Zis-3Divisional Gun

Manufacturer:Skif (Kit #208)

This is areally cute little model, and takes only a few hours to build.This gun, and it's close cousin the Zis-2, are Skif's first1/72nd scale kits, and I hope they keep up the high quality fortheir upcoming T-26's. Quality of the plastic and molding isexceptional. The level of detail is superb for a kit this small,with so few parts. Assembly was very straightforward, with mostof my time spent sanding off the mold seam along the cannonbarrel. The muzzle brake was molded solid, so I spent some timedrilling out the baffles, and opening up the end. Although itwouldn't be quite as effective, a heavy wash in the baffles woulddo pretty well instead of drilling.

For somereason, they molded the tires in a soft vinyl or rubber. Thepaint went on very well, so we'll see if there are any long-termadhesion problems.

Alsoincluded with the kit, though not pictured, are several shellsand an ammo box. Unfortunately, Skif did not include any crewfigures, which I think was a great oversight, as there are noaftermarket figures available either. It's possible that somewhite metal 20mm or 25mm wargaming figures might be useable. Ican find no references for this gun which include dimensions, soI don't know how well it scales out. The instructions include athree-view drawing showing a three-color camouflage scheme. Nomarkings are included, though I doubt any are needed anyway.