Zvezda 1:100 U.S. 155mm Self-propelled Howitzer M109 A2

A closer look at the self-propelled howitzer M109 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.

The kit is casted very sharp, with great details, neither flash nor sinkholes can be found. The plastic used for this kit feels different to the plastic of other Zvezda kits I already built, almost like "real" modelkit polystyrene, and can be glued with normal modelglue like the Revell glue I use.

Also included is a decalsheet with generic tank numbers and markings. Their quality should be good if they are produced in the same quality than other Zvezda decal sets from their "Art of Tactic" and "Hot War" ranges.

The constructed kit next to a M1 Abrams produced by Battlefront Models on which I have taken a closer look some days ago.

The construction went fast and was pretty simple, and the instructions are clear and understandable. Only the muzzlebreak needs to be drilled. If you have never build a Zvezda 1:100 kit, you would not have to use glue to finish it. A quick dirty measurement shows that this tank comes in scale, if you include the machine gun and the barrel.

I built it almost out of the box, only the .50cal machine gun was replaced by a part from the bitsbox, the gun included in this kit seems to be too small.

Zvezda 1:100 Soviet 122mm Self-propelled Howitzer 2S1 "Gvozdika"

 

A closer look at the self-propelled Soviet 2S1 "Gvozdika" howitzer 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.

The kit is casted very sharp, with great details, neither flash nor sinkholes can be found. The plastic used for this kit feels different to the plastic of other Zvezda kits I already built, almost like "real" modelkit polystyrene, and can be glued with normal modelglue like the Revell glue I use.

Also included is a decalsheet with generic tank numbers, many more that are needed, but this is nice, I can use them for the Soviet tanks I have build for "TANKS The Modern Age".

Their quality should be good if they are produced in the same quality than other Zvezda decal sets from their "Art of Tactic" and "Hot War" kits I already built.

 

The constructed kit next to a T-72 produced by Battlefront Models on which I have taken a closer look some days ago.

The construction went fast and was pretty simple, and the instructions are clear and understandable. Only the muzzlebreak needs to be drilled. If you never built a Zvezda 1:100 kit, you would not have to use glue to finish it.
A quick dirty measurement shows that this tank comes in scale, if you include the taillight and the barrel.

I built it out of the box, but I am thinking about replacing the headlight on the turret with an anti-air  machine gun as I have seen on some pictures, which was left over from the T-72 construction.

Rubicon Models News for 2019

Rubicon Models showed on Facebook their planned releases for 2019 and as you see, there are a lot of nice kits coming this year, all in 28mm/1:56 scale. I personally want some Volkswagen Käfers, I always liked this car, and my next birthday is coming soon.

And I really want to know what the mystery kit, shown in the center of the second picture, may contain. At the Rubicon webshops (US / UK) you can find some small gems and a lot of exclusive stuff that can be found only there.

I own two different T-34s from them and they are nice without any failures, except for the fact that there is a heckload of bits leftover when both are built. And the antennas may be a little too thick.

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Today's third and last post. Tomorrow all new 15mm tanks will get primed that I can start their paintjobs on the weekend. I still have no idea which colors to use, but I found a good list of camouflage schemes at panzerbaer.de.

Update:
Did I already mention, that their Tiger II kit is on the way ?

Plastic Soldier Company 1:100 M60E3 Tank

A closer look at the M60E3 1:100 model by the Plastic Soldier Company. You can see this kit in another post. Here you can see the sprues containig all parts to build this tank:

The kit is casted very sharp, with great details and no flash. No sinkholes can be found on the sprue, except for two, the first on the main hull and the second in an inner part of the turret but they will not be seen when this kit is completed. I bought a single sprue of this kit without instructions, but you can find them on the web and they are clear and easy to understand.

A very nice extra is the inclusion of two crew members.

The construction went without any issues and the finished kit looks fine. The only thing I did not like are the tracks, I think the gaps (not pictured) are not on the original but I may try fix this. And I messed up one of the smokelaunchers, but this should be fixed with no big problems.

There a some small parts that need some sanding, maybe the barrel will be drilled out.

This will be a nice proxy unit for "TANKS The Modern Age" games, but I think that I will get the M-60 expansion for the game in the future.

Oh, and there will be no useless bits leftover, what I like.

First Fail Of 2019

Some armoured Soviet vehicles from Pegasus Models. Painted with Revell Aquacolor, followed by a mild drybrush and a decent green wash. The KV-2s and the BA-6s got some metal barrels from RB Models. I built them some years ago and painted them roughly 6 weeks ago.

Yesterday I wanted to finish the tanks. I added decals from the sparebook, but since I was distracted the whole time by various things, I forgot to add some glosscoat before I went on. After the first decals were applied, I thought, maybe this time I could do it without.

A bad mistake, as you can see on the pictures, the decals began silvering. This could be solved with a thin brush and some color, as I did on this IS2, there are no traces left of the silvering decals on the turret.

