Kit Review: Miniart 1/35 scale Kit No. 35052; Soviet Artillery Tractor Ya-1=
2 Early Prod.; 485 parts (442 in grey styrene, 37 etched brass, 6 clear sty= rene); retail price US$82.00Advantages: first kit of this vehicle in styrene; compliments Soviet corps-= level artillery pieces
Disadvantages: Nothing major noted
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all WWII Soviet Artillery fans \
It did not take the Soviets long to figure out their heavier artillery pie= ces needed to switch from horse-drawn to mechanical drayage and even during= the late 1930s they began creating suitable tractors for use as prime move= rs. The two most prevalent ones, the =93Stalinets=94 and the =93Voroshilove= ts=94, soon showed themselves to be functional but complex and closing on o= bsolescence. As a result, in 1942 the Automotive Scientific Technical Insti= tute (NATI) began working on a design for a twin-engined prime mover using = GAZ-MM truck engines. But as the Gor=92kiy Automotive Plant (GAZ) was worki= ng full bore on their GAZ-MM and GAZ-AAA trucks plus the T-70 series of lig= ht tanks, they could not meet any external demands for engines.=20
The development of the new tractor had been tasked to the Yaroslavl=92 Aut= omotive Plant (YaAZ) and they developed the Ya-11, but as it used the GAZ-A= A engines they had to find another source. Happily, the US was shipping the= m a large number of GMC 4-71 supercharged four-cylinder diesel engines that= produced 110 HP which was perfect for their use. The new vehicle, re-engin= ed with GMC diesel, was dubbed the Ya-12.=20
The original design had used many GAZ parts other than the engines, and th= at included the running gear of the T-60 light tank. As a result, the first= Ya-12 tractors built all had T-60 running gear as well, but later switched= to a cast six-spoke road wheel among other improvements. Between August 19=
43 and May 1945 1,666 Ya-12 prime movers were built, and at least 1,270 wer= e still in service at the end of the war.=20Since the little tractor had a drawbaw pull of 8,000 kilograms, it was wel= l suited for most of the Soviet towed medium and heavy artillery, including= the 100mm BS-3 antitank gun, the 122mm A-19 corps gun, the 152mm ML-20 gun= /howitzer, or even on occasion the mighty 203mm B-4M howitzer. But it could= be found with other pieces as well, such as the 122mm M-30 or 152mm D-1 ho= witzers.=20
Miniarm has now released a lovely kit of this little tractor, which is goo= d timing as companies such as Trumpeter have released the A-19 and ML-20 so= these guns now have a prime mover. With nearly 500 parts to it, this is a = very detailed little beast and presents a excellent representation of the v= ehicle.=20
The GMC 4-71 engine, blower and transmission are made up of 36 parts and p= rovide plenty of detail for this motor. Each torsion bar suspension is buil= t up from a case, two bars, two supports, and two end units. Five assemblie= s are joined to the side frames to create the chassis, and front and rear b= eams lock it in place. The first 21 steps in the directions cover the assem= bly of the engine and chassis, and the directions are neatly drawn and CLEA= R.
Step 22 begins construction of the cab, which includes all of the simple b= ut sturdy controls used with the tractor.=20
The headlight is installed in the left fender box in Step 27; due to its c= onstruction, this will be difficult to replace with a lens such as an MV Le= ns or other reflective resin product. It has to be installed prior to assem= bly of the fender box, which covers the storage batteries as well.=20
The doors use a =93sandwich=94 construction that permits the windows to be= placed at any height the modeler desires from full up to full down; it wou= ld appear these are the old-fashioned leather strap type as no crank elemen= t is provided.=20
The hood is assembled and installed in Step 30, but the directions show it= cemented in place which negates all the work done on the engine. The track= s are also installed here, 87 links per side leaving six extras.=20
The seats may be installed up or down, and Steps 31-32 show how this is do= ne.=20
A molded body tarpaulin is provided and is also fitted with flaps along th= e side to replicate being fastened to the body. However, no fasteners or ro= pe rigging directions are included, so I am not sure how it attached in rea= l life.=20
Four finishing options are included, but no units are indicated: all are i= n 4BO green. Note that during this period of the war the entire vehicle was= painted that color and the frame was NOT black. The options are: white squ= are 1; D2; registration number G-271-00 with crossed cannons; and 3. A smal= l sheet of decals is provided for these markings.=20
Overall this is a gorgeous little model. While it may seem expensive, mode= lers need to stop and think that this is probably going to be a low-volume = kit and that Miniart does need to recover its expenses; still, it is a grea= t option and gives modelers yet another option for prime movers.
Thanks to MRC for the review sample. =20 Cookie Sewell