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I'm going to build a Soviet Mi-8 helicopter, as one during the 80s. But I'm not sure what correct shade of green it be in. I'm hoping to make it like how they were used at Chernobyl. If anyone can give me so correct colours that would be great!

Eduard’s MiG-15 is a “Dual Combo” kit with two kits in the box and markings for no less than six aircraft. The upper half of the airframe comes with the wings already attached complete with the slight anhedral characteristic of the MiG-15. Surface detail is dead sharp and amazingly delicate. The cockpit comes molded as a single tiny piece with a seat, consoles, panel and stick. Nice! The first step was to attach cockpit to the air intake splitter. There isn’t much room for ballast to keep the MiGs from being tail-sitters, so I cut a lead fishing weight into tiny bits to pack as much into the available space as possible. I hope it will be enough! Next came painting the MiG-15s’ plain gray cockpits. A highlight here is the Eduard instrument decals. The unbelievably tiny yet perfectly sharp dial detail is absolutely phenomenal! The panel even includes the vertical white line down the center used to aid MiG pilots in spin recovery maneuvers. The only changes I made to the kit cockpits were simple replacement wire control columns and seatbelts made from strips of Tamiya tape. It is almost a shame to install them into the fuselages which obscure much of the minute detail. Almost none of it will be discernable once the canopies are in place – but at least I’ll know it is there!

This is my first completed model for 2020. I am trying to work on getting better photos but need to keep working on it. This is Zvezda's great kit of the Su-2. Fit as well as surface detail is fantastic. I used Eduard's mask as this involves quite a bit of glass. The only drawback is the decals are on the translucent side but other than that is was a great kit to build. People have wrote in reviews that the cockpit is a bit sparse but I think this is because they might have had some armor plate in there so you don't see the usual ribbing on the cockpit walls. Highly recommended

M4 Quad Maxim AA Machine Gun (35211) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Maxim machine gun was developed during WWI into a capable weapon, and was used by a number of nations, sometimes on opposite sides of no-man’s land with different names. By WWII it had been replaced to an extent by other more modern designs, but it still saw some use, often in Russian service as an Anti-Aircraft gun. One such use was a quad mount that were seen in use on trains, mounted to open wagons to defend against incoming air attacks. Mounted on a conical base that was fixed to its intended carrier, it was able to pivot and elevate as one, with the cooling jackets linked to one reservoir for ease, and the guns controlled by one trigger while the operator leaned into a pair of braces that allowed quick repositioning to track an enemy. The Kit This kit from MiniArt is intended to be used with your own choice of mount, be it a railway wagon, a truck or even a horse-drawn carriage with pictures existing that back up that unusual option. It arrives in a figure-sized box with painting guide on the rear along with a suggestion for a possible mount. Inside are ten sprues in grey styrene, plus a fret of Photo-Etched (PE) brass in a protective card envelope. A small instruction sheet is also included to guide you through the complicated build process. Construction begins with the base, with a three-arm mount at the very bottom, and bracing struts helping reduce flex. The height adjustment wheel and locking mechanism are mounted, the latter being higher up near the pivot. The four ammo cans are all made up identically with a grab handle and feeder chute with PE guide at the bottom. They are linked together by a box-shaped bracket with PE stiffeners running across all four, then the gun frame is made up in preparation for the weapons. These are each made up identically from a main breech and barrel/cooling jacket part, to which mounting hardware are added, in order to correctly mount is on the frame, then link the cooling jacket hoses into the frame and add the lead-adjustment wheel that moves the ring-sight from side-to-side according to the operator’s estimate of the speed of flight of the bullets and movement of their target. The operator’s yoke is added, flip-off muzzle caps are installed on PE chains dangling from the barrel, then the magazines are offered up from underneath with a few small parts added to finish off, including the important ammo belts. In addition, there are 15 spare magazine boxes to clutter up your mounting area. Markings There are none, but the mount, ammo cans, framework and cooling jackets were painted Russian Green, while the breeches were a dark metallic colour that I think we should call Gun Metal. Conclusion It’s a cool looking item to put in the back of a truck or wagon, but that horse-drawn option would be a bit unusual to depict, but you’d best release the horses before setting it up to fire. Highly recommended. They’re currently on discount at Creative as I type this, so hurry up! Review sample courtesy of

