Zil-157 Soviet Army Truck

Manufacturer: Trumpeter (# 01101)

Trumpeter is a Chinese manufacturer with very inconsistent releases. Some of their aircraft and 1/35th armor releases are simply cheap copies of other manufacturer's kits. Whereas others are brand new molds, sometimes of high quality. Their small scale armor kits are of the latter category. I have read that this kit is NOT a direct re-boxing of the ICM kit, but rather, an improved copy of it. Trumpeter has apparently cleaned up the molds considerably, and re-engineered certain aspects of the kit, so that this version is superior to the ICM version.

The kit is fairly well molded. No flash, and very few sink marks. The detail is very sharp on some parts, but a little soft on some others. It's not as highly detailed as, say, the MGD Gaz-AA/AAA kits, but it is overall pretty good nonetheless.

The clear parts are a little thick, and Trumpeter has included replacement wind screens in very thin sheet plastic. The axles are included in metal. The decal choices are few, but well-printed.

I like this kit a lot, and will probably buy others from this manufacturer. Wouldn't it be great if Trumpeter would begin a line of modern Chinese main battle tanks?


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