Zvezda 1/35 Gaz M1

Dave Ward

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As my Defiant is going well for the BoB GB, I decided to have another model on the go, I picked out this
Zvezda Gaz M1.jpg
I've had it quite a while, and I know there is a part missing, but nothing that a bit of plastic card & filler won't fix.
The Gaz M1 was in production from 1936 -1943, just under 63,000 being produced. The car was originally based on the Ford Model B of 1934, but the suspension was completely redesigned to cope with Russian road conditions. Later versions had a Chrysler designed 6 cylinder engine, of 75hp, compared to the 50hp earlier Ford based engine.
As is usual for Zvezda, the model is supplied in a box-in-a-box, to withstand arduous shipping journeys. It has 2 large sprues & 2 small in grey plastic & one clear sprue for the windows. NO vinyl tyres - all plastic sandwiches.
At first inspection there is no flash, and the parts look crisply moulded. This was an ebay purchase, and there was no guarantee that it was complete. I checked, and there is one part missing, the front seat bottom/back. It looks to be flat surfaces, so making a replacement shouldn't be a problem.
I'll put up some sprue/detail shots tomorrow.......................
Dave
 
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Neil Merryweather

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I'm in Dave- it looks like something my dad used to drive in the early sixties-
the smell of petrol and leather-
oops wrong forum!
 

Dave Ward

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Sprue shots
DSCF0743.JPGDSCF0744.JPGDSCF0745.JPG

And a few detail shotsDSCF0746.JPGDSCF0747.JPGDSCF0748.JPGDSCF0749.JPGDSCF0751.JPG

The part that is missing - A9
DSCF0752.JPG

Two finish variants - all black, with a red stripe ( decals ), or all midnight blue, I'll have to have a think about it.................
Dave
 

Dave Ward

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Off to a start - you need a new scalpel blade, some of the parts are really tiny & fragile
The body pan has it's springs & strengthening webs added
DSCF0757.JPG
AS usual, with Zvezda, the spigots for location are a tight fit, close inspections of the instructions & dry fitting are essential!
Dave
 
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JR

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Of course I'm in front seat.
That detailing on the rad cover and tyres looks ok.
 

Dave Ward

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I thought that a sniff of something Russian would attract your attention, Comrade Race
I've looked for pictures of the Gaz - there are obviously a lot of black & white pictures, the colour photos being of restored vehicles, like this beauty
8cae82es-960.jpg
One windscreen wiper - and don't the Russian love their white walled tyres!
Dave
 

Dave Ward

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I may be wrong, but is the Zvezda M1 the only 1/35 model of a Russian civilian car? ICM do a Moskvitch 401, but that was an Opel Kadett based car. Stalin used to be driven round in a Packard, and I can't recall any of the 50's Zil limos being modelled. What civilian cars were actually around late 40s- early 60s ( pre Lada )?
Dave
 

KarlW

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Not a lot of cars, I believe GAZ was created in patnership with Ford and a lot of the initial post war stuff was licenced copies of other makes cars.
 

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I thought that a sniff of something Russian would attract your attention, Comrade Race
I've looked for pictures of the Gaz - there are obviously a lot of black & white pictures, the colour photos being of restored vehicles, like this beauty
View attachment 392818
One windscreen wiper - and don't the Russian love their white walled tyres!
Dave
Ooh, suicide doors as well.

Andy.
 

Dave Ward

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Not much benchtime today - the second day in a row, I actually went out, and had a coffee with a couple of mates. One of them is a little stir-crazy ( or cabin fever! ), so pubs opening etc is a great benefit to him ( he doesn't have any hobbies, other than going to the pub & watching football ! )
The Gaz M1 - a model that you can sit down to for an hour or so, and it doesn't look very much different from when you started!
DSCF0762.JPG
I made a new seatback & bottom to replace the missing part
DSCF0761.JPG

The construction sequence would have you building up the bodywork onto the floorpan, but this means adding the windows ( can only be fitted from inside ) at an early stage. I'm hoping to build up the shell, so it's still loose & fit glazing later.
DSCF0760.JPG
All of the seams are butt joints with minimal location pegs.
DSCF0763.JPG
I've joined the 3 rear sections & dry fitted to the floorpan. I'll add the roof next, along with the front firewall/screen. Hopefully this way, I can see to any seams & paint internally & externally before final assembly, and still have room to fit the windows.
There are separate pillars to hang the front doors on. The fit has been excellent so far, and this will be a real test - either the doors won't fit, or there will be huge gaps!
Dave
 

Neil Merryweather

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It's looking great Dave.
With all that detail underneath it's really crying out to be on it's side in a wreck dio .....
just sayin' ;)
 

Dave Ward

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Neil,
still got the axles, prop shaft, diff, & steering to fit, not to mention the exhaust pipe, all in an area 45mm X 100mm - it's quite busy. Then, there's the engine..................
Dave
 

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You are doing a great job Dave, it's a Zvezda kit so it will be fine. I did not realise there was so much detail in the car models, food for thought.

