are windows (in clear) that will be painted or left clear depending on the finishing and markings you choose. Speaking of what you get to choose: You can assemble the doors and hood as closed or open. Considering all that nice detail I would suggest taking your time, painting and detailing the model and show it with all compartments open.

You get four options as to how to finish this model, three of them as Soviet vehicles and one as a German ambulance (a captured vehicle I assume). All the colors are similar, with overall green or grey

Considering the relatively high part count number, how tiny some of them are and that the size of the sprue gates in some cases is as large as the part itself, this kit is recommended for the experienced modeler.

I would like to thank MiniArt, Dragon Models USA and IPMS/USA for the review sample.