A closer look atZvezdas 1:100 Sd.Kfz.222 for their "Art Of Tactic"
wargame. As I mentioned in earlier posts, the use for this model is
not limited to the Zvezda wargame, virtually this light recon tank could be
used for every 15mm wargame which rules support this unit.
But without any more words left, let us take a look at the plastic modelkit which comes with this expansion:
The kit comes in two gray sprues and as I stated in earlier Zvezda reviews, the plastic feels slightly different
from styrene used by other manufacturers, it feels minimal softer, but it is still hard
and sturdy enough for a modelkit.
The kit can be build without the use
of glue, but it takes modelcement well and binds pretty fast, but it seems
not as fast binding as the green material used by Zvezda.
I
did not find any issues with the sprues, except for some mouldlines which
have to be to removed, but there is minimal flash, are no sinkholes, and
any possible ejectormarks would not be seen,
when this kit is built.
The roadwheels are well made, even the armourplates of the wheelhubs are good. The grid of the turret is pretty simplified but I think for that scale it is okay.
Once again we have a nice 1:100 "Age Of Tactic" modelkit. The overall grade of
detail is well done and for its price, approx. 4 Euro as most Zvezda 1:100 tankkits, it could be a cheap alternative to
the resin/metal model of the Sd.Kfz. 222 made by BFM.
Unfortunately, no decals are included in this box, but "Art Of Tactic" 1:100 tanks expansions never have decals included.
I recommend this kit if you need one (or more) of them for wargaming.
As I wrote before, this kit can be built either with or without the use of glue, and you need a fair amount of pressure to avoid gaps between the parts. I used glue, but I did not apply enough pressure, now my kit look like this:
As you can see, I will have to use some putty on this to close the gaps between the parts.
I do not have anything to compare this to, except the leftover turret from the PSC Sd.Kfz. 250 (review will come soon). The picture below shows both turrets side by side:
Personally, I would prefer the turret of the Plastic Soldier Company kit, and luckily it fits to the Zvezda model without any modifications, as you can see below.
I think, that I will use the PSC turret for my Sd.Kfz. 222, with both parts combined, my 222 now looks like this:
I will return with a closer look at an Allied or Soviet 1:100 Zvezda tank this Thursday.
Update:
Instead of a review I will post another battle report this Thursday.
A closer look at the 1:100 STUG III Ausführung B made by Zvezda, a modelcompany from Russia. This is an expansion box for their "Art Of Tatic" wargame, but (I may have written this before) you could use the included model in every 15mm ww2 wargame if there are rules for this tank.
But before we are going to examine this kit, please let me say that today it is the 10th anniversary of the World War 2 Modelzone (even when I wrote only approximately 3,5 years in that time), and this is great.
I never thought that I would continue this blog after I had a
harsh break in my life some years ago, but after I returned to modelbuilding, it
was a logical step to continue this blog as I explained in this Rügen'46 post.
Everyday people visit this blog(*) and I am thankful and happy if some of my posts may be entertaining or helpful. I think my old English teacher would kick my butt if he would read this gibberish, but
Are there any plans for the future ?
Sure, getting more models, build and paint them and write reviews about some of them, playing both "TANKS" games and write some more battlereports, more custom units for both games, more wartime pictures, all that mixed with the usual shit I am writing about.
But to go in detail, the planes expansion and a lot of new custom units should come over the next weeks (rules ready/cards not), the Britons for cold war "TANKS" will stay in focus next year (Easter?), my mate Olli and I created some funny gamemodes (Senshado anyone?) which will get tested, and much more.
Not to forget to mention, that over the next year I should be done with (p)reviewing the whole range of Zvezda "Hot War" and "Art of "Tactic" 1:100/1:144/1:200 game expansions. According to my list, there are 76 (?) kits fitting in that scheme (even a ship), of which I already have 21 reviewed (including this), 20+ are in preparation to be reviewed soon, but as soon I have time for regular posting, I will lower the frequency of kit (p)reviews.
(If you ever ask why I link to the Boardgamegeek hub for that game, the official site is not existing anymore.)
While there is a plan, it all depends on the amount of time to spend for this hobby and I almost always priotorize the building itself to posting about it.
I should have used the auto-publishing function earlier, and now, since I am using it, there are here and there some posts that got lost (Leo 1 comparison), or, like last weekend, a T-34 turned into a Leopard 1, but all in all, it works.
Any lost post will be re-added to the list of auto-published posts that they sooner or later will appear.
While the first post in this blog was about a STUG III, I would like to start the next decade of the World War II Modelzone with another STUG. III. But without spending any more words, since this is a (p)review, let us take a look at the plastic kit which is included in this game expansion:
The kit comes as a single grey sprue, made from the usual material which is used by Zvezda. For me it feels minimal softer than the stuff other companies use. As a regular reader you should have read my impression on this in previous posts about these 1:100 Zvezda kits.
