Colibri 1/72nd GAZ-67

By Matt Bittner

History

The GAZ-67 was a result of improving the GAZ-64 - the first Soviet jeep. The GAZ-67s track was widened and other refinements were introduced. The GAZ-67 served from autumn 1943, until it was replaced sometime in 1953 when the GAZ-69 was introduced.

The Kit

The Colibri GAZ-67 consists of 45 injected molded parts in white plastic. There are no decals, but a painting guide exists on the instruction sheet. There is some flash present, but none of it is a problem. The only option in the kit is for the top cover to be displayed up, or as a roll down on the tailgate. Unfortunately the kit does not come with clear acetate for the windshield.

Construction

This kit is fantastic! Its not at all like the Hasegawa treatment of the US Jeep. Most parts are separate molds, and all the smaller parts are to scale. You build up the body using separate sides, top hood, tailgate and radiator grill. The chassis is constructed of a single main chassis, but separate axles and differentials. The interior consists of separate seats - two front, and one rear - steering wheel, steering wheel column, gearshift, hand brake levers and dash. There is also a separate handle for the passenger on the dash, all to scale.

There were only a couple of small seams, luckily filled with the goo that oozed out using liquid cement on all parts. You do have to take your time to ensure all parts are lined up, though. There are no locating tabs, so dry fitting before final assembly is a must.

Since I wasn't prepared to spend a lot of time superdetailing the interior, I opted for closing the canvas roof. The mold for the top cover is extremely well done. I was worried that I would have to replace it with tissue, but there was no need. With the proper painting I was able to achieve a quite life-like canvas appearance. I did have to spend some time getting the two roof braces to fit correctly. For this area I used CA to glue the braces to the canvas top, before trimming them to fit onto the jeeps body.

To make the model appear more life-like, I decided to turn the front wheels. I achieved this by cutting very small wedges out of the front axle close to the point where the tie rod (for lack of a better term) is molded onto the axle. This also meant separating the tie rod from the front differential as well. Once I had each axle end repositioned, then I used small pieces of plastic, and a combination of liquid cement and CA to keep the axle ends in place. Worked wonderfully!

Final Assembly and Painting

Before I started adding most of the smaller parts, I decided to paint the jeep in phases. Once the body was attached to the chassis (without gluing on the dash) I painted the body/chassis combo, the windshield (without any of the windows yet in), the canvas top, and the other smaller parts. Once this was dry I added the painted up dash, gearshift, hand brake lever, steering wheel control column and the leather painted seats. Once all this was dry I added the steering wheel (I found it was easier to add the steering wheel after the drivers seat was in). At this time I also added all of the external grab handles and such.

Once all of it was dried, I applied the first oil wash, concentrating in the interior. When the oil wash was just about dry, I started to drybrush to bring out the highlights. Like the canvas top, the seats have some excellent, life-like detail molded into them.

Once all oil-wash weathering was complete, I cut out windows out of clear sheet to add to the windshield, glued the windshield down, and then glued the canvas top to the rear of the jeep, and to the windshield. Once the back and front were dry, I then cut and sanded the top supports until they fit. After everything was together, I added masks to the clear windows in the windshield to give the impression of a dirty, wiper-swiped windshield, then dullcoated everything. I then used pastel chalk to add more weathering.

The one really neat aspect of this kit is they include hollowed out headlights. There is no work involved to add MV Lenses to give the impression of headlights. A first in 1/72nd scale! However, I did have to hollow out the rear for the taillight. I also added an HO model railroad white metal shovel and a length of chain to the front bumper.

One thing to keep in mind while viewing the images is this model is only about 4.5 cm long.

Conclusion

If you enjoy Soviet, Great Patriotic War ground subjects, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't buy and build this kit. The Colibri GAZ-67 is the best 1/72nd ground vehicle I have ever built. Almost everything comes with the kit, and those items that do are in scale. A definite difficult feat in 1/72nd scale.

References

• Armada #7, Soviet Jeeps