Simple enough Guy's The Soviet/Warsaw-Pact T-55 chassis The model may represent any vehicle in service with any Nation/Army from it's inception to the present day Criteria: The model, as a basis for a Tank and associated vehicles (Recovery, enhanced Trucks, Emergency Vehicles) The model built must be based on a 'REAL' vehicle and not a paper project (unless that project reached a working prototype trials vehicle stage) If any offering is in-doubt, the builder should provide evidence of its existence The Host/co-Host decision is final Exclusions: Sci-fi variants (as used in Film or TV) What-if's including Fantasy, Post Apocolyptic, Steam-Punk etc Paper projects which did not reach working prototype stage Voting: Will initially be in a single block however, If sufficient entries present themselves to the Gallery, seperation may occur by either: Scale, Era, Soviet vs Other, Geography or similar arrangement - all to be determined after the closing date but prior to voting Sign Up Takers: 1) Shermaniac (Host) 2) Smuts (co-Host) 3) AaCee26 4) vppelt68 5) corsairfoxfouruncle 6) Antoine 7) Ozzy 8 ) Modeling Minion 9) Arniec 10) Bull Basket 11) Plasto 12) sgt squarehead 13) snapper city 14) plastix 15) Robert Stuart 16) Etienne 17) Patman 18) Agent G 19) Das Abteilung 20) Sleeper Service 21) Sabre_days 22) SimonT 23) Jabba 24) Hewy 25) Yetifan So... @Enzo Matrix, is this enough to make this happen? V-P

I recently got a Zvezda 1/35 Soviet 4.5 truck. It is my first truck build, so please help

Hi all, I'm starting a Zil 131 soon and I'm just going through what paints I'll need for it. It says I'll need xf 5 for the green, does anyone know if this is the correct colour for Soviet military vehicles? I'm looking at doing a Zil 131 from the 1980s, would the green be different back then. I'm planning on spraying it. Either tamiya and humbrol paints will be perfect for me if anyone can help me out.

