After an intensive search of the 'net, I was unable to come up with any real historical background on this particular vehicle. Thus I am forced to quote from the instructions, which gives the same info for all of these PST fire truck kits!

"The production of the PMZ-2 fire trucks was initiated in the Soviet Union before the Second World War. The fire-fighting units of the Red Army Air Forces, large military garrisons and storage facilities as well as city fire departments were equipped with these vehicles. Attached equipment of the PMZ-2 could be installed on different types of truck chassis.

At first the ZIS-5 chassis was chosen as the only acceptable vehicle. Later a small batch of PMZ-2s were built on ZIS-6 frames. During the war years the ZIS-6 was discontinued and the production of the ZIS-5 was greatly reduced. This meant that near the end of the war (1944-45), firefighting equipment was installed on on the chassis of the ZIS-42 half-track and the US-6 Studebaker truck.

PMZ-2 fire trucks served in Soviet fire fighting units for almost twenty years and were phased out by the mid-1950s.

PST kits are made in Belarus and from what I can see, are amongst some of the better made and more interesting that I've seen in this scale. Typically, PST has made the most out of things and has basically done some sprue swapping to get this kit. The Studebaker chassis has been used in at least two other kits; one a standard truck and the other a Katyuska rocket launcher. By simply swapping the payload bed out, a nice fire truck has been made!

If you recall from a previous preview of PST kits (please visit that preview for a look at the other sprues), I mentioned that the differences between the Studebaker and GMC trucks were offered on the same sprue, save that the cabs included were different. Well apparently the GMC chassis wasn't used as a fire truck, so you'll have some spare bits left over. All that I said about the kit in that preview is good for this one as well so I'll concentrate on the new sprue (shown above).

The new sprue is a greenish plastic and is very well molded. There are no sink marks, no flash and very few ejector pin marks. Those few pin marks are in areas that are either easy to remove or will be hidden when the kit is finished. The parts of the tanker are a large water tank, ladders, hoses and a large hose reel on the back. There are also equipment boxes and a wooden bench for additional crew members. Riding in this during the winter would NOT have been a warm experience!

Instructions are really superb. There is a parts diagram with numbers for each one. Construction steps are many (17) but very well done. Some modification of chassis bits are needed to accommodate the new bed and that is shown. The builder will also have to cut the axles from a section of piano wire that is provided. Measurements are provided for this. Any parts painting is also shown in the construction sequences. There are no decals provided as they are really not needed. Colors are generic and seem to be in Humbrol numbers as they all start with H. As you might expect, the overall color is bright red.

Well it certainly isn't something that one sees very often. Frankly, it is a pretty good idea to do a series of fire trucks. It is a great cross-over between military and civilian models and should be a bit of a conversation piece when it is built and displayed.

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