Soviet 76.2-mm M1927 Infantry Gun

Kit #: 6145 Review by Stephen Brezinski
Edited by
Rob Haelterman

This 1/72-scale model kit represents a 76-mm Infantry Gun Model 1927 manufactured and used by the Soviet Army from 1927 throughout the Second World War. This gun is characterized by the gun shield, the short barrel, a box trail (with limited traverse) and large rubber tired wheels for motorized towing. Hundreds of these were captured and used by the Axis armies, designated the 7.62-cm Infanteriekanonehaubitze 290(r) by the Germans.

The infantry gun is typically a low velocity gun of about 75-mm (3-inch) caliber and is part of the field artillery, i.e. artillery used for immediate fire support within a division so it would serve near the front lines.

  • Examining the box art we see a simple but accurate painting of the gun in use near a forest edge. The wheels are fairly large in relation to the gun and in comparison with British, US and German infantry guns of this caliber.
  • The gun is being served by two crew members, and while I am sure this happened during combat, the normal crew would be more like five or six. A German crew is an option.
  • The weapon and uniforms in this painting are a light forest green or pea-green, but I have read that the color was more likely to be khaki or olive.
  • At the upper right corner it states “No glue required.”

The Parts

  • There are 24 dark green color, injection-molded, styrene plastic parts on two sprues. There are 13 parts to the gun, eight parts for two crew figures, a base, and a flag. The kit is designed for wargaming and comes with a “unit card” for a game called Art Of Tactic.

  • The above sprue contains the 13 parts for the M1927 field gun. Molding quality and detail appear very good. The gun muzzle will need to be drilled out. Each part is numbered.
  • At upper left is the gun’s box carriage, upper right is the gun shield, at center right is the gun sight (which is often not included in artillery models) and the delicate elevation handwheel. There is only one handwheel; no second, traverse handwheel (?).

  • This sprue contains the crew figures, the base and a flag for use when gaming. Fidelity of each 4-part figure is very nice. A display modeler can leave off the flag.

  • The exploded-view type assembly instructions are very good. Make note that even though the kit has two sprues, all the parts are labeled as from sprue-A.
  • From the placement it appears that we are given a loader figure and an ammunition supply figure. For me I will likely place the loader to the left side of the gun behind the gunsight and handwheel so as to represent a gunner. This conversion will likely involve switching the arms between the two figures.

Reference:

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Article Last Updated: 23 October 2012