KMT-9 Mine-Roller (37040) 1:35 MiniArt Mines are a problem for AFVs, softskins and foot soldiers alike, and there are different types used for different circumstances. Mines intended to disable tanks generally have larger charges to penetrate the thinner underside armour and tear off tracks and drive wheels, with a higher pressure required to trigger them. The resulting bang can cripple or destroy a tank, leaving crew killed or injured, a valuable tank out of action and sometimes blocking the way. Most Soviet and Russian tanks are fitted with attachment points for mine-rollers that can be fitted as needed and clear a path for the tank's tracks to allow them to proceed. Other tanks without a mine-roller must follow in their tracks exactly or risk detonating mines that are outside the cleared paths. It's not an ideal solution, more of an expedient one that probably requires a more complete cleaning later when the enemy aren't shooting at them. The KMT series of ploughs/plows have been in service since the 60s and were used with all Main Battle Tanks with newer vehicles using the improved KMT-7 and KMT-9. It operates by breaking the ground down with tough, sectioned rollers of substantial weight to simulate the footprint of an AFV, ploughing up the ground and detonating any mines it finds. Its rugged construction means that it can survive explosions, although they do take their toll on the hardware eventually. The Kit We'll be seeing the plastic from this box in a number of kits, the new BMR-1 with plough being one of them, which will be reviewed shortly by my colleague. It arrives in a shrink-wrapped top-opening box and inside are nine sprues in grey styrene, a small Photo-Etch (PE) sheet in a card envelope, and the instructions printed in greyscale. Construction begins with the rollers with two-part centres to which all the individual plates are fixed with equal spacing. The short axle threads through the centre and is supported by a three-piece yoke that is extended by another two parts that are in turn fixed to a central axle with one roller on each side, making a total of four sections, each free-wheeling. The end caps allow the rear axle to rotate freely if you don't glue them up, and then you start again on the other roller. Each roller assembly has a set of suspension arms added to each side and a cross-brace that links the suspension together. They are put to one side while the main chassis frame is made up, adorned with hydraulic rams that make up a large, heavy assembly with seriously thick parts depicting the sturdy design. Cleats are included to fit the plough to a BMR-1, consisting of a number of parts for the lower glacis plate and two main attachment pads for the upper glacis. Brackets are fitted to the lower plates and the frame is hinged from those with strong cables attached to the upper plates and linked to the frame to support it further. The two roller assemblies are suspended from the arms facing back toward the vehicle with the long rods sticking up in pairs. Conclusion The roller would look fine sitting in a yard, or alternatively attached to near to anything from a T-55 to a T-90 in the tank department, or a BMR-1/2 or BTS-4 in their roles, which often takes them into harm's way. It's a very well detailed kit, and put together well with a sympathetic and probably battered paint job it would add plenty of interest to any suitable model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Afghan Motorcade (1979-1989) 1:72 ICM The Soviet-Afghan War was a conflict fought over a nine-year period from December 1979 to February 1989. The origins of the conflict were rooted in a coup in which the Afghan Communist Party seized power and, supported by the USSR, began a series of deeply unpopular modernisation reforms. They were opposed, and eventually defeated, by a coalition of insurgents known as the mujahideen, supported by the CIA through Operation Cyclone. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the mujahideen prevailed and the Soviet forces withdrew. The defeat was an important component in the fall of the Soviet Union, creating a division between the military and the Communist Party and sowing the seeds of religious fundamentalism in South-Central Asia. Geo-politics aside, the conflict presents an opportunity to build models of some serious cool Soviet hardware. This new set from ICM includes four vehicles. Three are based on the Ural-375 platform, which was the standard Soviet truck during the conflict in Afghanistan, while the fourth is a BTR-60 armoured car. All of the kits have been released by ICM before, although I believe the Trucks are based on moulds originally designed by Omega-K in the 1990s. The BTR-60 is an original ICM model from the mid-2000s. The kits are packaged into a relatively compact box which is fairly packed with plastic, although a number of sprues are repeated due to three of the vehicles being based on the same basic chassis. Ural-375D Truck, -375A Command Vehicle and -375 ATZ-5 Fuel Bowser The Ural-375 vehicles all share the same chassis, cab and wheels, albeit with some minor differences. The ladder chassis includes plenty of detail, with parts for the drive shafts, differentials, solid axles, leaf springs and exhausts. The tyres are moulded from hard black plastic rather than the vinyl-like material often used in these types of kits. Wheels are split down the middle, so there will be an awful lot of clean up and careful painting involved in getting all of them ready for all three trucks. Turning to the upper parts of the trucks, each can is slide moulded and has clear plastic windows, which I find easier to work with than plastic sheet. The interiors are decent, with seats, a dashboard and a steering wheel. The -375D truck includes a basic wooden load area, as well as a spare wheel. The sides of the load area are nicely moulded, although it would have been nice to have something to put in there. There are plenty of aftermarket items to make up for that, though. The -375A command truck includes the command compartment, an aerial and other details, as well as another spare wheel. There is no interior detail and the doors cannot be opened. The fuel bowser, which could also be used for an aircraft diorama, has a fuel storage tank which is split vertically and some nice touches such as a separately moulded aperture on the top. BTR-60PB The BTP-60 is a monocoque design, so the suspension units and wheels fit directly onto the lower part of the hull. That's not to say there aren't some nice details though, particularly the propellor for amphibious use. The crew area is nicely detailed too, with even the fighting compartment having some basic interior detail. Overall you can tell that this is a slightly more modern tooling when compared to the trucks. Most of the hatches are moulded separately, which improves the diorama potential immeasurably. Even the grab handles and pioneer tools are moulded as separate parts which is really impressive for the scale. The colour schemes referred to in the instructions are all pretty basic/standard schemes for the subject and period. The small decal sheet is fairly generic and includes markings that are not appropriate for this boxing, such as UN and DDR. Conclusion While none of the kits included are going to set the world on fire on their own, the opportunity to acquire all four as part of a set like this certainly boosts their appeal. That's not to say they are bad kits - far from it - but with a street price of less than twenty smackaroonies they are much more appealing than they would otherwise be. Stick them alongside a Su-25 or a Mil-24 and you'll definitely have a winning combination. Review sample courtesy of

What is the best MiG-19 kit in 1/72nd scale? I know of the old Heller and KP kits, and Mastercraft do one. Are there any others? I'm specifically looking for the cannon-armed version, as opposed to the missiles-only version. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Best Regards, Jason P.S. This is an aeroplane that cries out for a new-mould kit. Airfix? Zvezda? Anyone?

