KIT:

UM 1/72 GAZ/AAA Starter Truck

KIT #

 321

PRICE:

 $9.98 ($8.96 at Squadron)

DECALS:

 one option

REVIEWER:

 Scott Van Aken

NOTES:

  

HISTORY
The GAZ-AAA chassis was chosen in 1936 to be used for the AS-2 Starter Truck. In those days, aircraft were equipped with a Huck's hub on the prop to which was attached a starter dog from a suitably equipped truck. This made it a lot safer than hand starting the engines and also meant that the extra weight of a starter and battery was not needed in the aircraft.

This system was used by most of the various militaries in the 1920's, 30's and into the early 1940's. Each country used a particular large truck to supply the power needed to spin up the engines of the day. As it meant a rather long period of time to get a whole squadron of aircraft up and running, the system was phased out and by the end of the war had disappeared into aviation history.

THE KIT

If you read any of my earlier reviews of UM models, then you know I was pretty pleased with the level of detail and the cleanliness of the sprues. This kit is no exception and comes on five medium green sprues. Detailing is quite good and while there are a few ejector pin marks and some sink areas, none are really horrible and should be easy to clean up.

The kit is a curb-side, which means it does not have a full engine, but in this scale, that would be a luxury indeed. There are also no injected clear bits, the windows being printed on a piece of clear acetate which you must cut out. For those who hate to paint tires, these are provided in vinyl and are well molded. Simply stick them in between the wheels and you are good to go. It appears that the parts for the starter are on a separate sprue so if you wanted to do a standard flatbed truck, you could easily build this one as that variant if you wished. There is no decal sheet so you'll have to come up with any appropriate markings from some other source or hand paint them.

Instructions are well done with 14 clear construction drawings. Color information is only provided with Humbrol paint references though the generic name is also given. Apparently you can do this kit in any color you want as long as it is in Soviet military green!

 

CONCLUSIONS

I'm pretty impressed with UM kits and those I know who have built them agree. They have interesting subjects and are complicated enough to give you good value for your money.

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