Meng GAZ-233014 STS Tiger - Russian Armoured High-Mobility Vehicle 1:35

[Mike]

GAZ-233014 STS Tiger - Russian Armoured High-Mobility Vehicle
1:35 Meng Model

Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, or GAZ for short are the leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles in Russia, and specialise in all-wheel drive heavy duty trucks, buses and light commercial vehicles. The Tiger is a development of the GAZ 2330 4x4 that is designed as a troop carrier for police and military forces, with good offroad capability, high speed and good handling on sand and steep gradients. The Tiger is an upgraded vehicle with ballistic protection to the sides and roof, with a large two-man turret-ring on the roof to allow both a machine gun and grenade launcher to be used simultaneously.

It is known colloquially as the Russian HUMVEE, and like the HUMVEE it does not provide much in the way of IED protection, other than a suite of electronic countermeasures. Its flat ladder chassis differs from the newer designs like the American M-ATV, which has a sloping hull to deflect blast away from the occupants. It has plenty of space for radio gear, the aforementioned ECM fit, plus ammo stowage and of course four troops in the rear, with a two man crew in the front seats.

The Kit
Arriving in a smallish box, the kit is another quality production from Meng, with upper and lower hull, chassis, plus six sprues in medium green styrene, clear sprue five flexible styrene tyres, four poly-caps, a small sheet of Photo Etch (PE) brass, decals and the glossy instruction booklet, which has a fold-out rear sheet that contains the painting and marking instructions. As usual with a Meng product, the detail is excellent throughout, and the body fits like a glove in the floor plate, which bodes well. The kit is built around the ladder chassis, and although the detail is exclusively on the underside of the chassis, with no engine or transmission other than the parts visible from underneath, detail is good throughout, although some of this is covered up by the protective armoured skid-plates that attach during the build. The suspension is robust, which is replicated by the kit parts, and careful gluing will result in front wheels that should remain posable. The axles are stubs moulded into the lower half of the hub/brake parts, which traps the suspension arms in place, leaving the axle sticking out ready for the wheels.

The interior is well appointed, with a rather nicely moulded dashboard that has a set of instrument decals provided to improve the look further. The steering is left-hand of course, and a couple of grab-handles are added for the co-driver. The gearbox projects well into the cab, and is shrouded in a flexible cover that is reproduced well here with a suitably organic shape. Crew seats and ammo storage racks are included, and the large floor part is moulded with tread-plate detail throughout on the topside, and a number of ejector pin marks that are covered by the armoured panels that fit either side of the transmission tunnel. The driver and co-driver's seat are reminiscent of a standard car seat, but the passengers have very light-weight jump-seats, three of which face forward, the other facing the rear of the vehicle. Unusually, the front lights are installed on the floor panel, nestling in half-moon shaped recesses in the inner wing, and cupped at the top by an eyelid-like additional part. These will later show through corresponding holes in the upper body. With the armour in place under the floor, it can be added to the chassis and put aside while attention turns to the body of the vehicle.

The interior of the passenger compartment is covered in camouflage material, which extends over the rear wheel arches, the cab walls and the interior of the roof. All this is provided as decal, and is of a Woodland style. There are a few mould seams and ejector pin marks on the inside of the cab that will need removing before application of the decals, but they are light and should be easy to remove with no recourse to putty. The armoured windows fit from the inside into the sides of the vehicle, where on the real thing there are openers for the crew to fire from. On the kit they are moulded as panel lines around the windows, so if you wanted to pose one or more open, you'd have some work ahead of you. The windscreen panels also fit from the inside, and the join is covered by a thick frame that includes windscreen wipers, and here are a couple of sink marks in the box-like fairings around the wipers. A moment's work with filler and a sanding stick though, so no need to throw your arms in the air and commence wailing just yet!