German & Russian Tank Models 1939-45 (9781612007359) Casemate Publishers UK The 2nd World War in Eastern Europe, known as the Great Patriotic War by the Soviets, was total war, with no quarter asked or given, resulting in massive destruction of men, machinery, innocent civilians and the land through which operation Barbarosa was prosecuted. The Russians burned anything that would be of use to the advancing Germans, and the Germans did the same as they were forced back by the then-fully mobilised Soviet war machine. A broad range of equipment was used by both sides, from light tanks to heavy tank destroyers, as well as the ubiquitous T-34 that was produced in huge numbers to counter the complex German tanks that were used to great effect during the initial advances. The Book This is a techniques book that takes a selection of subjects from this campaign and also touches upon North Africa's Afrika Korps (DAK), showing the modeller step-by-step how to achieve realistic and artistic effects that you can try on your next model, whether it's from the Eastern Front or not. Written and modelled by Mario Eens, the book is bound in a hard back cover, which is handy if you're going to be flicking back and forth and leaving it open as reference. Inside are 128 pages plus two blank sheets printed in colour on glossy stock, with an easy to read layout and photographs of the modelling techniques printed at such a size that leave the details easy to see, rather than lots of postage-stamp sized photos that are hard on the eyes (we're none of us getting any younger). There are five subjects within the book, as follows: Panzer I Ausf.A North Africa, 1941 A light tank that was almost obsolete by the time the war was underway, depicted in a worn dark yellow scheme with the original Panzer grey showing through. T-34/76 "chTZ" Russia, Summer 1943 In Russian green with a light coating of dust from the dried out countryside, hay adhering to the stowage from a close encounter with a haystack, and a cheerful crew member grinning at the viewer. Pz.Kpfw.VIII Maus, Germany 1946 An alternate history monster that almost reached service in the final days of WWII, wearing a striking green splinter camo over a dark yellow base. Su-152 Eastern Front, Winter 1943 A 152mm self-propelled howitzer in Russian green with the remnants of a winter white distemper coat clinging to the front and sides. Russian Infantry, Berlin April 1945 A typical member of the army, posing in his padded coat on some steps in front of a discarded cable reel, with a captured Panzerfaust over his shoulder. Each subject has a section of the book devoted to it, and it's not just a slavish out-of-the-box build, but includes plenty of additions and alterations to make the finished result better. This includes some handy hints and tips, as well as suggestions for methods that will improve your own models if you apply them judiciously to your builds. They are broken down further into subsections as if we are watching the build "live", showing various construction and painting phases, with the latter including more tips for effects such as chipping, streaks, and rust effects. It's clear that Mario is a master modeller, and at the top of his game so the end results are all fabulous, and give us all a standard to aim for. Add a couple of his tricks to each subsequent build, and you'll be surprised how soon it will become second nature to you. You will notice that he models each sub-assembly such as exhausts and pioneer tools as a model in and of itself, which helps to further improve the detail, although it takes more time than just lashing a bit of brown paint on the handles of the tools. As well as the gurning tanker that's popping out of the T-34, there is also a little diorama of the Russian solider at the end of the book, which gives the modeller a quick introduction to quality figure painting, often a weak-point of many of us, as well as the construction of the base with its tangle of twisted metal, rubble and the cable reel, which is another area that I personally struggle with. Conclusion A great how-to book that is bound to give you some inspiration as well as technical knowledge that will assist most modellers in achieving better results. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A bit of fun since I have a surplus of red stars.

Hello Folks. I Want introduce my new model and first completed model this year. This model was built under the impression from book about Roland De la Poype the French pilot & the hero of the Soviet Union . Best regards. Michael.

