MiniArt has released a model of the 1941 GAZ-MM. These trucks are very similar to the Ford A and they were widely used in World War 2 by the Soviet Army.

This model is not a limited run release. There was no flash at all, and the connector gates are small. There are few locating pins and the plastic is a bit soft, so be careful when removing parts from the sprues. I know that by experience, as I managed to damage and/or bend some very small parts when releasing them from the sprues.

You get 14 sprues, including a small photo-etch fret for a total of 371 parts. There is a very small decal sheet, which only applies to one of the three finishing options. Instructions covers 35 steps, not counting sub-assemblies required within several steps. The instructions are a bit vague at moments. Make sure you dry fit all parts and consider looking at the subassemblies in later steps, to be sure you are putting them together right.

There are a few ejector pins and all of them are either in the undersurfaces or inside the cabin. Still, you probably want to fill them in, as the ones on the inside of the cabin will be visible.

The engineering of the tires is pretty unique. Each tire is made out of 7 “slices” that, when put together, reassemble the tire tread. It is a bit time consuming (about 3 hours just cleaning and assembling all the tires) but the results are worth the effort.

An issue I had with this build is that the chassis side pieces have slightly different lengths. That made getting everything to square up a bit of challenge. Basically, I’ve built an “asymmetrical” chassis and then I lined up the cabin/engine compartment with the flat bed as the main sub-assemblies on top of the asymmetrical chassis.

Another issue I ran into was that the clear parts wouldn’t fit within the windshield frame if the central post was installed. I’ve finally decided to scratchbuilt the whole windshield out of acetate and call it a “field mod”.

I must confess that I felt a bit overwhelmed half-way through construction, basically due to the sheer number of sub-assemblies and steps, making me feel like I was never going to finish this model. I’ve probably spent about 30 hours working in sub-assemblies, about 4 hours painting and weathering, and final assembly took about 2 hours. It sort of accelerated towards the end and fell together with a minimum of effort.

Painting was done with enamels and weathering was achieved by applying an acrylic wash of dark brown and a burnt sienna filter. I’ve also scratched the windshield with a #11 blade to simulate a few cracks on the glass.

So you might wonder if I enjoyed this build. The answer is yes, despite that moment when I felt like I was never going to be done. The model looks good on my display cabinet and I feel proud of it.

Recommended to the intermediate to experienced modeler who is comfortable handling relatively small parts that are very easy to bend.

I would like to thank Model Rectifier Corp, MiniArt, and IPMS/USA for the review sample.