A closer look at the M1A1 Abrams tank produced by Russian manufacturer Zvezda for their game "Hot War - Battle for Oil". This kit comes in 1:100 scale as all Zvezda "Art of Tactic" and "Hot War" tank kits. But you may use this model for any 15mm cold war game which supports this unit.
I already read some lines about this kit and how bad it would be, and I wanted to see if this is true and ordered one of them for a (luckily) heavy discounted price.
Let us take a look at the kit from this expansion to see if it is as bad as some other reviewers say:
The kit comes in two sandcolored plastic sprues made from the usual material which is used by Zvezda. To me it feels minimal softer then kits from other makers but this opinion may be subjective. As usual there is no problem with using modelglue on this, it binds pretty fast. And as you will see on the last picture, it connects also with styrene parts from other kits.
The kit came without any flaws like mouldlines and sinkholes. My kit did not have any flash or other excess material. The detail on this kit is very shallow, I would say in part is is minimalistic.
The turret is made from only two pieces and misses some details (more on that below), especially the storage bin on the turret is badly reproduced.
The tracks are in the same style as on other 1:100 Zvezda kits, while the roadwheels are good, the tracks are very simplified.
A decal sheet with some generic numbers and tactical signs is included, and I guess it is in the same good quality as the decals from other Zvezda kits. You can use decal setting solution on them but if you use decal softer, they may get damaged by it, at least I made this experience with the decals from an Zvezda plane kit.
When I constructed the Abrams, following the well made instruction leaflet from the box, I had no issues. As usual you have the choice to use glue or build it without any glue, but to be on the safe side, I used my standard Revell modelglue.
The partly built tank looks like this, note that I did not install the bottom of the turret yet:
As you can see, the grade of detail is pretty low. In the foreground you see some leftover bits from the BFM Abrams, I tried to improve its look with them (see the last picture).
And while we are at the BFM M1A1, just look at these comparing pictures of the Zvezda and the BFM Abrams tank:
Just take a look at both tanks and you will see the low level of detail on the Zvezda Abrams. While the general proportions of both tanks are almost equal, the barrel of the "Hot War" model is way too short.
(it seems, now while I watch the pictures, that the unpainted tank hull is shorter)
To keep it short, if you need an Abrams tanks, this model kit should not be your choice. Like for the Tiger from the last review, I do not think that this kit is worth its price. Luckily I got this kit for 3.5 Euro, but its regular price is above 7 Euros. Just for comparison, if you spend one additional Euro you could get the Abrams expansion for the ww3 "TANKS" game, that is (do I repeat myself??) leagues above the Zvezda kit and it offers 3 different versions to build.
Sorry Zvezda, but I say: Thumbs down, do not buy this kit.
But I got this kit and after I added some of the bits shown, I improved its look a lot, just as you can see on the picture below (I used Revell Aquacolor Bronze Green on it):
I wrote in the November blog update that I would review Zvezda planes on Saturdays, but since I left out the missing Semovente Expansion for "TANKS", next Saturday I will show this.
For this you will not have to wait till 22:30, on weekends my posts will come at 17:00 and maybe I will find some time to write a non reviewing post.
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