T-34/85 Zavod 183 Mod.44 (6545) 1:35 Italeri The T-34 gave the German invaders something of a shock when they first encountered it during operation Barbarossa, their attempt at conquering the Soviet Union, and they were instrumental in reversing the tide through both their impressive performance and weight of numbers, due to their simple construction and the overwhelming industrial capability of the Russians. Even when the Germans were knocking on the gates of Moscow and Stalingrad, production was shifted lock-stock-and-barrel further east with barely a flicker, and in Stalingrad there are stories of fresh tanks rolling off the production lines and almost straight into combat. The simple design used tried and tested technology, together with innovative sloped armour that increased its effective thickness when hit in the horizontal plane. It was initially fitted with a powerful 76mm gun, but when this proved less able to penetrate the frontal armour of the Tiger, it was upgraded in 1943 with a bigger ZiS 85mm gun, which was equipped with a larger three-man turret that reduced the combat load on the crew, enabling the commander to concentrate more on the task in hand. It's diesel power plant gave it a good speed over most terrains, and as production ramped up there were over 1,000 produced each month, plenty to replace losses and more besides. The 1944 mod introduced a simplified new gun, improved crew layout, better sight and the radio moved into the turret to take advantage of increased space. The Kit This is a complete new tooling from Italeri, and shouldn't be confused with older toolings and collaborations, as it's a different animal. It arrives in a standard box with a fetching painting of the subject matter ploughing past ruined German armour, and inside are four sprues in dark green styrene, one in grey styrene, two lengths of insulated cable, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two rubbery tracks, decals sheet and the instruction booklet. The tooling is well-detailed, and as well as the rubber tracks there is also a full set of link-and-length styrene tracks, which should please almost everyone. What will also please many is the inclusion of a complete interior, even down to the engine compartment, the parts for which are on the grey sprue, so may have been a later addition. Construction begins with the lower hull, which has slots for the suspension, and circular holes for the drive sprockets, which are glued together from two halves, and fitted to a cone-shaped moulding with a cap inside to allow you to leave the idler movable. The suspension units are added to the inside of the hull with springs in diagonal housings, comprising two sections on each side, leaving enough room for the engine, which is next. You don't get a full engine, but the detail is plenty for the installation. The firewall has the engine top slotted into the back, and the aft of the engine with big fan is attached to the aft end of the top panel. The exhausts and large fan are glued in place, and the assembly is dropped into the hull, locating on tabs in the floor. The final drive housing is built up and dropped in behind the engine, and a set of ammo boxes double as a turret floor in the centre of the hull, with the driver's controls fitted at the front with some rather arm-chair style seats for driver and bow gunner. A scrap diagrams shows the correct position for the tools, controls and air bottles, after which the suspension and wheel set are glued in place, with nice detail on the wheels and their treaded rubber wheels, which are moulded-in. They fit onto swing-arms with stub axles in pairs that fix into two holes each in the sides of the hull to ensure the correct angle. The idler wheels are also added at this stage with their axle, two-part sprocket and hub cap holding it in place, and allowing it to rotate too if you're sparing with the glue. The final drive cover fits from underneath, with a note telling you to install parts 38A after adding the towing cable later, and then you can choose which style of tracks you'll be using. The rubber-band tracks are the simple option, and are moulded in a gun metal plastic that can be glued using super glue (CA). You can even forego painting them if you hate that sort of thing. The more complex option is to use the included link and length tracks, which have more detail, and will leave you with the correct faceted appearance where the tracks wrap around the ends of the runs. The top sections are each moulded as one piece, the bottom sections in two parts, while the curved sections are individual links, which are each made from two plates. More care will be needed for this option, but the results will be improved, and even more so with careful painting and weathering. The upper hull needs 11 small holes drilling out before you begin its assembly, mainly for the later mounting of fuel tanks, so get those out of the way before things get busy, or you might regret it. The louvers for the engine deck are inserted from the inside, and the hull is then turned over and detailed from the topside, with a central engine hatch and a big radiator box on top of the aft louvers, which has a two layer PE grille glued over its aperture after gently bending it to fit the curve of the box. Another two boxes with louvered parts are added to the sides of the engine deck, and a little tool box gets added to the starboard fender at the rear, then spare track links are assembled and lashed down with PE straps, with an additional length pinned across the glacis plate. The glacis plate also has the ball machine gun mounted and the large driver's hatch, which can be fitted open or closed and must have been a bullet-magnet when open. This is then fitted to the hull over the inner front panel, the turret insert is added, and three fuel drums are fixed to the hull sides along with some pioneer tools, more stowage, lights and shackles glued in place, with an overhead diagram showing their correct location. The two hull