Zvezda’s Vickers Machine Gun with Crew and another give-away

Another great little 1/72 kit from Zvezda’s Art of Tactic range. When you look on the cover art of the box one thing is immediately obvious, namely that the machine gun looks somewhat strange. Yep, the real thing didn’t have the shield. So if you’re building this kit, just skip that (I used mine for one of my LRDG vehicles).

The cover says it is usable for 1939 to -43, but considering that the crew is wearing gas masks and 1939 pattern entrenching tool I would advise against using it later than 41, if that. Anyway it is perfect for BEF 1940 and Operation Seelöwe.

One thing missing in the kit is the condensation can that was used to preserve cooling water. I scrounged one from a Hät-set of British machine guns.

The soldiers were painted as presented in the painting tutorial.

Don't forget my give-away, open until December 22.

Don't forget The Batman Holiday Giveaway at Tales of a Tabletop Skirmisher. Great site, great giveaway

German motorcycles with sidecars, a 1/72 comparison

A short comparison between the different sidecar combinations I have

- Zvezda BMW R12

- Hät/Armourcast BMW R75

- Revell BMW from the SdKfz 11 set I think

 

Hät vs Zvezda

As you can see the Hät model is crude, huge and the figures are rather…apelike….

Zvezda vs Revell

The Revell model is smaller and less details than Zvezda.

The winner: Zvezda! No real competition here.

There is an Italeri-set that would be interesting as a comparison, but it’s not very high up on my to-buy list at the moment.

German BMW R12 in 1/72 from Zvezda

Another very nice kit from Zvezdas’ Art of Tactic series.

The motorcycle is in four pieces and six parts for the sidecar. Nice and well detailed, but I had to hide a very visible gap with tarps (from Reiver Castings).

Forgot to finish the BMW logo. Done now and not a complete success. It is sooooo small.

I strongly suggest that you paint the motorcycle and the sidecar as separate pieces. Trust me, it’s fiddly to paint the assembled model…

The driver comes in four pieces, and I found that the gaps where his arms connect to his body needed some green-stuff. The passenger is also 4 pieces, and comes integral with his MG.

Forget about painting the logo on this side when the kit is assembled...

The number plates were written with a Staedtler pigment liner 0.05 pen. I've had the pen for ages, but this was the first time I've tried it, and the result is okay I think. I need some practise though. 

As you can see it is a well detailed kit, and I’m very happy with it, but there are some things that could have been better.

Sidecar – the way the upper part of the carriage connects to the rest is less than ideal. Also the way the MG is attached to the sidecar is rather crude.

The wheels are… well…okay I guess. But they could have been better.

The chest of the figures are rather lacking detail. Can’t really figure out why. Seems to be a rather common with the Art of Tactic figures unfortunately.

They don’t wear goggles. Probably a bad idea in real life.

Coming up, a comparison of this model and the Hät/Armourfast set of motorcycles with sidecars.

Welcome follower Dan with his blog Gunners Wargaming where you will find 15mm to 1/35, ancients to WWII to fantasy to SF. A bit of this and that. Check it out.

German Medical Personnel in 1/72 by Zvezda

Another offering from Zvezda’s Art of Tactic series, this time German medical personnel. The kit consists of just two times two figures.

The first set is a medic leading a wounded friend and consisting of five separate pieces. The pieces fit together easily, and, even though it is not strictly necessary, I recommend gluing with ordinary polystyrene glue. The fit was not perfect and I found some obvious gaps needing green stuff.

The second set is one soldier carrying another. Also five pieces, and also here you might need some green stuff.

The figures can be mounted either on separate bases or on one base to get more of a diorama. I used the separate bases, and glued them on washers.

These figs are really very nicely detailed, as can be seen, and will get you some unusual poses. I’m not sure what I will use them for in our games, but we’ll find something out.

I believe they are rather overpriced, being only four men, and for what I paid I do think another pair of figures would have been nice.

Anyway, on the cover of the box you see what you get, and if that is what you want and you’re willing to pay the price, I think you will be satisfied with the result.

British Infantry in 1/72 from Zvezda

I have built some models from Zvezda’s Art of Tactic series before, and on the whole I’ve been satisfied. When they announced that they were releasing early-war British troops I ordered a couple of packs of this and that, sprinkled with a couple of German packs also. 

So, here is the first of the Brits and my thoughts on them.

The pack contains five figures, one officer and four troops, and a choice of either one base for the lot of them (used in the Art of Tactic game) or individual (rather small but high) bases. Also included is a stats card used in the game, but I have no use for that, and instructions on building the figures.

As all have respirators and the early type of one-piece spade, they are easily identified as early war, and would hardly be seen in this outfit after 1940 or -41, and certainly not in -45, as the text on the box implies.

The troopers are multipart, made up of between 3 and 4 parts each, and the officer is in one piece. They could theoretically snap together without glue, but gluing with ordinary polystyrene-glue is preferred. The fit is good to excellent, and I only needed to greenstuff the left arm of the walking men to hide a thin crack. I advise you to snip off a bit of the pegs as they are a bit too long to get a perfect fit, and you’ll have to do that before assembly, or you’re stuck there having to cut off the whole peg losing the guidance and strength of the peg in question.

