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These are my three favourite shots from my tour in 2010/2011. These are from Jan 2011. Hope you enjoy them. Coops

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

Hi all, Another recent completion is this 1/72 Revell (Hasegawa) Harrier GR7, 'Lucy' in Afghan 2009. Nice kit overall, went together well. The kit is lacking in stores so I raided the spares box and added some Paveway's and some good old fashioned bombs, not sure if this is a totally accurate payload for this aircraft but does make it look pretty mean! Now sitting here with a box of 5 1/72 harriers - what to do next! Anyway, heres some pics, tricky lighting conditions! cheers Simon PS: one day i'll build a Harrier where all the wheels actually touch the ground!!

Looks like the following sets have been released as they are showing up at Models For Sale; http://www.modelsforsale.com/catalog/products_new.php Airfix - Afghan Single Storey Dwelling Scale 1/48 75009 Airfix - Afghan Single Storey House (A75010) Scale 1/48 75010 Airfix - Operation Herrick British Forces - Helicopter Support Gift Set Scale 1/48 50122 Airfix - Operation Herrick British Forces - Land Rover Patrol Gift Set Scale 1/48 50121 Airfix - Operation Herrick British Forces - Patrol and Support Group Gift Set Scale 1/48 50123 Airfix - Operation Herrick British Troops (8) Scale 1/48 03701