halves are married up, the front fenders added, and yet more barrels, this time smoke dischargers are added to the rear bulkhead skin, which is a separate part. The armoured exhausts are assembled and fitted to the apertures on the skin, and a central access hatch can be modelled open or closed. The whole rear bulkhead can be posed open on its hinge-points, and a PE lip is included on the brass sheet to give this a more realistic look. The exhaust pipe tips sleeve onto the main exhaust during the closing process, although the break-point looks slightly different from the pictures I have seen, so if you want to add a little more realism, drill out the ends of the pieces and add a collar near the end of the fixed part of the exhaust that comes out of the mufflers. The tip that is visible outside the tank already has a hollow end, which is nice. As yet the tank is turret-free, so the next steps rectify this with a full breech, ready rack holding 12 rounds, sighting equipment with gunner's stool attached, and the relocated radio gear, as well as a couple of periscopes in the roof. The commander's hatch has a periscope built into the front half, and can be posed open by gluing them into the ring in an appropriate position, then mating them with the cupola ring. This and the gunner's hatch are fitted to the top of the turret along with a couple of mushroom vents, various tie-downs and rails, while the mantlet with cover, two part styrene gun barrel and cheek armour are added during the mating of the top and bottom sections. These cast turrets weren't put together with extreme care, and the joints are sometimes horribly rough, so check your references and decide what they look like in the flesh. The turret has a nice sand-cast texture moulded-in, as does the mantlet, rear bulkhead and final drive panel. The barrel is split horizontally, so there's a seam to fix there, and once that's in place, the turret fits to the hull, locking with a bayonet fitting. The last job is to create the towing cables from the two insulated wires that are included in the box. You cut them to length, twist the strands as you slide off the insulation, then glue the styrene towing eyes to each end, draping them over the fenders and attaching them on the shackles as indicated. Markings There are four decal options from the box, all of which are painted Russian/Soviet Green, and one is over-painted with white winter distemper camouflage. Each tank has unit markings, as well as some additional markings and emblems. From the box you can build one of the following: 9th Guards Tank Corp, 2nd Guards Tank Army – Berlin, Apr 1945 64th Guards Tank Brigade, 1st Guards Tank Army – Pomerania, Feb 1945 44th Guards Tank Brigade – Yugoslavia, Spring 1945 2nd Motorcycle Tank Battalion, 1st Tank Corp, 2nd Polish Army – Jul 1945 The decals are printed by Zanchetti in Italy for Italeri, and have good sharpness and colour density. They are all either black or white, so there's no issues with registration either, as there isn't any! Colours are called out in Italeri acrylic paint codes, as well as FS numbers, which should be a help if you use another brand. Conclusion It's nice to see Italeri moving with the times, including PE and metal towing cables with their kits, and options to please modellers with different needs, such as the two track options here, and with this being a popular subject it should sell well, particularly with their wide distribution network. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I have always thought the three T-34 precursors (A-20, armed with 45mm cannon, 4 main wheels in the tracks instead of 5, and BT-7 tracks, A-32, armed with short barrel L-10 76mm cannon, 400mm thick tracks, and 5 wheels for each side tracks, and A-34, which had 550mm wide tracks, a longer L-11 76mm gun, and 5 wheeled tracks. The A-34's only difference to the T-34 Model 1940 was that it had a huge headlight on top of the barrel, and 37mm frontal armour plating instead of 45mm). I have decided to replicate the A-32. The first step was finding the 1/100 T-34 model 1940 in my "stash". (Which is really only 15 kits - I'm only 15 myself, but I'm sure some people on here will envy the tiny stash of mine 😁) After I found out I had already started it, and had attempted to remove the paint with sandpaper at some point, unsuccessfully, I finally came to terms that the model will have a slightly thicker coat of paint than I would like. The second thing I added were some neodymium magnets to the hull of the tank and inside the turret, so I can move the turret instead of gluing it in place. The third thing I did was take some sprue cutters and cut the L-11 gun to the size of a L-10. I eyeballed this. The A-32 also had these little pieces of metal in the middle of the turret that poked out. I'm guess this was where they welded the two sides of the turret and added a small piece of metal on the welded edges to strengthen the bond. This was not on any of the T-34's, they were all single piece turrets if I recall correctly. To make these, I took a piece of cardboard and cut the corrugation off and then cut each one to about 3mm in width, and superglued it to the appropriate place. The A-32 also had two periscope instead of one as the T-34 had, the second periscope was in the rear of the turret, the first in the front. I simply cut a piece of wire and glued it in place with pliers. The A-32 had one large headlight above a coaxial machine gun. Since the zvezda kit does not model the machine gun, I took a dremel and drilled a hole and stuck a small thin piece of stretched sprue to replicate a MG. For the headlight, I found a searchlight that was from a 1/350 scale resin subchaser, it was the perfect size and looked like the A-32's headlight. The tracks on the A-32 were 400mm thick instead of 550mm as on the T-34, but I found Zvezda's kit tracks were too thin anyways, so no change was done there. Anyways this is my progress to create a diverse tiny scale 1/100 Soviet arsenal. Enjoy so far! RJ

