Zvezda 1:100 M1A1 Abrams

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.

Zvezda 1:100 Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger

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.

Plastic Soldier Company 1:100 Leopard 1

A closer look at the Plastic Soldier Company 15mm Leopard 1 tank kit. As I wrote in the previous post, the PSC offers a growing range of 15 and 20mm tanks and other vehicles for ww2 and cold war wargames.

This is the third of their (at least for now) available 3 post-ww2 tanks. I already showed the US M-60 and the Soviet T-55 in other posts. Their official homepage lists more stuff coming soon, Brueckenkopf.de has some pictures of new modern stuff, you can find them here.

After that small introduction let us take a look at the model kit, which comes from the stash of my mate Olli:
 

The Leopard 1 comes in one sprue of the usual gray plastic which the PSC normally uses. As I wrote in the previous post, this stuff feels minimal softer than the styrene other companies use.

I saw that sprue only for a moment, but I do not remember any flaws with it. I think there were some mouldlines to remove but this is the case with almost any other model kit. The pictures show no flash and possible sinkholes should not be seen when it is constructed.

Except for the simplified tracks, the detail in general is good.

A very nice feature is the choice to have the driver and both turret hatches opened or closed, this is very nice because the PSC offers 3 tank crew figures with this kit for this. And that is not all, the kit offers the choice, either to build the German A3 or A4 version or you can also choose the Canadian C1 variant of this tank.

In general I would recommend this kit, even when I did not build it for myself, the general impression is fine. The choice of opened or closed hatches and the addition of 3 commander figures is a big plus.

My mate olli got a single sprue of this tank in which neither an instruction (can easily be found on the web) nor decals were included, I can not say if decals are included in the big box.
The overall price for this kit, as for most single PSC kits, is arround 5 Euros for a single tank and 20 to 25 Euros for a pack of 5.

If I remember correctly, my mate Olli had no issues building this kit while a past roguish Montagsmaler session, I think his w.i.p. tank looks fine, the basecoat is Revell Aquacolor Bronze Green, but do not ask which other colors he used.

Tomorrow I will take the opportunity to compare this thing to the Battlefront Miniatures Leopard 1 modelkit, as long I have some of his tanks here. Then we will see what differences there are and which of both kits I would prefer. Maybe I will add a picture of my modified Zvezda Abrams, my modifications got better than I tought they would get.

Plastic Soldier Company 1:100 T-55 / T-55A / T-55AM2

A closer look at the Plastic Soldier Company 15mm T-55 tank kit. The PSC offers a growing range of 15 and 20mm tanks and trucks for ww2 and cold war wargames.

This is one of their 3 post-ww2 tanks, there are also the US M-60 and the German Leopard 1, but their official homepage already lists more availble stuff coming soon. I found at Brueckenkopf.de some pictures of new modern stuff, you can find some pictures here.

But without spending more words, let us take a look at the model kit:

The T-55 kit comes in a sprue of grey plastic, it is the usual stuff the PSC uses for its kits, this plastic feels minimal softer than usual hardplastic model kits.

I did not find any major flaws on this kit, there are some mouldlines to remove, but I did not find any mentionable flash. The details are a littles softer than on the BFM T-55, what we will see in a future post.
The roadwheels are ok, but the tracks do not have much details, but they are still leagues above the tracks which Zvezda offers with their kits.

There are some sinkholes on some parts but they will not be seen, when the kit is built. Otherwise, the kit is nicely casted and offers the choice of  to build either the T-55, the T-55A or the T-55AM2.

I got the single version of this kit without any building instructions, but they can easily be found on the web. If you want to build the T-55AM2 version, you should look for some original pictures, the instruction do not show the exact position of some parts of the turret.

I had no issues building this kit, except for the unclear placement of some turret parts. Otherwise this is a nice kit which will need not much cleanup, when I built mine, I gave them Eastgerman NVA decals, as you can see below:

This is a nice kit and an good alternative to the plastic BFM T-55 kit. The kit is ok except for the stuff I mentioned above. The addition of a commander figure is nice, some decals would have been nice too, but none are included at least in the single sprue version which I got.

This tank is priced arround 5 EU for a single kit and 20 to 25 for a 5 pack of them, what is a reasonable price.

