Eastern Express are a Russian manufacturer, that have been around 1992, they are mostly known for reboxes of reboxes, although they do seem to be producing some 'new' stuff recently.
The ZiS-42 was a half-track based on the standard ZiS-5 truck. It could be fitted with ski-shoes on the front wheels to improve performance.
Scalemates doesn't help with the source of this model - it's obviously not modern moulds! This has been in my stash for a long time - an ebay purchase.............
Battered flimsy box, with rather cartoonish boxart - note the canvas top ( of which more later )
Sprue shots
The sprues are reasonably clean, some flash, but not on any parts. There are ejector pin marks, and the ingates are big, and in inconvenient places - a lot of clean up will be needed. The tyres are hard plastic, the tracks stiff vinyl. The decals are largely irrelevant - they don't really seem to belong!
Instructions - photocopied A4 plain paper - they look a little vague in places!
The canvas top seems to have been deleted from the model - the instructions show the assembly, but are over stamped with what I assume is 'not included'
Detail shots
Some nice detail - but spoiled by ejector pin marks.
This so much a last century model - it has thick sprues, large ingates & detail is heavy in places, but the general shapes are there, for those willing to put some time into it. Not for a beginner, purely for the clean up needed, and those vinyl tracks will probably cause problems, but I don't think you will be able to find any replacements. A bit of research should throw up some variants, although it is an obscure subject. If you want one, it's the only game in town!
Availability - not really!! Ebay & pre-owned sites are the only places these will be found ( there are 1/72 models around ). Due to it's scarcity, I suppose prices will be high, but I can't honestly see this as a collectable!
Dave
The ZiS-42 was a half-track based on the standard ZiS-5 truck. It could be fitted with ski-shoes on the front wheels to improve performance.
Scalemates doesn't help with the source of this model - it's obviously not modern moulds! This has been in my stash for a long time - an ebay purchase.............
Battered flimsy box, with rather cartoonish boxart - note the canvas top ( of which more later )Sprue shots
The sprues are reasonably clean, some flash, but not on any parts. There are ejector pin marks, and the ingates are big, and in inconvenient places - a lot of clean up will be needed. The tyres are hard plastic, the tracks stiff vinyl. The decals are largely irrelevant - they don't really seem to belong!Instructions - photocopied A4 plain paper - they look a little vague in places!
The canvas top seems to have been deleted from the model - the instructions show the assembly, but are over stamped with what I assume is 'not included'
Detail shots
Some nice detail - but spoiled by ejector pin marks.
This so much a last century model - it has thick sprues, large ingates & detail is heavy in places, but the general shapes are there, for those willing to put some time into it. Not for a beginner, purely for the clean up needed, and those vinyl tracks will probably cause problems, but I don't think you will be able to find any replacements. A bit of research should throw up some variants, although it is an obscure subject. If you want one, it's the only game in town!
Availability - not really!! Ebay & pre-owned sites are the only places these will be found ( there are 1/72 models around ). Due to it's scarcity, I suppose prices will be high, but I can't honestly see this as a collectable!
Dave
