1:72 MAZ-502

The MAZ-502, a Minsk truck for roadless country

After the war the Soviet Union needed machines that would carry a load where the roads end. The Minsk car works answered with a range derived from its basic truck: the cab and the frame stayed, drive to the front axle was added, along with larger tires with a coarse tread and a higher ground clearance. A vehicle thus came about that served the army, geologists and builders alike, and with its two-stroke diesel engine it announced itself by a characteristic sound long before it appeared around the bend.

In 1:72 it is an interesting choice precisely because Soviet trucks of this generation appear in a small scale rarely. The model suits a display case among other vehicles as well as the background of an airfield or railway scene, where it looks credible even beside larger machines.

• A Soviet cross-country truck with drive to both axles
• Worked up in 1:72 scale for a display case and for a scene
• A small-series release outside the ordinary range of the large firms

You will make the build easier by looking the parts over against the light while still on the sprue and degreasing them. At smaller scales it holds that a joint holds better when the surfaces are first leveled dry with a sanding block. It is sensible to paint the cab before it is settled on the frame, and to leave the wheels aside until the last step. The finish takes a protective green with a discreet dusty cast on the sides, and with a civilian version a blue or gray cab. The mudguards and the underside of the frame tend to be the dirtiest part on machines from roadless country, so it is exactly there that it is worth adding a layer of dry pigments; the upper surfaces, by contrast, should be left clean so that the vehicle keeps its shape.