This is the Airfix 1/48 P-40 finished in a Soviet scheme courtesy Xtradecals sheet X48162. I used a spare reheat seat & seat belts but otherwise OOB. Can't say I'm uber chuffed with it as I found the kit over engineered in some places & my attempts to wrestle the cowling area into submission show some scars. It won't be in the front of the display cabinet but here it is anyway, with its imperfections. Comments, criticisms & observations welcome as always. Pete Thanks for looking.

Hi Guys, I will be building the Scud B missile on the 2P19 tracked launcher from Trumpeter. It will be build out of the box. Here are some pictures of the box and content. There will be loads of parts to glue. There will be around 750 parts on it. It also has some etch parts and some die cut masks for the windows. the box top The content This is a leaflet with it of what is possible. and the two decal options. I think both are from a parade?! Now we need to wait till Saturday for the start. Cheers,

FAB-500 M54 Bombs (648424) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Russian iron bombs, dumb bombs of free-fall bombs. They have a lot of names, and come in a variety of sizes from 100kg all the way up to 9000kg. This one is a 500kg M54 unit (designed in 1954), which is surprisingly still in service alongside the M62, but can be differentiated by the more complex fin arrangement with four larger and four narrower fins at the rear, the larger ones overlapping the stabilising ring. As usual with Eduard's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar Brassin clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. Inside the clamshell are two bomb bodies, two fin units and a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, with stencils on a sheet of decal paper. Once cut from their casting blocks, the two parts are lined up and glued together with super-glue (CA), with the fins connecting to corresponding grooves in the rear of the body. The cut rear end of the bomb body is finished off with one of the small circles of PE, with a raised section and a hole in the centre. Painting is shown on the guide diagram, and it's a dull grey (H/C308 in Gunze shades), with just the one stencil on the side (with a spare, in case you can't see on the pic). There's plenty of options for weathering, as bombs are often moved more times than they are dropped, so scratches, rust and missing paint, as well as fading is often seen. These types have been seen many times on multiple ejection rack pylons on Tu-22s, forcing them to remain subsonic unless they are carrying the newer M62 units that have no ballistic ring on the nose and are designed to cope with the forces associated with externally carried munitions on a modern fighter. Review sample courtesy of

While waiting for some scratch building materials for my Mig-3 project I decided to do this Trumpeter IS-7 kit I had laying around, because I find Trumpeter 1/72 kits are always a pleasure to work on. I did a few modifications for added detail, but overall the kit had the nice detail that I have come to expect from these 1/72 Trumpeter kits. The last one I did was an STRV-103 from Trumpeter that I loved building, so I was hoping this would be another reasonably priced gem. Although it was missing a few details that were present on the model shown on the package, it was pretty much just as good. Hope you enjoy. For those who are curious it was primed with black Stynylrez primer (same as Mig One Shot) with some pre-shading done with light grey. Colours used were XF-13 then XF-67 NATO green for some modulation, Vallejo Metal Color steel was used for the tracks with Vallejo 70.862 grey black used for the tires. I also used the grey black for the machine gun barrels after which I dry brushed them with Mr. Metal Color iron once the final flat clear was applied. My gloss coats for decals and weathering was Future (or Pledge whatever it is now) and the final matt was Microscale Micro Flat thinned 50/50. I often see people saying they have really bad results from Microscale flat and satin clear coat, but it seems like most of the time they don't thin it enough. I at least thin it 40/60 and I have always had good results, I've tried the Tamiya flat clear but I find it just doesn't do a very good job at achieving a flat finish. Anyways that's enough of my flat clear coat rant. As far as weathering goes I just used Tamiya black, dark brown and brown panel liner along with AK European earth and dark earth pigments. Then using enamel thinner for pre-fixing pigments and then enamel pigment binder or Vallejo water based binder depending on whether applying with brush or airbrush. I also had detail upgrade parts for the main gun and plethora of machine guns mounted all over this thing. The main thing I wish I had done better were the headlights. They were just molded out of one piece normal plastic, so I made it recessed with a ball engraving bit which worked well, painted the inside silver (wish I had done a slightly cleaner job or used a bit of panel liner for the edge) then put a thick dab of microscale kristal klear on for a lens. Sadly it didn't quite dry in a convex manner as I hoped, but it still look pretty good for the scale. Any recommendations on what I could use in the future? Clear epoxy maybe? I thought about shaping something out of some scrap clear sprue, but the scale was just too small to do something like that properly.

