The Ural-4320 is a durable 6 x 6 off-road truck, produced at the Ural Automotive Plant for the Russian army and civilian use. Introduced in 1976, it is still in production today and has been adapted for a variety of roles. Kitty Hawk’s 1/48 scale kit builds into two full trucks, a standard cargo truck and a Ural APA-5D airfield starter vehicle.
Construction for both starts with the frame. I encountered a few easily solved fit and part issues in the first few assembly steps. For example, a some parts had locator pegs on both parts rather than pegs and holes. I had to shave off both sets of pegs and align the parts by eye.
I suggest drilling a hole in Part B8 before installation so the driveshaft fits into the transfer case.
In Step 21, leave the box and step (parts B60, B61, and B62) off until later. There are no locators and if the position is incorrect, the main body won’t fit on the frame. It’s much easier to treat it as a subassembly and attach it after everything else is on and its position is obvious.
I had fewer problems with the cab and bed, although there are still competing pegs that need to be removed. I left the doors off until final assembly, and I trimmed plastic from the cab ceiling to miss the thick door windows and allow the doors to close. Test-fit these parts before painting to avoid having to touch up the finish late in the process.
The kit supplies vinyl for the cables on the on the APA-5D, but the instructions omit any mention of them. I used photos to locate them on my starter truck.
I painted the Russian green trucks with a mix of Vallejo Model Air and Ammo by Mig Jimenez acrylics over Badger Stynylrez black primer. The vinyl tires did not take paint well. I’m not sure if the paint reacted to the material, but it never seemed to dry completely and remained slightly tacky.
After 40 hours work, the kit produced two good-looking trucks that would be at home with a 1/48 scale Russian fighter. But the fit problems and mismatched locators complicate assembly, so I recommend it only for experienced builders.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the December 2020 issue.