The Kozak-2 has been successfully engaged by the Ukrainian forces in the war against Russia. Several vehicles have been captured and re-used by the Russian forces.

The kit

Released by ICM in 2023 it comes with 7 light grey plastic sprues (462 parts), 2 clear parts sprues (32 parts), 5 vinyl tires, 1 photoetched parts plate (12 parts), 3 decal sheets for the markings and the camo patches, 1 instructions booklet. Not all the parts of the D sprues are used and the only option concerns the wheels rim covers.

The cast is top notch with only thin molding lines. The fit is nearly perfect. The level of detail is very good and the fineness of some parts is to be noted. The only low point is the thickness of the protection cage of the light on the hood. The clear parts are really transparent despite their thickness. The PE protections for the rear lights must be bent however there is no engraved line to do so.

The notice comprises 24 pages and splits the assembly into 136 steps. The drawings are clear enough even though at some steps there are a lot of parts to glue. ICM gives some painting instructions for the interior except for the dashboard which is black. Several decals for the interior are issued however they are not mentioned in the instructions.

The build

It begins with the chassis that you have to fully assemble through 26 steps. The fit is perfect which allows a quick build. When step 26 is completed you need to paint the assembly black.

From step 27 the interior assembly begins. The only difficulty is the fitting of the dashboard at step 39. You must ensure it sits perpendicular to the vehicle axis. ICM has only designed one mark in the middle of the floor. So it is possible for the part to be slightly offset which will prevent the fitting of the hood at step 62. The dials of the dashboard and some push switches are issued as decals but are not mentioned in the instructions. The protections of the seats D49, D50 and D51 are fragile and tricky to glue. It is advised to glue the vertical protections first. When all the seats are assembled and fixed to their supports you can paint them before gluing them onto the floor (step 49).

From step 50 you need to assemble the hull shell. It is made of the sides, the windshield frame, the rear panel and the roof. The build begins with the sides composed of the outer armor plate and the inner liner. The inner face must be painted before gluing the sides to the chassis at step 54 and 57.  If the dashboard has been properly fitted those steps come with no issue.

At step 59 I preferred not to glue the wipers. Likewise at step 61 I didn't glue the rear lights G8. The hull assembly ends at step 64 with the roof fitting.

Steps 65 to 72 deal with the front bumper. The only difficulty is the shaping of the PE headlights guards. To paint the front of the vehicle more easily I didn't glue the bumper at step 72.

Steps 73 to 89 deal with the doors. The painting instructions are not comprehensive. You need to paint black the window frame as well as the molded on rods. To prevent any breakage the rear view mirrors supports are not glued yet. I have glued the doors except for the driver and the rear compartment ones. However they are secured in the closed position till the end of the weathering.

The V shaped belly plate is fitted at steps 90 and 91. At step 92 you need to thin the rubber mud flaps.

Steps 93 to 98 deal with the wheels assembly. The tires are vinyl and present a mold line you need to remove. The tire type is not the one on the boxart however it is correct. To avoid any reaction between the vinyl tire and the plastic rims the tires are painted XF-85 Rubber black. The wheels are temporarily fitted.

Steps 99 to 103 do not require any comment.

At step 104 the cage C9-C10 needs to be thinned prior to adding the mirror support.

At step 108 a positioning hole for the C40 upper tow bar is missing. So the easiest way is to glue first the tow bar C62 and then align C40 with it.

At steps 109 to 113 you have a bunch of grab handles and thin details to glue. The brackets D52 (fuel can holder) and C24 are drilled out.

At steps 114 and 115 you have to align the turning lights protections. The thin marks in the plastic are enough the keep the PE parts in place.

At step 116 you have to bend the rear lights protections. The PE parts do not present any engraved line. The ends must be bent just before 2 mm. The protections are not glued yet. They will be so when the rear bumper is painted and the lights fitted.

From step 121 the cupola assembly begins. It comes with no issue. To ease the rotation of the cupola the tabs under part C4 are thinned. The muzzle of the MG is hollowed.

The build ends with the installation of the cupola at step 136.

The decoration

ICM proposes 3 pixel camo schemes and 4 vehicles with 2 sporting markings seen after the beginning of the war started by Russia. This is one of these that I chose.

For the base paint I applied XF-26 Deep green. The lower parts are painted XF-1 Flat black. When the paint is dry two coats of gloss varnish are applied to ease the decals application. Each decal must be trimmed to avoid the silvering which is time consuming but less than masking and painting the different colors. A coat of varnish seals the decals before the weathering begins with the application of a dark brown wash.

Then a mix of plaster, pigments and white glue is applied with a large brush. The splashes are made with a toothbrush. The wheels are rolled in the mixture to get a random effect. Once the mixture was dry a wash has been applied to darken the shade. To finish various shades of pigments are used to create a dusty look in particular on the horizontal surfaces.

Conclusion

As I only build modern vehicles, this was the first time I built a model by ICM and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. I hope the brand will develop its range of modern vehicles whether they are Ukrainian or Western countries made. I particularly think of a VAB or a CAESAR.