Some tools and the towrope are moulded onto the hull, and they look good. Beside the wellmade roadwheels, even the tracks are not as bad as usual, what does not mean that they are great, on the last picture you get a better view of them
In best Zvezda tradition, the boxart was taken from their 1:35 STUG III modelkit, but this time it fits and shows indeed the model which can be build from the box, this is not always the case, for example their 1:100 Katjusha modelkit differs much from its boxart.
All hatches can only be build closed, but that is ok since there is no commander miniature on the sprue which could be used. I think you could modify this but I did not try this on my STUG, maybe I will get another of these kits in the future, then I will try if this would work.
I built this kit as addition for my Afrikakorps platoon, the construction was uncomplicated due to the simple but good instructions on the back of the box, and this is the result:
I like its look and and it fits perfect to the colorscheme of the other tanks from that platoon, there are still 2 or 3 models to get, then, when it is finished, I will write at least one post about them, but back to topic.
This model can be a useful addition to every early or mid war German army. Sure, there are other STUG kits like the Plastic Soldier Company STUG or the Battlefront Miniatures STUG, but this should do its job pretty good. As you can see on the picture above, the tracks are not as plain as on the general Zvezda 1:100 tank kit, we will see similar tracksets in later posts.
Some decals would have been nice, but "Art Of Tactic" tank kits never have them included.
As usual, you can get this kit (at least in Germany) for below 4 Euros. If you would need more STUGs, you could get a PSC or BFM Stug 3 platoon-sized box, you would not only get decals (not sure if there are decals in the PSC platoon boxes) and tankcommanders with those boxes, you could build different versions of this tank (see links above). But their construction is way more complicated as with this Zvezda kit and would need glue, what is not needed to build this modelkit.
In the end, it is always your decision, get whatever you like, but I recommend this kit.
This Saturday we will take a look at another 1:144 plane expansion from Zvezda and the day after tomorrow we will see another 15mm T-34. Since I have some time over the next days, I will prepare the next batch of posts for the coming weeks.
In the next days I will close this blog for some hours to do some maintenance and a decent redesign, but I will keep you informed about that.
But before this is happening, my mate Olli and I are going to play a little game of "TANKS The Modern Age" this afternoon, that battles report will get posted on Monday. While I made a small 101 pt. French list, I have no idea which nation will be my opponent.
(* Funfact: if you use privacy addons for your browser, you are invisible for that counter it and do not get counted.)
Here are some pictures of a platoon for "TANKS" which me and my mate Olli had prepared for a friend as birthday present. He had played some games with us and he liked the look of my Afrikakorps platoon, that was a good opportunity to give him his own small starterforce.
The platoon is made from some Zvezda kits, a BFM Tiger and some bits/3Dprinted hybrids, all were basecoated in Revell Aquacolor Sand followed by some drybrushing and washes.
First we have a Panther and two Panzer IV H from Zvezda. These were easy to build, we will take a closer look at these kits in some later posts.
Next we have the Battlefront Miniatures late war Tiger with Zimmerit. Formerly it served under my mate Ollis service and did well in various battles, but now it is time to reach new frontiers.
These 3 assaultguns, two Jagdpanthers and one STUG III, were made from leftover upper hull parts from the bitsbox and 3D printed lower hulls and tracks. On the Jagdpanthers I had to improvise but they are looking pretty decent for that.
Last but not least we have a 3D printed Puma, the only thing that was changed on this model was the barrel, which was taken from the bitsbox. Even when some of the details got distorted, this is a nice model.
To make this package complete he gets a rulebook and all unitcards which are needed, some upgradecards and enough dice to play a first round with this new platoon.
We hope, that he will like it, when he gets this present this afternoon. (update: he did)
By the way...
while I went through the upgrade cards of the Italian expansions for for "TANKS", I noticed, that one card in both packs is double sided, I added this to the reviews.
A closer look at the 1:100 King Tiger tank expansion for the "Art Of Tactic" strategy game made by Zvezda from Russia. This box contains a 15mm modelkit for the game, but its use is not limited for that only. As I wrote in other reviews, you could use it for any 15mm wargame which supports rules for this unit. My mate Olli and I have planned to use this as a custom unit for "TANKS".
But without any more words to spend, let us take a look at the modelkit:
Zvezdas Tiger II modelkit comes in 2 grey sprues made from the usual Zvezda material, for me it feels softer than the usual stuff which is used for modelkits, in other (p)reviews I wrote some lines about that.
The kit can be build without the use of glue, all parts fit and sit well. But you should use glue on it to strenghen all connections between the parts.
The grade of detail is ok, all tools and towropes are moulded onto the hull, and some parts are simplyfied, especially on the turret. The roadwheels are ok, but the trackdetail is minimal, a simple pattern on the outside and no detail on the inner side of it.