Soviet Drivers (1979-1991) ICM 1:35 35641 While it would be good to get a driver figure in a kit, some people dont use them so it does make sense that companies will offer them as an "added extra". This set from ICM is aimed at some of the great Russian truck models they are currently producing; how ever they can be used as and where the modeller wants. There are two figures in the box, one sitting on a higher type seat and one on a lower type. They are well sculpted. Conclusion These figures will enhance any Russian truck model the modeller wants to use them on. Recmended. Review sample courtesy of

Hey all, got a question for you. Did Soviet tanks in the 80s period use a particular colour as a primer (much like the Germans did with red oxide) and what was the primary green they used? I have the Mig Ammo ZASHCHITNIY ZELENO, which was mentioned as being the colour for the vehicles in that time, but it seems more...browny than green, so I was just wanting to specificy, particularly since Trumpeter often suggests using 303 Green for Soviet tanks or equipment of that period, which is decidedly more green in colour. Being Russian vehicles I imagine they used a mishmash of greens and camouflage, but I'm particularly curious about the most common known colour for them, as well as any known schemes used in the Afghan theatre, particularly on T-62s and Zil-131 trucks. Cheers. Gaz

Lend-Lease And Soviet Aviation In The Second World War ISBN : 9781911512264 Helion and Company via Casemate UK During WWII a huge ammount of material and arms was delivered to the Soviet Union, the value of this equipement has been long debated though its been shown that the depletion of German assets fighting on the Eastern front did no doubt help the Allied push into France and Germany. Through no doubt a great deal of research the author has not only made a an investigation into how these deliveries did in fact help the allied cause. The book considers the equipment, how it was delivered and how it was adapted by the Russians for use in their own challenging climate. The use by them, and mastering of equipment the western allies thought ill suited to their own operations is investigated; one of the more well known ones is the P-39. Not well liked by allied Air Forces but extremely well liked by Russian Pilots in the ground attack role. Included are detailed combat assessments prepared by the Soviets with their views on the allied equipment supplied. Aircraft considered in detail are; Hawker Hurricane Supermarine Spitfire Curtiss P-40 Kitty hawk Hawker Typhoon Bell P-39 Air Cobra Bell P-63 Kingcobra Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Short Stirling Curtiss O052 Owl Douglas A-20 Boston North American P-51 Mustang Vougt OS2U Kingfisher Curtiss C-46 Commando de Havilland Mosquito North American B-25 Mitchell Amstrong Withworth Albemarle Handley Page Hampden Dougals C-47 Skytrain Consolidated PBY Catalina North American AT-6 Texan In addition to the official deliveries of aircraft the book looks at those which arrived by accident. The text is supported by nearly 700 photographs, 100 colour aircraft profiles, plus maps and charts. Conclusion It is evident that a great deal of research has gone into this book. It really does give a proper attempt to assess the impact of deliveries of these aircraft to the Soviets. If you're interested in these aircraft in Soviet service, and this part of WWII in particular then its well worth investing in this publication. Very Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I'm pretty unhappy with Vallejo's Russian & French colours, has anyone else had the same issues? In all the images the dark blue grey for French fighters' upper surfaces, as part of the 3-colour scheme, is just a touch darker than the grey used for the underside. However Vallejo's 71.005 is a slate grey, giving no contrast with the green and dark brown. Again, with Soviet planes, their AMT11 and AMT12 should be mid greys? Nope! Vallejo's 71.304 & 71.308 are both really dark. In fact there's little difference between them. My Lavochkin LA-7 looks really cool, but in a Batman kind-of-way.

Our friends at Begemot have a new decal sheet that's being released, in the shape of the Tupolev SB in 1:72 - a quirky looking medium bomber , which despite its roots in the 1930s, saw service through until the end of WWII, despite any short-comings. The sheet contains 40 schemes from VVS, RKKA, Republic of Spain (Spanish Civil War), and even the Chinese Air Force for a bit of a change! Here's a sneak preview of what's included: It's available from their shop directly now here, and will doubtless filter through to the usual outlets in due course. As an aside (and quite an important one at that), there's going to be a new Su-33 in Syria sheet released in a few days in 1:48 initially, with 1:72 to follow a little later. If you're a fan of Soviet/Russia fast jets in foreign service, you'll want to watch out for it

ISU-152 1/35, Tamiya with Friulmodel tracks. I made it because i've wanted a bit of rest from constructing of B-747-400F 1/72