SimonT - 1/72 PST ZIS-5-BZ Fuel Truck

[SimonT]

Morning all,




bought this for the under a fiver build but decided it was a waste of time just slapping it together to create something I wouldn't be happy with so it got promoted to a proper build

Started Saturday evening and had it mostly finished by last night - very speedy by my usual standards

You may notice this is tagged as limited edition on the box - the reality of this is that they deleted all the nice truck body parts and replaced them with a small sprue (the black one in the photos) of fuel tank parts made from really poor quality plastic

it is so bad that it is in layers that peel off - really weird stuff


didn't take too long to remove and clean up all the parts ready for construction - as you can see the floor pan sinkage has already been filled

here are various pictures of the current state in no particular build order as they were mainly taken at the end of the day last night

solid front wings were ground out


front seats textured and mounted on the floor pan - kit would have you fit base to floor and the back inside the cab but it will be easier to paint this way


tank got new (sorry, rather fuzzy) bolt heads on the top filler hatch


i added a valve hand wheel from bits of stretched sprue - this is guesswork as I couldn't find any photos


the kit comes moulded with a front bumper but the instructions tell you to cut it off and make your own bar to fit between the chassis rails

added a radiator cap

added bonnet clips

added some tread for the running boards


fuel hose added from Duro


made a bucket and hook to hang it from - always need a bucket


cage added to the spare wheel


brass tube replaced the kit back axle inside that diff housing and the prop shaft

also made a brass tube tailpipe for the exhaust as kit exhaust has no tail pipe


cab from other side - this has been left removable to aid painting

 

[Steve Jones]

Blimey. That was quick!! Lovely attention to detail as always. Dont fancy your chances with those decals. Will problbly disintegrate as soon as you add water

 

[SimonT]

Hi Steve - yes, the decals do look rather dodgy and will not even be attempted

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Wow, you hit to ground running, Simon! That looks fabulous.

 

[outrunner]

Nice work on that truck as I would probably have put it in the bin.


Andy.

 

[SimonT]

Thanks Neil

Andy - it’s actually not too bad as a 1/72 kit. PST are one of the better small manufacturer. The black plastic is horrible though - presumably for cost reasons they did those parts on the cheap


Just added the dashboard, steering wheel, headlights and made a front axle, oh and a new brass handle for the bucket as the plastic one snapped, so construction just about done

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Well that was quick. You've already made your mark on it. Much improved.
Jim

 

[SimonT]

Hi Jim - just a few tweaks as usual

There is a small grand plan for this to end up on a base with some Zvezda figures and something else if it works out

 

[SimonT]

handbrake and gear lever added


missing window frames added to windscreen and a wiper to top edge - looking at reference photos showed that the upper and lower windscreen sections only had frames on three sides


fire extinguishers got some brackets to hold them on the cab


front end got some top sections on the chassis rails and tow hooks on the front end

short length of chain added around the hooks


grab rails added to sides of tank


the open windscreen frame again



the whole thing got a good coat of one shot black primer very late last night

I used my cheap Iwata Neo to spray the primer this time and it went on fine - none of the problems I had last time spraying it through the Air Viper

 

[Steve Jones]

Some lovely final detailing Mr T. Nice to see the wet stuff on already.

 

[JR]

Like it, very neat work Simon. Nothing like some fine Eastern European plastic kits is there

 

[SimonT]

Steve - must be a record for me. Fully built over three days and primed
I am actually looking forward to doing the paint

Morning John - gotta love ‘em The way they always manage to make bits the wrong size so that they will not fit together without some fettling is amazing

 

[SimonT]

4BO has been flying - attacked it with the AK modulation set

Looks less green in reality - more grey/green

 

[Mini Me]

Just think Mr. T. you are now working in a scale that is only 10% larger than what Paul E. and I work in all the time. Welcome to the "almost" club.

 

[SimonT]

I've been in the 'almost' club for a long long time Rick - started off in 1/76 as that was the standard UK scale

 

[Mini Me]

Glad to hear it...splains a lot. Makes it a lot easier to upscale and add detail than to go down and try to scrape it together from the dust of the earth.

 

[SimonT]

Rick - I do have a very small collection of Roco Minitanks up in the roof stash, purchased cheaply some thirty odd years ago from leftover stock at a shop which closed down
From my foggy memory - a boxed set of three M3 family half tracks, M26 Dragon Wagon with M15 trailer, Gama Goat, M151 mutt, very dubious looking T34 (why I got that one I have no idea), M113, WW2 famous figures, Bradley, command group set (Vietnam era sat around a table - very much like the old Tamiya 1/35 set), 2.5t GMC truck, Scud A. There may be one or two more lurking in a dark corner of the stash. The detail on the newer vehicles is what drew me to them - amazing for the scale

 

[JR]

Simon .
Nice to see some 4BO.Think I might have my car inthat colour next time

A dubious T34 , pray tell more, or even better build it maybe ?

 

[Mini Me]

I know what you mean about the Roco T34. There are better ones available but even they require considerable massaging in order to make them respectable. It would be fun to see your approach to making some of these come to life...if you are ever so inclined. Thanks for sharing that with me. Rick H.

 

[SimonT]

John - buy yourself an ex-Russian vehicle and it will already be the right colour

Tanks’n’stuff

Rick - that T34 is shockingly bad. May have a go at one of the others sometime though. Next time I am up in the roof....