GaZ-67B

I was looking for a way to start modeling armor, but I was intimidated by tanks with all the bits and pieces not to mention the tracks. Tanks also posed a problem to me in that I had no idea what the different parts of the tank were called. It took a long time of reading model magazines to understand what was what. All I know is that I wanted to build military vehicles due to the many great articles I had read. I gravitated toward soft skinned military vehicles due to my background with automobiles. It's got wheels, not tracks; I should be able to handle this. Even though these subjects have wheels, I was also interested in the unique designs of many of these vehicles. Besides being inspired by my model club members, I was hooked by an article written by Luciano Rodriquez in Military In Scale Magazine (April 2008). Luciano explained his methods in a manner that seemed obtainable. After reading his article about 10 times, I went out and purchased the 1/48th scale Tamiya GAZ-67B kit.

The kit consists of one tree of olive green parts along with clear parts for the windshield/frame and headlights. Furthermore, Tamiya has supplied a seated driver figure and a decal sheet for a couple of different versions. I was impressed with the overall detail of the kit parts. However, the driver's pose was a bit strange looking so I decided not to use him.

The GAZ-67B was a four-wheel drive Soviet military vehicle built by Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod starting in 1943. By the end of the war, it was the soviet equivalent of America's Willy's Jeep. It was powered by a 54 hp version of GAZ M1 4-cylinder 3280 cc gasoline motor, and had a top speed of 56 mph.

This all came about due to an agreement signed by the Soviet Union with the Ford Motor Company in May of 1929. The Soviet Union agreed to purchase $13 million worth of automobiles and parts from Ford, and Ford would then supply technical assistance in the construction of an automobile/manufactoring plant until 1938. Start of production was on January 1, 1932 at the GAZ plant which also displayed the Ford logo.

During the process of getting the GAZ plant up and running, many American engineers and skilled auto workers re-located to the Soviet Union. Even after the plant was commissioned in 1932, hundreds of American workers, many with their families stayed there, however they required to surrender their American passports. Unfortunately, within a few years, they became victims of Stalin's "Great Terror" in which they were either shot or sent to Soviet gulags. Many appealed to the American embassy for help, but their voices were largely ignored.

Assembly: The kit has a fairly low part count which made the build up go quickly. It goes together almost flawlessly other than having to fill some ejector pin marks. I have come to find that Tamiya 1/48th soft skinned vehicles are riddled with many pin marks.

In Luciano's article, he added some small details without going into super detail mode. He mentioned that the headlights looked too small and made new ones, which also required new lenses. I decided not to go this route and stayed with the kits parts. I'm sure he is right, but I just could not tell from the pictures I saw. Luciano also added engine hood handles and latches, latches on both sides of the fenders, a guide plate for the starting crank, two small handles for windshield locking nuts, and a windshield wiper. After studying his materials and methods, I went to work on adding the details, some of which I did my way, and others following Luciano's directions. I added a handle on each side of the hood using fine gauge wire. At this point, I took more fine wire and put a hook at one end and installed two of them on each side of the hood. This was my method of creating the engine hood hold down latches. I employed the same basic method to create the fender latches. To make the startingcrank bracket, I took some plastic card stock and cut out a rectangular section about 5 to 7 mm in length. Using my punch set, I inserted a small hole about 3 mm down and center from the top. Then I rounded the top with a sanding stick into a semi circle. To complete the bracket, I bent the bottom section of the piece perpendicular to the top and glued it to the model. The next items to create were the handles for the windshield locking nuts. I stretched some sprue, and cut two 2 to 3 mm sections, and attached them with superglue. I'll suggest cutting more than 2 so that you will have spares when they get broken off like mine. In fact, I had to fabricate another one when it broke off, soon after I was finished. The last scratch built item was the windshield wiper. For this, I stretched two pieces of sprue and glued them in a fashion that resembled the wiper arm and blade.

[I brush painted the seat covers Dark Earth, the steering wheel with Floquil Weathered Black enamel and the side tarps Desert Yellow.]

To prep the model for paint, I did my usual soap and water wash. I do this right before I paint so that all of the sanding grit can be washed away with the mold release agent. I used bare metal foil to mask off the windshield glass and mounted all of the other components on toothpicks that were not attached to the model for painting. This included the wheels, the seats, the steering wheel, side tarps, and the windshield wiper.

