I was so happy when I found this old model in the exchange stash at the IPMS Ireland Nationals 2025.

It is simple, and it’s a great subject - an old civilian truck, which not only did I see in person many times, but also grew to love in Snowrunner (a video game).

KrAZ-258

It is an old soviet 6x6 truck, manufactured at KrAZ plant in Ukraine. Younger people may know it as Tayga 6455B in Snowrunner.

This particular model depicts a civilian tractor with a fuel semi-trailer, a very appealing subject to me as a Snowrunner fan.

Model quality

It’s pretty bad. Very basic instructions, almost no locator pins. Brittle plastic, big ejector marks, big mold lines. But that’s part of the charm, at least for me - I started my modelling journey with such kits.

Build notes

The build was relatively straightforward, despite kit’s problems.

I had to replace the brittle plastic with brass wire in a few places, such as trailer’s fenders, or truck mirrors.

wip_01 wip_02

Dealing with gaps and mold lines on a semi-trailer was a huge pain. I also tried a new putty for this build, an Acrylic one from AK. Didn’t like it at all - it doesn’t bite into the plastic, so often chips away when sanded. Plus it takes hours to dry.

I much prefer the good old plastic putty from Revell or Tamiya.

For painting I used Tamiya paint - sky blue for the cab (love this colour on the old soviet trucks), orange for the cistern. I hate painting orange, takes so many layers to build up the coverage. Just after I finished it, I learned that you are much better off with a red, brown or pink undercoat. Will use it next time.

For the headlights and mirrors I used my new chrome markers. Not perfect, but better than all the paint I tried, so I’m rather happy.

To be continued…