One weak point that I found was the rifle butt of the running man, it breaks off rather easily, being as small as it is, and that tiny little piece of plastics is easily lost in the clutter of your painting desk... I have cleverly hid that in the pictures, but will substitute the missing piece with a similar piece from another kit.

Paints used (Vallejo unless otherwise noted):
Undercoat: white with a black wash

Uniform: 921 English Uniform

Anklets: 821 German Camo Beige

Helmet: 894 Russian Uniform WWII

Boots and scabbard: Black

Webbing, pouches and gasmask bag: 819 Iraqui Sand

Water bottle: 875 Beige Brown

Rolled anti-gas cape on top of backpack: 886 Green Grey

Spade-handle: 310 Old Wood

Rifle Stock: 843 Cork Brown

Everything washed with Citadel Devlan Mud (RIP)

I based the troopers and their individual bases on washers and the officer on a rectangular base from Renedra. In our gaming group we have, as I’ve mentioned before, a local basing convention where officers are based on rectangular bases with a number of figures on it denoting the level of the officer/big man. In this case we have a level one big man.

A size-comparison of a trooper from Zvezda compared to late-war Esci/Italeri.

All in all, I think this is an excellent set of well detailed early-war figures. A bit on the expensive side for five plastic figures, but recommended all the same. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything BEF of this quality.

You can find reviews on more Zvezda models here.

More Pak 36 from Zvezda in 1/72

Another Pak 36 from Zvezda, this time with the diorama base and crew (se my review of the gun here).

The two crew memebers have good details and are appropriate for early war. It’s just a pity there are only two. For me that is not a problem, as I have lots of other crew that I can use, but it is a pity.

The diorama base is simple but effective. It is detailed with two ammo-boxes and a couple of spent cartridges, and it is of a size that works well in a game.

All in all a great little kit.

Pak 36 in 1/72 – Comparison Italeri, ICM, Zvezda + 2 more

The final Pak 36 post (for this time at least).

 Italeri, ICM and Zvezda

Here is a comparison of the guns from my previous posts, from Italeri, ICM and Zvezda.

I let the photos speak for themselves.

 Zvezda, ICM and Italeri

As a bonus, the ICM gun next to Revell’s (from the old Matchbox 1/76 Krupp Protze kit, noticeably smaller) and a metal monstrosity from Brittania. I will not even paint the metal one as it is simply too bad. What a horrible thing!

Brittania, ICM and Revell/Matchbox

 

 

There will actually be one more Pak 36 post. I bought two Zvezda kits, and I’m finishing one on the base with crew members. Sooner or later.

3xPak 36 in 1/72 – no 3 Zvezda

The third of my Pak 36’s comes from Zvezda, and their Art of Tactic series. The gun is made up of 7 pieces and in the box are two crew members and a small base. Also, you have two variants of the gun carriage, either emplaced or in limbered position.

It is made of soft plastic and is supposed to snap together, but I’m not happy with that, as it gave some very weak joints that didn’t hold together. The plastic didn’t take ordinary polystyrene glue, and my liquid superglue didn’t do much good at all. I tried with superglue gel, and that held, but it isn’t a strong joint.

As can be seen, this is a rather simplified model, but with decent detailing and it looks OK. The Art of Tactic series is made for gaming, and that is of course positive.

This is a kit that does what it is supposed to do. Recommended for wargaming.

In my next post I will compare the guns next to each other. Italeri, ICM, Zvezda and a bonus 1/76 Revell and a metal monstrosity from Brittania.

German 20mm Anti-Aircraft Gun from Zvezda in 1/72

I have had this kit in the plastic mountain for a couple of months, and I felt it was time to invest some effort into my 20mm armies.

This kit is from Zvezdas’ Art of Tactic game. I’m not really familiar with the game, but the figures are really useful. They have infantry and artillery in 1/72 scale, armour in 1/100 and planes in 1/144 or 1/200. They have a Operation Barbarossa game and they are just releasing a Blitzkrieg 1940 game. Lots of useful kits already, and the new range promises a lot of goodies, like the British 2pdr AT-gun.

I’ve just ordered a few more kits, you will see reviews here shortly.

First of all, this is a very nice little set, one 20mm AA-gun with two crew and one baseplate. The kit snaps together very well, the detailing is really nice, and all in in all an excellent kit. The only downside was that the gun had to be situated on the baseplate, as details of the carriage for the gun is integrated into the base.

Paints used (Vallejo unless otherwise noted)

Gun

995 German Grey, drybrushed with 992 Neutral Grey

Men

Uniform: 830 German Field Grey

Trousers: 836 London Grey

Helmet: 869 Basalt Grey

Belt and boots: Black

Washed with Citadel black wash

Bottle: P3 Bootstrap Leather

Skin: 955 Flat Flesh washed with Army Painter Quickshade Soft Tone Ink.

Everything coated with matte varnish.

Highly recommended.