The choice of an opened or closed commander hatch would have been nice, but it should not be too much effort to exchange the commander hatch with a matching hatch from the bitsbox, to bad that I did not have any spare hatch.
Me and my mate Olli built some of them (for future use) and on some parts you have to use a good amount of pressure to close all gaps and make them fit.
When it was constructed and painted, it looked like this (the decals were made by Heer46):
Once again Zvezda offers a nice looking kit with the usual issues, neither decals nor a commander figure are included, and the tracks suck. But even with these issues, all in all, this is a nice kit. Remember, this is not a "true" scale model kit, it is just a piece for a strategy game.
This kit offers a good alternative to the resin Tiger II tank from Battlefront Miniatures. As far as I know, this is the only 1:100 hardplastic King Tiger kit available on the market.
The price of it is the same as for most "Age Of Tactic" 1:100 tank kits, for approximately 4 Euros you can get the Zvezda King Tiger.
Next Thursday we will take another close look at a 1:100 Zvezda kit, then we will see a Soviet or US tank.
Update:
Today I found some time for my blog and decided that this closer look can go online now and not tonight. By the way, I am going to add the latest reviews to the reviewlist. And I changed the time for upcoming autopublished reviews, instead of 22:30 (too late) they will come at 20:00.
I am still not sure if I find some time for "real" content this week, but I am aiming for the weekend to write some lines about my Revell airbrush odyssey.
A closer look at the 1:100 Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger produced by Russias Zvezda for their "Art Of Tactic" strategy game. Zvezda offers a big selection of 15mm ww2 tanks and trucks which can not only be used for their game, you may use it for any other tabletop game in 15mm scale which has rules for this tank.
This kit got my attention since it was released, and now we are have the opportunity to take a look at it, but without spending further words, let us take a look at the modelkit which come with this game expansion:
This kit comes in two grey plastic sprues, some words about the material what was used can be found in an older post. It may feel softer than usual kits, but is still hard and takes glue very well, binding pretty fast.
I never had problems using styrene parts from other manufacturers kits on any Zvezda kit.
The kit comes without any production flaws like sinkholes or flash, but you will have to remove some excess material at the ejectormarks, in some cases you will have to remove the whole thing. There are mouldlines all arround the tracks and the onepart moulded turret, which should be removed. You will have to be careful when you do this not to damage the (poorly made) hatches and other stuff on the sides of it.
While the roadwheels are ok, the tracks are in the same style as all other 15mm Zvezda tracks. Very simplified on the outside and no detail on the inside.
I would say this is the later version of this tank, but in best Zvezda
tradition, the boxart was not made for this kit, instead they took the
artwork from their 1:35 Tiger model kit.
Following the good and understandable instruction leaflet, after much cleaning of the parts and some actual construction, the result looks like this:
(By the way, I used glue but as usual you can build this kit as all other Zvezda 1:100 kits without glue)
To be honest, I do not recommend this kit. As you may have mentioned from earlier posts, I have a general positive attitude on these small kits, but this is an exception.
The details on the turret sides are very shallow, there is the risk to damage them while cleanup, and the tracks are bad, especially when you compare them to the BFM 1:100 Tiger tracks. The missing of decals is an standard issue with Zvezdas 1:100 ww2 kits but this is acceptable.
But what worries me more is that this kit twice as expensive as any other ww2 tank kit for "Art Of Tactic", at least in Germany. While you pay not more than 4 Euros for any other kit from this range, this stinker costed me 7,60, what is pretty high compared to its quality.
If you want a tiger, I would suggest that you get a Tiger from the Plastic Soldier Company or one of both BFM tigers, if you buy one of the Tigers for "TANKS" you would pay less than an additional Euro for a kit leagues above the Zvezda kit.
Do not buy this.
I did, as you have read, and with some modifications I turned it in the early version of the Tiger which will be the workhorse of my new Afrikakorps platoon for "TANKS" built from some Zvezda kits and "TANKS" expansions. More on that in a future post where I will show the complete platoon.
If this works as supposed, it should be 22:30 MEZ and this post is online. On Thursday at the same time we will take a look at the Zvezda Abrams, and to give you a small teaser, it sucks.
A closer look atZvezdas 1:100 Sd.Kfz.186 Jagdtiger for their 1:100 "Art Of Tactic" wargame. As I mentioned in earlier posts, the use for these models is not limited to the Zvezda game, virtually this Jagdtiger model could be used for every 15mm wargame which rules support this tank.
But without any more words, let us take a look at the plastic modelkit which comes with this expansion:
The kit comes in two grey sprues and somehow the plastic feels different from their green plastic, it feels minimal softer, but it is still hard and sturdy enough for a modelkit. The kit can be build without the use of glue, but it takes modelglue well and binds pretty fast, but it seems not as fast as the green stuff does.
