ICM 1/35 URAL 4320 CARGO TRUCK

By Juho Ala-Jaaski

History

According to the kit (I don't have any historical reference of the vehicle besides the information I've heard from several friends), the URAL 4320 truck is diesel driven, and was developed by the URAL automobile factory's design bureau in 1973 located at Miass, Russia.

Production began in 1976 and has continued until the present day. This is due to the vehicle's excellent cross-country capability, and ease of maintenance.

The truck is still in service in many countries, including Finland (The rocket launcher version is used by the Finnish army as well), China, Angola, Cuba, Russia, the Czech Republic and Israel (at least it has been). It has also been in service in Eastern Germany, and many former Soviet Union states, like the Ukraine, etc..

Most recently, the vehicle has been used the Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Yugoslavia.

The kit

The kit is molded in three different shades of green, and clear plastic totaling 291 parts. It also comes with rubber tires.

Detail is adequate, but fit is poor in some places, and parts are often warped. Especially the hood and doors fit poorly. The kit appears to be the Ex-Omega-K kit, and that's probably why it has some problems. Outlines seem to be correct. A full engine is included, but can't be seen from anywhere else than the bottom if you choose to glue the hood shut. Both the hood and doors have working hinges. The kit is broken down into as many parts as possible, so that sure makes painting a lot harder than on some of the most recent Tamiya kits.

I'm trying a different method of review this time to clarify things, so here goes!

Steps 1 and 2

Step 1 involves making the cab floor, and most of the interior. All parts fit well, but make sure you attach the rear window before you attach the seats! It will be behind the driver's seat, so it's impossible to get in afterwards. I painted the seats leather brown. A gas and brake pedal are provided, but strangely, no clutch! I'm not sure if the URAL has automatic transmission, but I highly doubt it. The pedals were painted silver, and the rest of the interior Olive drab. The small tank that attaches to the other step on the side of the cab had 2 small sink holes on it that I had to fill and sand.

Step 2

In step 2 you make the wheels. Carefully remove the moldline in the middle of the tires, and paint and attach the hubs. Real simple! Also, be careful that you attach the tires on the correct way, with the small lines in the middle going on the outside of the tire. Also, make sure you have three left hand threads and 3 right hand threads as the spare wheels has left side thread.(meaning that the Vs point to the front, and the small lines on the sides to the outside of the vehicle)

Step 3

In step 3 you finish the cab. Be careful to check out each part as you go, because there is around 25 parts to attach in this single step. Watch out for the fit of the doors and hood. My sample was missing the steering wheel axle so I had to make one out of a sewing needle. All the clear parts are attached from the inside, so attach those before you glue on the doors. I also suggest gluing the hood either open or closed as it fits fairly poorly. The same goes for the doors. Clear inserts are provided for all the lights (except the turn signals on the fenders). I painted the underside of the spotlight and the headlights chrome silver and the turn signals orange and then attached the lenses. Also, headlight covers are provided if you wish to install them. The mirrors have small sinkmarks on the inside faces that need to be filled. I used pieces of silver paper for the mirror faces. No rear view mirror for the driver's compartment roof is included. The cab was painted olive drab, with black undersides, and orange roof lights. Also, attach the bottoms of the fenders at this stage to be able to fit the fronts of the fenders on properly. I made a yellow license plate to go on the bumper from acetate with the number 585 in black.

Step 4

Step 4 involves the engine. I painted the entire engine gun metal with rusty brown for the exhausts. Also, if you're not positioning the hood open, don't bother to attach all the parts to the engine as they cannot be seen from the small ventilation slits on the sides.

Step 5

Step 5 involves the chassis. After you've glued all the parts together, make sure they sit level. I encountered no fit problems here, and everything lined up by itself. Remember to check off each part in this step too, to keep track of your progress.

Everything was painted flat black.

Step 6

Step 6 involves the axles, and running gear. Everything lined up great. Just don't glue the actuator arms on before you have attached the axles to the chassis. I decided not to put them on at all as they were very hard to get on and I even broke one of them.

Everything was painted flat black again, with silver brake disks.

Step 7

In this step you attach the engine to the chassis, the exhaust, and the spare tire holder.

Everything fit fairly well. I painted the spare tire holder olive drab, and the exhaust rusty brown with black attachments.

Step 8

In this step you attach all the running gear. Almost all the parts can be made moveable, but I glued everything in place. After all, its a model, not a toy! I didn't attach the rear actuator arms at all as they were VERY hard to get to line up properly. Otherwise I used all the parts. I encountered some fit problems with the rear axles and suspension, but I eventually worked it out. Everything was painted, well, you got it! Flat black!

Step 9

In step 9 the cab is attached to the chassis. The fuel tank, and the front bumper are attached also. Everything fit fairly well, but I had to glue the cab on a bit inverted to get it to sit straight. I opted to paint the bumper OD, instead of flat black. After this step, the model is already starting to look like a truck! There are some seams on the fuel tank that needed to be sanded.

The bottoms of the fenders are easier to attach to the cab instead of to the chassis. I forgot to put on part D21, but that's no big deal as it's very hard to see when finished. Also, do not attach the tow hooks until after the cab has been glued on or they will interfere with the cab later. I painted the fuel tank olive Drab, the bottoms of the fenders flat black, and the tow hooks OD also, to match the bumper.

Step 10 and 11

These steps involve the cargo bed. Everything goes together smoothly, but there are some nasty ejector marks inside the cargo bed sides that need to be sanded. I opted to glue to benches in the open position, and painted the mud flaps olive drab, rather than flat black. I painted the chassis attachment rails flat black along with the rear light covers. The lights were painted with silver, orange, and red. I also attached a license plate made out of acetate to the bottom of the other tail light, to match pictures I've seen of Finnish URAL trucks. This was painted light yellow with a black decal number 585. I may add some accessories to the cargo bed later, as I have some left over from the U.S. 2 1/2 ton truck project.

Step 12

Involves attaching the cargo bed to the chassis and the spare tire to the holder. Everything fit great this time, without any trouble.

Painting and weathering

I painted the entire model in olive drab with black undersides and the air vent on the side of the cab. Although the kit comes with three different schemes, normal, desert and Russian winter, with markings for 12 different nations. No marking information is provided from the notes to put any of the national insignias on the doors, and the same numbers are indicated for all the versions.. I would suggest studying your references carefully when it comes to markings. If I hadn't built the kit in Finnish markings I would have probably painted it in the Russian winter scheme. I took the markings for my URAL from my spare decal box. I weathered the kit with pastel chalk, and some oil stains made with a black wash.

Thanks to Ray Mehlberger and Squadron Mail Order for the review sample!!