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In August 1920, the many times smaller Polish army stopped the procession of Red Army hordes, implementing the Leninist idea of restoring the European borders of 1914, establishing a “red” republic in Germany, and then jointly with Germany liberating the nations of France, Spain and Portugal from the “oppression of international capital”. How did this happen? Well, the huge armies of Tukhachevsky and Budyonny had only infantry, artillery and cavalry - Poland also had tanks. Established in France in 1918, the Polish army brought home (by rail) 120 Renault FT tanks, making it the "number 4" armoured force in the world in 1919 - after Britain, France and the USA. Stalin remembered this painful lesson perfectly well, and in 1930 he launched a gigantic program of "armouring" the Soviet army. When he and Hitler struck Poland in 1939, he launched 4,700 tanks into battle. Germany - next 2,700. Poland had only 900. This advantage, however, does not reflect the scale of Stalin's determination success - in 1939 his army owned 60% of the world's tanks. Despite trials with several types of multi-turret heavy tanks, 98% of the Soviet armoured forces were light tanks, divided - following the British pattern - into infantry tanks, cavalry tanks and tankettes. They were all licensed products - be it Vickers (T-26 and T-37), Carden Loyd (T-27), or Christie (BT). Walter Christie created his wheeled-tracked tank in the USA in order to be able to deliver it to the war zone with a wheel throw (during the tests it reached a speed of over 100mph/160kph), which significantly extended the life of the tracks and the entire undercarriage. Stalin was different - in his visions, thousands of wheeled BTs raced along the highways of Germany, and then along the tarmac roads of France and Benelux, “bringing freedom” to the workers and peasants masses of oppressed Europe. Without asking if they want it or not. And so on to the Atlantic coast. Christie sold the license for his - unwanted by the US military - tank to the British (A13 Cruiser) and the Russians. The latter produced 620 BT-2s with a 37mm gun, and then 1,880 BT-5s with a 45mm gun. The 1935 BT-7 got a new 400hp M-17T (nee BMW) V12 engine. With a crew of 3 men, a 45mm cannon and two 7.6mm machine guns, it weighed just 14 tons, despite its dimensions being equal to the Matilda, Panzer III, Sherman and T-34. After 1,770 BT-7 m.35 there appeared 3,030 conical-turret BT-7-2 (m.37) and 790 diesel-engined BT-7M (m.40). The 2002-tool Unimodels kits are the best Braille-scale BTs on the market. I used the #311 boxing, including 107 styrene parts and a PE fret of 7 details. The prototype for my model was one of several hundred BT-7s used by the Russians to invade Iran in August 1941, which ended with the dethronement of Reza Shah. Like the BT used in the attack on Poland in 1939, it wears an interesting camouflage consisting of 7K Yellow Ochre and 6RP Black Green stripes over the standard 4BO Protective Green. Paints are (as always) Humbrol enamels: 86 for the pre-1940 4BO, 243 for the 6RP and 83 for the 7K - painted with Italeri brushes. Afterwards the Vallejo acrylic matt varnish was brush-applied overall. The model was made OOB except for drilling the cannon muzzle and exhaust stubs. The photos are taken with an LG smartphone. Comments are welcome Cheers Michael

Russian BT-7 for Tamiya 1:35 Eduard Eduard are really churning out the etched detail sets, trying to keep up with the number of releases that the various manufacturers are putting out. These two sets are for the Tamiya 1:35 BT-7 Russian medium tank. The relief etched sheets are up to the usual standards as Eduard seem to have good quality control on their releases. Coming in the usual sleeve packaging with card inserts to protect the brass there is one set for the exterior and one for the interior. [36253 Interior Set] Contained on one medium sized sheet are a plethora of small parts, the majority of which seem to go into the assembly of the six ammunition drum racks for the machine guns and their associated strapping. There are also racks for the 45mm for either side of the turret ring. The drivers compartment is provided with new instrument cluster, with acetate sheet for the dials, various placards and other instrument faces. The driver also gets two new control leavers, a complex pedal assembly and gear stick. Inside the turret there new vision block details, two radio boxes an ammunition drum rack. The main gun is detailed with catching bin for the expended cartridges and the breech leaver. [36257 Exterior Set] Also contained on one medium sized sheet of brass this set, as its name implies is for the outside of the model. Apart from the usual brackets and clamps that most of these sets include, particularly for the pioneer tools there are also fittings for the front inner fairings, headlamps, rear lights and loudspeaker. The kit fenders are completely replaced with etched items along with their support brackets, this goes for the front and rear mudguards as well. The four external fuel tanks receive new tops and straps and filler caps whilst the jack is provided with a new cradle and tire down strap. The perforated fairing over the exhausts needs to be carefully rolled over the kit former and fitted with additional handles whilst the intake on the left hand side will need some careful folding to get it to fit into the kit recess, as does the rear storage box which is fitted then with two long hand rails. Conclusion Even Tamiya kits can do with some extra detailing every now and then, and these sets provide enough to make the difference without going overboard. With care and patience they should be ok to be used by all but the pure novice but still be slightly challenging in areas. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of