All parts are moulded well, without any sinkholes or flash, but there are some mouldlines which should be removed. Some tools and the towropes can be found moulded onto the hull. The trackdetail is simple, with low details on the outer trackside and no details in the inner side of the tracks except for some guideteeth.
In contrast to the Tiger 2, the sparetracks are moulded onto the hull, but I think this is because there was no more room left on the sprues for them.
But all in all this is a nice kit with some ignorable faults, there are no decals included, the tracks are pretty simple, and it would have been nice to have the option of an opened or closed commander hatch.
But we must not forget that this is a simple wargaming kit which is pretty cheap, a quick check on some (German) onlineshop shows that this kit costs below 4 Euros.
The construction of the Zvezda 1:100 Jagdpanther model went on pretty fast without any issues, but on some parts you will need a serious amount of pressure to avoid gaps. As usual for most Zvezda 1:100 tanks, due to its inner frame structure its construction may seem complicated, but the well made instruction leaflet is easy to understand.
After I built this model in less than 30 minutes, with some paint and decals my Jagdpanther is ready to be used as a custom unit for "TANKS".
A closer look at the Tiger I in 1:48 produced by the Chinese manufacturer Meng Models. This kit comes from their World War Toons range, which contains models from the videogame "World War Toons".
Last year I built the King Tiger from this range and had a little foresight about the quality of this kit. A nice feature of all these kits is, that they can be build without using glue.
Let us take a look of the parts which were in this nice looking, satin-matte finished box, but please note, this time I made pictures only of the front sides of the sprues.
The first sprue contains parts from the hull and the turret. The quality of the cast is almost perfect. There are no ejectormarks on the front side of the parts.
Next is the upper part of the hull, also nicely made without any flaws. Just to give you an impression of the distorted proportions of this tank, this part is roughly 9,5 x 8,5 cm wide.
Another sprue which is included contains most of the other needed parts to finish the hull and the turret. As mentioned before, the quality of the parts is fine.
There are neither sinkholes nor mouldlines but I was sceptic about the splitted barrel, how it would look when I had finished it.
The last sprue contained in this box is included twice and has all parts for the running gear and the last missing parts for hull and turret. Pretty nice just as the rest of the kit.
And then there are the tracks, flexible but pretty sturdy rubber or PVC pieces with details on the outer side but no details on the inside. As with the barrel, this tracks did not convince me, I was remembering my King Tiger built, where I broke one of the roadwheels while applying them and had to reattach it.
The small sprue on the right is also made from some flexible material, these rings keep the running gear movable if you choose not to use glue on this kit.
Last but not least there are the decals, with sharp edges and a precise color gradiant, but I will not use them since my sparebook containsa good choice of decals which I may use.
Overall, this is a decent kit, with great details and no flaws except for the track and the barrel, but these issuals are my personal opinion
Another time I was surprised by the quality and the grade of details on this kit, for a fastbuilding kit which did not needed to be glued, this kit is GREAT.
This kit was build with no problems and building this kit made a lot of fun. Now it sits on my desk, already primed and is waiting for me to finish this post, then it is time to give this thing its first coat of color.
Update:
Just a quick shot made with the mobile:
-
There is one final closer look at something left that will come online in the next days, as a small hint, a crazy www2 kit is incoming. I made the decision to give some kits from my collection and all new kits which I acquire from now on some closer looks.
Some pictures of my 15mm Panthers for TANKS. As you can see they are equipped with infrared vision. I saw the IR equipment at the Heer46 onlineshop and I could not resist buying some of it. Here you will find a picture of more built IR equipment which is still not finished.
I used "UHU hart" to attach the whitemetal parts of the IR visions. This stuff is pretty fine, glues all the materials I have to glue, and dries pretty fast and hard.
Closeups of the three Panthers. I will have to add decals but before I have to order new turretnumbers, maybe at Peddinghaus Decals, but I also found some nice decals at Skytrex and Dom's Decals.
But this was not the end, I wanted something different and found some nice files at Thingiverse and then I started the 3D printer.
I printed 2 Panther Schmaltürme, they can be seen in the Civil War battle report. The ridiculous big barrels are from the Battlefront Miniatures Jagdpanther. Maybe they are a little too big, but I like that look.
Last month the two turrets were modified, I added new hatches, and attached the remaining IR parts from my bitsbox. Now these kitten look great.
We are needing antiair units for our (w.i.p.) TANKS addon, that I decided to visit Thingiverse again, and look what I found:
I had to rescale the Coelian turret, which I downloaded, but after the second try it was perfectly in scale. After cleaning the residue from printing there was not much to do, I changed the turret's hatch for a scratchbuilt one, added a simple gunner shield from plasticcard and the very last IR part I had.
Some kind of update,
I watched documentary about tanks on Netfix and wondered, is it ignorance or incompetence that the Panther tank was not mentioned in it.