The large two-man turret ring is in upper and lower halves, and clamps the roof to retain the rotation capability, with a grab handle underneath to facilitate its movement. The armoured cover that receives more of the camouflaged decal, and the weapons stations themselves are built up and positioned around the turret ring. There is no crew protection above the roof-line, unlike later generations of the HUMVEE, other than the presence of the folded cover that sits at an angle behind the crew, so it's a brave man that pops his head up to use the weapons when already under fire. Detail of the weapons is good, and the grenade launcher has a neat drum magazine that is reminiscent of a stack of Lewis Gun magazines, while the pintle mounted 12.7mm machine gun has a box mag attached to the right of the breech.

The roof has a number of courtesy lights embedded, and these are supplied as clear parts, which you paint with transparent blue. More lights stud the diagonal section where the roof transitions to the sides, and a number of tubes are lashed here, which are slightly simplified RPG-26 disposable anti-tank rocket launchers, similar to the Israeli B-300 or US SMAW. The ammo racking is attached to the inside of the cab, and a set of pioneer tools are lashed to the lower right side of the vehicle, with a tow cable on the left. The radiator panel that backs up the PE grille is installed from behind the outer grille, and should be painted before installation to ensure that it looks its best. At this stage the body and floor can be mated, and the sculpted side plates added along with the mudguards that hang down behind each wheel.

I have a niggling general concern about flexible tyres that are hollow, as I feel that they may sag over time and dislodge from their hubs, making the finished model look a little neglected. This kit has five of this type of tyre, although detail is excellent on all sides, with minimal seams present and those that are could be taken for the type of seams found on the real thing. Each hub is built up from front and back halves, with a poly-cap trapped between them, and once dry they are forced through the tyre's centre and seated on the rims, just like the real thing. I'd be tempted to put some non-deformable material inside, such as milliput to reduce the likelihood of deformation, but you might think I'm being over-cautious… your choice! The fifth tyre is mounted on the spare hub, which is attached to a bracket that swings clear of the rear doors on a pivot, much like some civilian 4x4s. With care, this can be made operable by leaving the glue off. The double rear doors have glazed panels in the upper quarter, and grab handles dotted about, as do the crew doors, but with the addition of a pair of door pockets and a wing mirror on the outer surface. The doors can be glued in any position open or closed, but are not hinged, which is at variance with the swinging spare tyre mount, but that's a small criticism.

The vehicle is finished off by the addition of a large set of bull-bars on the front, and a cluster of aerials of different type on the roof, which jut out at unusual angles, giving it a more aggressive look.

Markings
There are two options included in the box. One is camouflaged Russian Green, black and sand, while the other is plain Russian Green, but with large red parade stars. Their details are as follows:

• Tri-colour camouflage North Caucasus Military District registered 5148 KT
• Russia Victory Day Parade, vehicle 001 leading the column
  

Each vehicle is shown in five views, which with the tri-tonal camo will alleviate any confusion as to where the individual colours extend to on each side. The decal sheet is quite large due to the camouflage material that is applied to the interior of the vehicle and the instrument panel decals, with two rows of digits, three red stars and four number plates relating to the outside. As is usual with Meng, the decals are printed by cartograf, and are of excellent quality, with good register, colour density and sharpness. Carrier film is clipped very close to the camouflage decals, which will be helpful when working in confined spaces, and the decals have been sectioned to fit each of the facets of the passenger cab neatly.

Conclusion
Another classy kit from Meng, and a welcome addition to the collection of any modern Russian armour buff, or casual buyer alike. It's difficult not to appear to be gushing with praise for Meng products, as they are of a consistent high quality with a lot of thought and care going into each one. This is no exception, and should go together quickly with a little care. Inclusion of the decals is a boon, but I pity the soldiers that put their backpack down and then can't find it in the dim light because it matches the camouflage of the interior.

Available soon from Creative Models in the UK


Review sample courtesy of

[Panzer Vor!!!]

Oh yes I;ll have one of these looks brillant any idea roughly how much

[Mike]

They're showing as £27 and change over at Creative - check the Buy It Now link for details