After we have taken a closer look at the "TANKS The Modern Age" T-55 expansion in a future post,  I will do a comparison of both different T-55 15mm model kits from BFM and PSC.

In the next post, maybe tonight, we will see another 15mm Plastic Soldier post-ww2 tank, since this is the second of the 3 available cold war kits I showed in this blog, there is only one left and it should be clear what is coming next. I think the next 3 or 4 posts will feature German Bundeswehr kitten, before I would like to show you the crappy Zvezda Abrams and how I improved its look.

By the way, the first batch of Zvezda reviews is uploaded and ready, I think the stuff I mentioned in the previous post will start next weeks Tuesday with the Zvezda 1:100 Panzerkampfwagen VI and then it will go on. Depending on my time, I will add here and there some little posts, but you may expect (almost) only reviews and closer looks for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Maybe I will do an unboxing video of my next hobbystuff order, I already made one, but I have to dub it since I messed up the sound, this should be found next weekend on my Youtube channel, it will show a lot of Zvezda kits.

Update:
Ooops, I almost forgot, some while ago I took a closer look at the ww2 "TANKS" starterbox, now I edited it heavily, to fit into the scheme, you can find it here.

Blog Update November

I was watching a ww2 documentation and (just for fun) tried to find some more UHU advertisements from war time, just as the one on the upper right corner of this blog.
And as you can see, I did, and this thing is a good example for indoctrination and propaganda of totalitarian regimes. If you want to know what it is about, you have to go for yourself, I will not translate it, but I may integrate this picture into this blog.

(By the way, it took some time to restore the picture to its actual state, the original was an old and faded piece of newspaper. Using this as template I could eventually "upgrade" the original UHU advertisement from this page to a higher resolution.)

But back to topic. I went through several struggles and changes in the last weeks, and I did not find neither the energy nor the time to write new postings, since writing them takes more time than you may think.
What does not mean, that I did no models. The Montagsmaler are still busy and we may get another (third) member. Also, in the past few weeks I collected lots of new material for this blog, but I had more important things to do than  writing for this blog.

I can not say, how much time I can spend for blogging in the next few weeks, but in the next days I finally have some time to spend exclusively for blogging.

What means, that I will use the autopublishing function exessively because there are lots of kits which will get a closer look, but my time to write will be rare.
At the moment I have more then 40 minireviews in the make, cosisting of lots of Zvezda kits and ww2/ww3 TANKS expansions. And then there is the usual content like 3D prining, both "TANKS" games and Rügen'46, whenever I may find time I will post about this stuff.

To give you a rough number, I am preparing the posts for some PCS models, more than 10 TANKS expansions and 30+ Zvezda ww2/ww3 kits, like the new Brummbär, the Abrams, the Tiger and lots more, which resulted in almost 300 pictures I would like to share with you.

(I may have mentioned it, I want to give all available Zvezda 1:100 tank and each 1:144 and 1:200 plane model kits a closer look and according to my list, there are arround 80 kits in these ranges, and I already own a little more than the half of them.)

Due to my limited time, my plan is to use the autopublishing function for all these new posts which I will write the in next days, the schedule should be:

On Tuesdays 20:00 a closer look at a Zvezda Axis 1:100 tank kit.
On Thursdays 20:00 a closer look at a Zvezda Allies 1:100 tanks kit.
On Saturdays  15:00 or 17:00 a closer look at a Zvezda 1:144 or 1:200 plane kit.
On Sundays 15:00 or 17:00 a closer look at an expansion either for ww2 "TANKS" or "TANKS The Modern Age".


Following this schedule there is a lot of content to come over the next 2 or 3 months. Some of these posts will contain comparisons with other models, so I hope this will not get to dry.
But before this will come, I will continue where I stopped, the next posts will be dedicated to German cold war tanks before I will start with all that reviews.

Beside that, the new custom units for the games will come whenever I will find time for it. Not to forget to mention the plane expansion for ww2 "TANKS", of which I am writing for a long time. I hope that I will finish the work on it this year.

Finally, on the first or second weekend of next month I am going to shut down the blog for at least some hours. After the first 10 years it will be time to change the layout of the ww2modelzone.

TL;DR So many models, so little time.

Update:
I updated/changes the scheduling for autopublished posts.