Tamiya 1/48 GAZ-67B Field Car w/Officers Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

GAZ is the acronym for the Gorkij Avtomobiliy Zavod (Auto Factory in Gorky) which was responsible for producing an indigenous 4x4 utility vehicle for the Soviet Army. The first vehicle was the GAZ-61 in 1938, with newer versions coming along to incorporate engineering improvements.

The GAZ-67 started production in 1943 as a 4x4 Staff Vehicle and was so successful, that production of the type continued through 1953. Built from an assembly line that was developed by the Ford Motor Company, much of the design in the GAZ-67 (and its predecessors) was based on the Model T rather than the (then) current Ford Jeep.

Tamiya has reissued their 1/48 GAZ-67B 'Jeep' in this limited edition set bundled with some very nice figures from ICM. Here is a vehicle, like the US Jeep, that would look as natural next to a World War II fighter or combat vehicle as it would next to a Korean War vintage MiG-15.

The kit consists of one tree of olive green parts that make up this nicely detailed vehicle. This basic kit also includes a driver figure seated behind the wheel.

This special edition release includes two more trees from ICM, one in desert yellow and the other in gray styrene. The desert yellow tree provides seven figures: thee male officers, one female officer, and three soldiers that make up a machine gun team. The gray tree contains the wheeled machine gun and a variety of personal weapons and field gear.

This is another nice limited edition release. The GAZ-67B with the ICM figures and gear provide the makings of a nice vignette straight out of the box, or some great background filler for a T-34/85, Yak-9, or even MiG-15 diorama.

My sincere thanks to HobbyLink Japan for this review sample!