Manufacturer: ICM (Ukraine), distributed by ICM, 2600 Spring St., Redwood City, CA 94063, 650-365-7200.
Kit: No. 72561
Scale: 1/72
Price: $9.98
Comments: Injection molded, 99 parts (3 metal), decals.
Pros: Neat subject for aircraft dioramas, looks right when finished.
Cons: Little detail, vague instructions, some fit problems.

The historical notes in ICM’s instructions say that the ZiL truck won the 1958 Grand Prix and World Auto Show in Brussels. That must have been a design award, as I can’t imagine this truck careering around some race course. This six-wheeled cross-country vehicle was designed to operate in a wide variety of roles in the Soviet Armed Forces, including mobile command truck, communication vehicles, troop transport, and aircraft fuel truck.

ICM’s Zil-157 fuel truck is molded in slightly soft plastic with both recessed and raised surface detail. In fact, there’s not much detail. The cab has a bench seat, steering wheel, and stick shift. The best details are the grille, tires, and wheels. Assembly was straightforward, however parts placement in the instructions was vague so dry-fit the parts first, especially in the suspension system. There are part numbers given in the instructions, but none on the parts or sprues.

Brass rods are provided for axles, and you’ll need to test fit them to the wheels and position them on the chassis to determine how much extra rod must be trimmed off.

If you place the truck bed too far forward, the front fenders will rub against the tires and the rear fenders will butt against the truck’s own fuel tank. Although alignment was tricky, the parts glued together without any trouble. I didn’t use any filler on the model.

I painted my model with Testor Model Master Russian Topside Green. The kit decals went on well and reacted favorably with Solvaset.

I spent 10 hours on the model and it looks good standing in front of my 1950s era Soviet jet fighter collection.

David P. Anderson