Russian 76.2mm Field Gun m.1902/30

Kit # 72252

This Soviet light field gun is an improved version of the Pulitov model m1902 (ACE kit #72257) with a longer 40-caliber long (L40) gun barrel, a new gunsight and a few other changes, but essentially the same weapon. The above impressive boxart shows the breech end of the gun with new gunsight and a 76.2-mm round, a good reference for later painting. This ammunition appears comparable to the French and American 75-mm round.
The kit includes three sprues of injection molded, light gray styrene plastic. At top is the sprue for the gun and carriage, with the two parts for the gun shield at top center, and a sprue for the wheels and small parts. The sprue for the gun limber is the same as for kits #72257 and kit #72265 so I decided not to show it here. Detail is good though maybe soft and the parts have some flash depending on how old ACE’s mold is. No etched brass is included as with kit #72265.
This photo of the kit instructions shows assembly of the gun and the limber. The limber carried ammunition, personal gear and two crewmembers. No crewmembers, horses or harness is included in the model kit. ACE provided links to reference photos for this gun at their website.
This field gun served with the Soviet Red Army during the 1930’s and saw some use during WW2. The weapon color should be khaki or olive green. Being horse drawn, the wooden wheels had steel tires (bands) so the worn steel can be simulated with a soft graphite pencil. I am not aware of any other small-scale model of this weapon in plastic or resin.
This kit is quite and improvement over the resin kit from AER Models. Compare this ACE styrene plastic model with AER’s more crude resin model #7256. AER’s m1902/30 model does, however, come with crude but an otherwise spiffy farm tractor model for towing it.

Article Last Updated: 21 July 2009