Tank Model

1/35 Soviet AKS-74U 5.45mm Assault Rifle

Kit Number: A-129

Reviewed by  Bart Cusumano, IPMS# 31882

MSRP: $9.00 Website: www.tank-model.ru The AKS-74U (also referred to as the AKSU-74 or AK-74SU) was developed in 1974 by Mikhail Kalashnikov as a small, lightweight assault weapon, intended primarily for use by vehicle crews, Special Forces and artillery teams. The weapon utilizes a 5.45 x 39mm M74 cartridge (carried in a 30 round detachable box magazine) and fires at a rate of up to 735 rounds per minute, with an effective range of about 200 meters. The AKS-74U's action is a gas operated rotating bolt with two lugs. It weighs a little less than 3 kg (2.2 lb.. per kg). Tank Model has issued item #A-129: a set of six resin-cast AKS-74U's. Each tiny casting comes on it's own pour stub and so must be carefully removed - especially at the rear of the folding stock. They come in a clear poly zip-bag with a cardboard fold-over at the top and back. There are no instructions or painting guide provided.

I have reviewed a couple of other Tank products, which I found to be totally clean in their casting, so I was surprised at the amount of clean up that I had to do on these tiny weapons: not only of resin flash, but of some very annoying and difficult to remove molding seams around the entire outside vertical surfaces of the castings. The resin itself is almost perfect in it's texture - not too brittle and not too soft, so I did not break anything during cleanup and prep. I was even able to drill out one of the iron sights using a small mini-drill bit, as well as the end of the gun barrel with no incident. The overall casting crispness rates an 8 on my crispness scale of 1 to 10. I did find that there were some quality inconsistencies among the six samples in my package: things like filled in trigger guards and the like. Not a big deal I guess, but I expect the casting quality of my resin accessories to be crisp, clean and consistent every time, since I will often use more than one on and around a vehicle. This is why I am usually willing to spend more on resin accessories - less clean up and crisper details. I found quite a bit of information on the AKS-74U on the Internet and so the lack of instructions was not a big deal. The final product does look good and is a very good representation of this Soviet assault weapon incorporating most, if not all of the (visible in 1:35 scale) details of the actual weapons. I finished my samples using Humbrol enamels, printer's ink and graphite and was pleased with the final result - until I dull coated them and lost all of the dark metallic sheen from the graphite that I worked so hard to apply - oh well, live and learn. I guess I'll have to go back to the drawing board on my gunmetal finishes.

The MSRP on this set is $9.00, but you can probably get them for less. If you have a need for this type of weapon in your next project, I can recommend them for their scale fidelity. Many thanks to Tank Models for providing the sample and to John Noack for allowing me the pleasure of doing this review.

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