Wednesday, December 26, 2012

URAL-4320 "Broom"



After a long period of getting nothing done, I have completed a model! This is the Ural 4320 Метла, or "Broom," which is a field modification made by Александр Метла (Alexander Metla, which means broom in Russian) for the VDV airborne forces during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The modification placed a section of a BRDM-2 armored car in the bed of an up-armored URAL-4320 6x6 truck. The 14.5mm gun in the BRDM turret was supplemented by an externally mounted UB-32-57 rocket pod from an aircraft hardpoint. I used the ICM URAL 4320 kit, along with resin wheels from Miniarm and the conversion from KFS miniatures. The KFS conversion is fantastic: I spent less than ten minutes cleaning up the parts before assembly. I wish I could say the same for the resin wheels, which were slightly warped and required a lot of tedious clean-up.


About a week after purchasing the ICM URAL-4320 kit, Trumpeter announced a version of the same vehicle. I knew that if the Trumpeter kit was released before I built the ICM version, the ICM kit would sit on my shelf untouched, forever. So, I started building the truck out of guilt, but I soon came to love the looks of it.


I used Tamiya Olive Green for the truck, and a leftover amount of paint from my T-90A was used for the BRDM-2 hull green. I brush-painted the tan color in thin layers using Vallejo German Beige paint, and applied decals from Trumpeter's BRDM-2 (early) kit. The rocket pod was painted with Alclad II Aircraft Aluminum.


I secured the debris in the bed with AK Interactive Sand and Gravel fixer. This stuff is awesome, because it doesn't change any colors but it still fixes sediment to a surface with relative strength.


I also replaced the mudflaps with embossed foil that I cut to shape with scissors. They have small bends in them like real mudflaps, but they don't have the nasty ejector-pin marks that came with the plastic ones!


I draped some 6b2 ballistic vests over the side rails, using the 'flat' ones in an ICM figure set. I saw some pictures of trucks in Soviet service with these vests draped over the doors for added protection, so I decided to place them on my model.


Along with the vests, I also added some ammo boxes and a rolled-up tarp. I painted these items separately from the model and added them during the weathering.


I tried using some crackle paint for the wood, and I like the results! I found a great suggestion on Alex Benvenuti's blog, in this post. Thanks for the tip, Alex!


A fellow modeler pointed out that I am missing a fuel cap on the small gas tank. I'll get around to it, eventually.



Side-by-side with a T-55A. It's a big truck!
 Thanks for looking!

11 comments:

  1. Hey Kyle! This is a fantastic model and absolutely well built and painted thanks to your extreme care! Really nice! It definitely has a great look! ;) I love it! I have a Henschel 33D1 by ICM but broke many tiny parts on it, so it is dying somewhere on my workbench. But THIS ICM model looks fine!
    Thanks for adding my link to your post! And I'm also very happy that this crackled medium worked for you!
    Have a lovely end of year, and have fun!
    Alex!

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, Alex! Yes, ICM can be very difficult at times, but they make models that nobody else does. I can suffer through if I need to. ;)

      Thanks again for the crackle paint tip!
      Happy new year to you, too!
      -Kyle

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    2. Hi there Kyle!
      What's up? No updates? What are doing right now? :)
      Take care!
      Alex!

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  2. hello Kyle, nice, original and well painted and weathered vehicle
    hubert

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Hubert! I'm glad you like the weathering and painting, because that's my favorite part to do!
      -Kyle

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  3. Beautufil work- and love your oil paint tutorial. This vehicle will be my next project, after my Me509. Cheers!

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    1. Thanks for taking notice, Chuk! I'm a longtime reader of your hilarious and informative build logs. I'm dying to see how you integrate your cartoons into something that isn't German! If you need a stand-in for Fennig the Reichs Mark, I have some Russkie pins and medals that I could send you. The Party organs frown on the use of Fascist symbols in state publications. ;-)

      Happy modeling!
      -Kyle

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  4. Fantastic looking vehicle, details are amazing!
    Phil.

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    1. Thank you, Phil! Your encouragement is empowering. =)
      -Kyle

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[insert fiery hate rhetoric here]