Painting and Weathering: This is where Luciano Rodriquez's article really helped. He provided a detailed step by step with instructions and pictures that I could understand. Every modeler is a little different in how they interpret another modeler's approach. Using Tamiya acrylic paints, I airbrushed overlapping layers of Dark Green and Desert Yellow. The idea is to give the model a faded effect before the weathering starts. Of course, my attempt did not resemble the picture in the article. I did not thin the paint enough or fade it well onto the model. What I ended up with was a slightly lighter version of dark green. To solve this, I took Testors pale green enamel paint and created a wash. I applied the wash several times until the paint looked faded to my liking. The airbrush was loaded again with Tamiya Desert Yellow thinned down to a wash. I sprayed it along the bottom edges of the model for a faded and dusty look. This painting sequence also included the spare tire since it was not to show the same wear as the drive wheels. It was to have a dusty look as opposed to being run through mud. Using Vallejo Dark Earth acrylic paint, I airbrushed the drive wheels and gave the underbody a misting to simulate a muddy look. With the Dark Earth, I brush painted the seat covers. The seat frames were sprayed in the first sequence with the rest of the body. To finish the base coat of all the parts, I brush painted the steering wheel with Floquil Weathered Black enamel and the side tarps Desert Yellow.

[I dry brushed the raised wheel hub details with Testors Pale Green enamel.]

Since the drive wheels where painted Dark Earth, I needed to bring out the hub detail as well as paint the tires. I dry brushed the raised hub details with Testors Pale Green enamel paint. The recessed areas still retained their dirty look. For the tires, I thinned some Floquil Weathered Black and brush painted. The spare tire was done the same way. The only difference is that thinned Weathered Black allowed for some of the under painting to so through thus keeping its dusty look.

After a coat of future floor polish, I placed the decals. I wanted to get the decals on first so that I could blend them into the faded and beaten finish. I started bringing out details with a pin wash of black artist's oil. I did not do a full model wash because I wanted to try using filters as described in the article.

[I sprayed thinned Tamiya Desert Yellow along the bottom edges of the model for a faded and dusty look.]

I used artist's oil filters on the seats to test out the process. Dots of different browns and yellows were placed on the seats in a varying pattern. I keep the lighter colors to the tops and outsides of the seats. The thought is that it would blend out in a faded pattern. In concept, oil dots on vertical surfaces should be blended in a downward fashion. Horizontal surfaces are to be blended in a circular pattern. After moistening a flat soft brush, I blended the filters wiping the brush off several times. I was quite pleased with the effect once completed. However, after a coat acrylic flat paint, much if the effect was lost. I'll know better next time.

The filters were then applied to the body and interior using the same concepts as above. In the process, I used browns, yellows, and greens as filters. I even applied them over the decals to fade them. No sense in having a weathered paint job with crisp clean decals. Using Dark Earth, I applied scratches and wear areas to various locations. Once completed, I finished final assembly. I used a Burnt Sienna wash on the side tarps to bring out the wrinkle details. I cut a pattern for the windshield wiper out of tape and misted the glass with Testors Dull Coat to simulate a dirty look. Finally, with a #2 pencil, I added the final wear marks. The whole model was then given a final coat of acrylic clear before being placed on the base.

[Epoxy putty was laid out and sprinkled with some model railroad ballast and static grass to create the ground work.]

The Base: The base came from a local art supply store and was stained. I drilled holes along the top where the epoxy was to be used to form the groundwork. The epoxy was laid out and I sprinkled on some model railroad ballast. I also pressed the model into the wet epoxy to form the ruts, and after it dried, I added static grass and painted the road with Dark Earth. I attached the GaZ to the base using super glue, then I dry brushed some of the ballast a lighter shade of brown to add some contrast, and the grass was given a brown wash to simulate a muddy just rained look. To complete the muddy look, I added some mud to the drive wheels. Lastly, I mixed up a batch of ballast, ground pigments, and Dark Earth paint, which was applied to the wheels and along the bottom edges of the model.

I really enjoyed this build and it was easier than it sounds. 1/48th scale model kits are fun because they are not too big or small and have just enough detail to make a good-looking display.