ICM 1/72 ZiL-131 Armed Forces of Ukraine (72816)

ICM 1/72 ZiL-131 Armed Forces of Ukraine (72816) comes as new small scale release from the famous brand. We reviewed previous versions in the same scale, and now comes the turn of the truck with open rear bed. While plastic itself is not completely new, it is still interesting to see what is inside. Box contains 98 parts which should assemble into a model with 98mm length. Overall packaging style is typical for this brand. Let's open the packaging and check all the parts together.

By the way, here you can read review with bigger brother from the same manufacturer.
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Watch this video where I show all parts even closer.

Let's start with the front cab, which is molded as single-piece element here. All doors and bonnet are shut, so you won't be able to open them.

Interior might look simple on the first sight, but let's not forget about the size of this model. Moreover, it is a great opportunity to do some scratchbuilding.

Main chassis is molded as single-piece element. Such design should make it easier to assemble your truck as you will get the right alignment out of the box.

Rear bed panels are molded on the separate frame. There is no wooden texture on those, but it is a good opportunity to try out some weathering ideas.

Fuel tanks should be glued out of two halves. Be careful with thin parts as those look quite tender. It might be also wise idea to replace those with metal wire.

It is nice to see plastic wheels here instead of typical vinyl offering. Those parts should look a bit more convincing on your model.

Clear parts come in the separate plastic bag. Molding quality looks good, but there are no masks included, so you will have to solve this thing by yourself.

There is no word on where decals were printed, but here you will find all necessary symbols for two markings. Overall quality looks fine, and yes - those are separate sections of the digital camouflage.

You can see both markings on the photo above. All pages from the assembly manual are shown in the video-review.

New ZiL should be already available for purchase. In my opinion it is as good as the previous releases, so you can expect a nice plastic with good details out of the box. Moreover, some modelers might want to try scratchbuilding here too. I see such project as a good opportunity to try out various weathering techniques for even more convincing look. If you are fan of the small scale, then definitely check out this release.

Get this and other kits in Modelimex webshop.