Jose Maria Teja MW Streetcar

This type of tram car was first produced in 1927 and served until the sixties in some of the most important cities of the Soviet Union. The model is composed of 265 pieces in 10 sprues molded in white, tan and clear color, a sturdy vacuformed base (measuring 21 x 11 cm), a small decal sheet and an instruction booklet. Considering this is a short run kit, the pieces are fairly defined and clean. Flash and seams are only moderately present. Maybe I was just lucky and got an early sample before the molds began to deteriorate. The kit is well detailed in and out. Benches, handrails and driver’s stations take a large account of the pieces to make the busy interior of the car. Equally attended are the chassis and bogies construction.



Two copies of the same clear sprue compose the parts for headlamps and the numerous windows. These latter are fairly tick and blurry and it would be better to replace them with clear plastic sheet or acetate.
Also included are 2 street poles for the electrical wiring of the tramway, though you will have to provide the thread or wire for it. There aren’t rail tracks per se included in the kit to place the tram but the aforementioned vacuformed base that represents a cobblestoned street with recessed tracks running through it, so together with the poles, a small diorama can be created.

	The decals are for 1 car number 385 from an unspecified city in the years 30-40s. Instructions are straightforward and include top views of some of the tricky assemblies.


Conclusion Overall this is a really interesting and nice rendered piece well suited for a Soviet city diorama. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh_(tramcar) Preview sample purchased by the author.

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Article Last Updated: 18 August 2014