Andy.
 

Dave Ward

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Added the engine, really just to locate the propshaft & the exhaust pipe.
DSCF0766.JPG
The bodywork is still loose, it's a fragile affair, with only butt joints, and especially at the front, with the skinny 'A' pillars, I may add the doors, to strengthen the assembly - still leaving me access to finish the interior. ( that front seams looks bad.... )
You definitely have to think ahead about how to paint the M1, it's NOT a Tamiya shake &nt seam bake!
Dave
 

Dave Ward

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Well, the M1 is very fragile - I decided I had to add the doors, to strengthen the bodywork. Even with a new scalpel blade, and care, I still managed to break a window frame......................
I repaired that, then adding the doors - they're all very thin, and butt join to each other & the main body.
DSCF0771.JPG
Just lightly clamped to keep all the shut lines closed - I ran TET on the inside joints.
It would have been easier to build the body onto the chassis directly, but that would have caused major problems with later painting. This way, I can essentially finish the external bodywork before adding the windows - with an all-black finish, any flaws will really jump out.
The interior still has the door cards, door handles, instruments etc to add - the seats, pedals, gear stick etc will be added to the floorpan.
I'm enjoying this, but it is not a model you can rush - I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a beginner.
I have my German staff cars in the stash, and I was looking to see what was available in 1/35 or 1/32 cars of this era. The answer is not a lot - unless you want to spend a lot of money on a collectible Airfix, or Matchbox rarity!
I've looked at the Heller 1/24 car models, but can't really find out much about them, they seem to date from the 70s-80s............
Dave
 

Dave Ward

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Whilst trying to find info on the interior colour of the M1, I came across a Russian site, which had some interesting photos..............
gaz pickup.jpg
I'd read that there was a pickup version, but I wasn't expecting this!
gaz m1 halftrack.jpg

Looks almost like a bolt-on option to a 6 X 4 M1 version!
Dave
 

Dave Ward

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After finishing my BP Defiant for the BoB GB, I'm happily returning to this little beauty. After my research I find that the interior seems to have been grey, there are pictures of other colours, but seem to be of post-war restored versions - I'll use two slightly different greys, one for the upholstery & door cards, and the other for the floor covering & headlining ( I don't even know if was carpet! ). The dashboard is down as wood - but I don't think polished walnut would be correct socialism!
Dave
 

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Just a point on interest .
Motor vehicle production in the USSR, 1929-1950

Russia had no automotive industry prior to the Soviet era. Automobiles were manufactured, but only in small quantity and by importing the main components from abroad.[1]

After the 1917 October Revolution, Russo-Balt was nationalised on August 15, 1918, and renamed to Prombron by the new leadership. It continued the production of Russo-Balt cars and launched a new model on October 8, 1922, while AMO built FIAT 15 Ter trucks under licence and released a more modern FIAT-derived truck developed by a team of AMO designers, the AMO-F-15. About 6,000–6,500 F-15s were built in the years 1924–1931.[2][3]

A Citroen plant built before the war was allowed to operate as a private business until 1921, when it was nationalized.[4]

The first fully Soviet-made vehicles were manufactured by the AMO plant in Moscow on 7 November 1924.[1] In 1927, engineers from the Scientific Automobile & Motor Institute (NAMI) created the first original Soviet car NAMI-I, which was produced in small numbers by the Spartak State Automobile Factory in Moscow, between 1927 and 1931.[5]

In the early decades after the Revolution, Gorky and Moscow became the main centers of motor vehicle manufacturing. As in Western countries, components for the industry were produced in a large number of different places.[6]

Stalinist pressure for rapid industrialization and appreciation for economies of scale brought about the construction in the late 1920s and early 1930s of massive factories manufacturing highly standard vehicle and slowly changing product lines. Construction of the Moscow (ZIL), Gor‘kiy, and Yaroslavl' plants, partly or totally built by Western firms, increased production from a few thousand vehicles in 1928 to 200,000 vehicles in 1937, nearly all of them trucks.[7]

In 1929, due to a rapidly growing demand for automobiles and in cooperation with its trade partner, the Ford Motor Company, the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy established GAZ.[8][9]

A year later, a second automobile plant was founded in Moscow, which would become a major Soviet car maker after World War II and earn nationwide fame under the name Moskvitch. However, due to specific government aims and economic hardships of that time, cars were only a small share of all vehicles produced in the early years of Soviet production.

In 1937, the Soviet Union produced over 200,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, putting the country in second place worldwide by production of trucks.[1]

Between 1932 and 1939 the amount of car production in the Soviet Union increased up to 844,6%
Thanks To Wikipedia.
Nice photo .
1596112056153.png

Lots of collaboration between designers from Europe esp Germany in the pre war days.

1596112218937.png Ivanov at the start of the Russian Grand Prix in 1913 driving Russo-Baltique C24/58 4-cylinder car.

Russo-Balt produced trucks, buses and cars, often more or less copies of cars from the German Rex-Simplex or Belgian Fondu Trucks.
 
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