But then the real shit happened. I read somewhere in the net, that Revell Aquacolor colors can be mixed with ethanol for the best results. I mixed up some matte clear coat and made a testpiece, everything seemed alright.

When I started to seal the models I did not see what would happen next. I had to hurry because I had to work that evening. One layer here, one layer there and soon all kits were finished and stashed aside to let them dry completely.

As result, the clear matte coat got milky, very milky. I think it was because of the ethanol. A very annoying result, it would be no problem to repaint the tanks, but the decals are gone.

The next time I will show them, they will have a proper paintjob.

T-72 Tank Expansion For TANKS The Modern Age

A closer look at the T-72 tank expansion for Galeforce 9's new game "TANKS The Modern Age". It is a remake of TANKS with an advanced ruleset. This game is a spinoff of Team Yankee, the tabletop game based on this book. I did not read it, but I have this one in my library and it seems both books play in the same fictional universe.

This box contains a tank model kit and some cards for the game.

The tank kit comes in the same high quality as the kits included in the starterbox. No sinkholes or flash can be found on the sprue, a quick look offered no ejector marks which would be seen when the kit is built.

The building instructions are simple but not simplified, up to now I did not build it but I do not expect any problems while building it, in contrast to the two Abrams I built.
This time I should try not to mix up the polarisation of the magnets I used to attach the both turrets. It was no easy task to fix this mistake.

Then, there are the cards, first we have the card for the unit itself:

The Soviet T-72 is a good tank for its pretty low cost of 18 points. His Initiative of 6 is solid and with 5 attack dice this unit is a potential threat to every enemy tank. With its stabilizer you may re-roll one attack dice each time you attack.

Then there are the additional crew and equipment cards which are included in this expansion:

"Babatev Lermonotov"

This Soviet hero is pretty cheap. For only 3 points he adds 2 additional  Initiative points during the attack phase. Since it is one of these revealabe cards, his revealing bonus is 1 additional attack dice for that round.

"AT-11 Sagger"

Additional missiles for T-72 tanks for the cost of two points is ok, even when there are  the special missiles rules which may make it hard to score a hit. But for 2 points this is ok.

"Kontakt-5"

One additional armour point for the cost of 6 points may sound high, but this will be a BIG advantage. This could armour up light vehicles and lower their vulnerability by an additional defense dice, generally an armour above 0 saves from rapid fire attacks.

"Superb Commander"
Tis commander is usable for all nations and offers for 2 points 1 additional Initiative point.

"Fire Extinguisher"
Just some standard equipment which will save you from engine fires.

Just as with all other "TANKS" ww2 or ww3 tank expansions you get a very nice model kit and some cards for your personal advantage in the game, but A first game will show how useful all of this stuff will be.

Also check my closer look at the M1 Abrams expansion in the post below.  

M1 Abrams Tank Expansion For TANKS The Modern Age

Another close look at anonther tank expansion for Galeforce 9's new game "TANKS The Modern Age". This time I will show the content of the M1 Abrams tank expansion.

This box contains a tank model kit and some cards for the game.

The tank kit is the same as in the starterbox. Neither sinkholes nor flash can be found on the sprue, but there are two ejectormarks that will be seen if you build the M1 version of the Abrams tank.

The building instruction are way better than the poor instructions included in the starterbox but in case of emergency you can look at the Team Yankee website. I built two of them in different versions and had no problems while construction.

Then, there are the cards:

First there are three cards for the different variant which you can build from this expansion, all based on the Abrams tank.  While the M1 Abrams and the IPM1Abrams have an Attack of 4 dice, the M1A1 Abrams has 5 attack dice and compared to the other tank 1 or 2 more hitpoints. This version is on par with the Germa Leopard 2, which in my opinion is the strongest tank in the game.

All 3 tanks have an Advanced Stabilizer, which may let you re-roll 2 attack dice.

As in all other expansions for the game some crew and equipment cards are included:

"William 'Buck' Taylor"

This is the American hero unit. He may seem pretty expensive with 6 points but he gives the tank which he commands an additional attack dice. Also all other Abrams tanks in the platoon get an additional initiative point.

For 6 Points I would take him in every battle.

"Cunning Commander"
Usable for all nations. For one point he adds an additional initiative point.

"Adaptive",
This doctrine seems pretty nice, +2 initiative for only one point, usable for all nations and all tanks, but only if the tanks has three or more crew cards.This would be a nice addition for an Abrams with the Alpha 66 crew, but also for every other tank with three or more crew members.

"True Boy Scout",
US tanks only. This crew member gives you +1 initiative while movement phase, for only one point. But that is not all, you gain the possibility to use two different equipment parts.

and "Silver Bullet"
US Abrams tanks only, this card gives an extra attack dice for a single attack. It may be useful but there is better stuff to equip.

This expansion offers not only 3 strong tanks to choose from, the crew and equipment card which are included offer some great advantages, but a first game will show the strenghts and weaknesses of this expansion.