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British Infantry Tank Valentine II (6280) Art-Of-Tactic Wargaming Series 1:100 Zvezda Zvezda have a wargaming system called Art of Tactic, and while I’ve never heard of it, that doesn’t mean much, as I’m not into wargaming, so what do I know? You can visit the site here if you’re interested, where you’ll find all sorts of rules, expansions and a substantial list of existing products that are available from the range, including Starter Sets, Expansions, and history behind the scenarios. The kits are predominantly 1:72 for ground troops and equipment, and 1:144 for aircraft, and 1:100 for armour, with a growing range available. This set arrives in slim end-opening box, with two sprues in sand coloured styrene inside plus a sheet of instructions in Russian and English. On the rear of the box are a few CGI profiles of the tank, and you don’t have to apply glue or paint if you don’t wish to. For some folks it’s all about the gaming, others like their pieces to be attractively painted, and if you add some glue, they’ll stay in one piece for longer, which is always good news. Just because these products have been designed with wargaming in mind, you shouldn’t dismiss them as model kits in themselves, as the moulding has been done to a high standard, using modern techniques that bring a good level of detail to the sets. As they are fairly straight forward to build, I thought it would be a good idea to actually put it together as if in preparation for a gaming session. Often when you hear “snap fit” it’s a slightly misleading title, as there are usually parts that are a looser fit, so prone to working loose. Not in this instance however, although one or two parts will last longer with glue. Once the majority of parts are together, they stay together regardless of glue, but the glue helps to side the joins. You can see the results below, and the only delicate part is the gun barrel. The turret is made from top and bottom halves with the barrel trapped between, and the hull is also two parts, with a large exhaust box on the port fender, and two sets of tracks, which have smaller parts added to the rear before they are inserted under the fenders. That’s it! There’s a flag included on the sprues that inserts in a hole under the rear of the hull, and that’s of use to the gamer to avoid handling the model itself. Conclusion Not my scale of course, but what a nice little model! The tracks are crisp, the wheels are detailed, and so is the rest of the hull. I’d go as far as to say that it’s of better quality moulding than many 1:72 AFV kits I’ve seen over the years. Highly recommended. Available from all good Model Shops. Review sample courtesy of

British Headquarters WWII & Soviet Motorcycle M-72 with crew (6174 &6277) Art-Of-Tactic Wargaming Series 1:72 Zvezda Zvezda have a wargaming system called Art of Tactic, and while I’ve never heard of it, that doesn’t mean much, as I’m not into wargaming, so what do I know? You can visit the site here if you’re interested, where you’ll find all sorts of rules, expansions and a substantial list of existing products that are available from the range, including Starter Sets, Expansions, and history behind the scenarios. The kits are predominantly 1:72 for ground troops and equipment, and 1:144 for aircraft, with a growing range available. These two sets arrive in slim end-opening boxes, with a single sprue inside plus a sheet of instructions in Russian and English. On the rear of the boxes are examples of how the sets can be posed, and you don’t have to apply glue or paint if you don’t wish to. For some folks it’s all about the gaming, others like their pieces to be attractively painted, and if you add some glue, they’ll stay in one piece for longer, which is always good news. Just because these products have been designed with wargaming in mind, you shouldn’t dismiss them as model kits in themselves, as the moulding has been done to a high standard, using modern techniques that bring a good level of detail to the sets. We received two sets for review, and I decided that as they are fairly straight forward to build, that it would be a good idea to actually put them together as if in preparation for a gaming session. Often when you hear “snap fit” it’s a slightly misleading title, as there are usually parts that are a looser fit, so prone to working loose. Not in this instance however, although one or two parts will last longer with glue. Once the majority of parts are together, they stay together regardless of glue, but the glue helps to side the joins. You can see the results under each heading below. British Headquarters WWII (6174) This set includes four figures that can be mounted on individual bases or on a larger combined base so that they can be moved as a unit. The officer is pointing toward a distant target with his walking stick, pipe in hand, while another rank observes the scene with binoculars with what appears to be a map in hand. A kneeling man is offering the officer a field telephone, while the fourth man is saluting at attention for reasons best known to themselves. Sculpting is good, and the equipment they wear is appropriate for the era, with the figures going together well. You’ll need to find a bit of wire if you plan to detail the telephone waving man, but other than that, a scrape of the seams and some glue to hide the seams, and you’re good. I assembled these chaps on individual bases, but you can see the group base next to the figures, complete with a flag that allows simple movement of the set without excessive touching of the figures. Soviet Motorcycle M-72 with Sidecar & Crew (6277) This set can only be made up on the large base due to its size. The motorcycle has a pair of exhausts added, running down its sides from cylinder blocks, with a frame added to the right side for the sidecar. The two figures are well-moulded to fit in their places, with a choice of handlebars in case you want to model it without crew. One set of bars has hands moulded to it, which can be attached to the rider with a little glue, giving a more realistic look. The passenger is inserted into the sidecar and has a machine gun with dinner-plate magazine on the top (that’s one piece that needs glue), which mounts to the front of the sidecar with a triangular bipod that clips into the front fairing – the gun is also best glued to the tripod. At the rear is another cowling with a spare tyre on top, then the third wheel is fixed to the frame, and finally the whole assembly is mounted to the base on three large pins that won’t come loose even without glue. This set also has a flag at the rear for easy movement. Conclusion I’m not a wargamer as already mentioned, but from my point of view these sets are suitable for modellers as well as gamers due to their level of detail. The only alteration that would improve the detail further would be to cut away the web that joins the motorcycle rider’s gun barrel to his shoulder, which is a moulding necessity. Nicely detailed, and reasonably priced into the bargain. Highly recommended. Available from all good Model Shops. Review sample courtesy of