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Hello. This is my first diorama and my first bout of modelling since I was a lad. It started with my brother buying the front T34 for me and sort of spiralled out of control from there! I've learnt so much since starting it, what works and what doesn't. It's taken me a long time but my mate came over with his camera last weekend and I spent some time on Photoshop with the final touches. I've got two other tank kits now and ideas for both! My wife thinks it's all rather 'strange'. 😆 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/kl7rpgqydmij82svg3sns/ADgk70mOS80kFMYodPwdNxM?rlkey=fikgat3xsurlwbpixla3zfuf0&st=8483wq5b&dl=0

Kharkiv 1943 Big Set (36067) Tramway, StuG.III Ausf.G with Crew & Panzergrenadiers 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Battle of Kharkiv during WWII was known as the Donets campaign by the Germans, and was fought in three phases, the third taking place in early 1943 after the encirclement of Stalingrad. It was a hard-fought battle with heavy casualties on both sides, the Germans eventually taking control of the city by the middle of March, and is generally considered by historians to be the last great victory of the Nazi operation Barbarossa, that led to the battle of Kursk and the rout of the German forces that saw them go into an almost endless retreat until Berlin. The set consists of several kits that we’ve seen released by MiniArt on at least one occasion, including their excellent StuG.III kit, the X-Series Soviet Tram, plus three figure sets that total thirteen characters in all, a set of signs on a post, and tons of accessories for them. The last part is an injection-moulded version of their original tramway base that was seen at the time of the tram’s original releases in 2022, retooled for a more sturdy design. There are eighty-one sprues plus the base in mid-grey styrene, eleven in clear, a good-sized Photo-Etch (PE) fret of brass parts, decal sheet and glossy-covered instruction booklet with colour profiles on the front cover, and combined instructions and painting guide on the rearmost pages. Detail is excellent throughout, which is just what we’ve come to expect from modern toolings by MiniArt, with so much detail crammed into every part of the model, which includes individual track links, a highly detailed base, crystal clear parts, and sufficient accessories to detail the diorama. StuG.III Ausf.G The StuG is a popular German WWII AFV, and the more you learn about it, the more obvious it becomes why. The SturmGeschutz III was based upon the chassis of the Panzer III, but removed the turret and front deck, replacing it with an armoured casemate with a lower profile that mounted a fixed gun with limited traverse. It was originally intended to be used as infantry support, using its (then) superior armour to advance on the enemy as a mobile blockhouse, but it soon found other uses as an ambush predator, and was employed as a tank destroyer, hiding in wait for Allied forces to stumble haplessly into its path, where it could be deadly. With the advances in sloped armour employed by the Soviets, the original low velocity 75mm StuK 37 L/24 cannon was replaced by higher velocity unit that was also used in the Panzer IV for tank-on-tank combat, extending the type’s viable career to the end of WWII. The earliest prototypes were made of mild steel and based on Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and while equipped with guns were unsuitable for combat due to the relative softness of the steel that would have led to a swift demise on the battlefield, being withdrawn in '41-42. By this time the StuG III had progressed to the Ausf.G, which was based on the later Panzer III Ausf.M, with a widened upper hull and improvements in armour to increase survivability prospects for the crew. Many of the complicated aspects of the earlier models that made them time-consuming and expensive to produce were removed and simplified by that time, which led to a number of specific differences in some of the external fitments around the gun, such as the Saukopf mantlet protector. The Ausf.G was the last and most numerous version, and was used until the end of the war with additional armour plates often welded or bolted to the surface to give it enhanced protection from the Allied tanks and artillery. x2 Construction begins with the floor panel, which receives the torsion suspension bars with their fittings, a pair of runners to support the engine that isn’t included in this boxing, and the support structure for the gun, which is made up from some substantial beams that have a traverse shoe placed on top to give the gun its limited 15° travel for fine-tuning lateral aim. The rear bulkhead is set against the engine mounts and the hull sides are mated to the floor, with the bases for the final drive housing glued to the front next to the two-layer front bulkhead. The glacis plate with transmission inspection hatches are given a similar treatment, plus another appliqué panel, and the usual exhausts, towing lugs and idler protection are added to the bottom section of the rear, and a radiator exhaust panel with PE grille is made up and applied above it, adding some deflecting tin-work to the hull. Narrow bolted panels are added to the sides of the hull in preparation for the upper hull parts that are added next. Some of the gun breech detail is represented, and a large trunnion is fitted onto the two pins on the sides of the assembly. Before the gun can be fitted, the walls of the casemate must be made up, and these are well-detailed externally, including vision slots, smoke grenade dispensers and lifting eyes. The shape of the casemate is completed with the addition of the front wall, which has a large cut-out to receive the gun in due course. The front of the casemate is built out forward with a sloped front and some appliqué armour, dropped over the front of the lower hull and joined by the breech assembly, which is covered by an armoured panel after armoured protectors to the mounting bolts have been glued over them. A two-layer bridge over the top of the insert encloses the breech, then it’s time to prepare the roof with some details before covering up the interior, then making a choice of how to finish the commander’s cupola in either open or closed pose. It has PE latches and a set of V-shaped binocular sighting glasses in the separate front section of the cupola that can be open or closed independently to the main hatch. The gunner’s hatch is a simpler affair consisting of a clamshell pair of doors, with the machine gun shield just in front of it and a well-detailed MG34 machine gun with drum mag slotted through the centre. This hatch can also be posed open or closed, and the MG shield can be posed flat for travel. The engine deck is built up with short sides and armoured intake louvres on the sides, which are covered with PE meshes as the deck is glued down onto the engine bay. An appliqué panel is added to the slope at the rear of the deck, then armoured cover to the fume extraction fan is added to the back of the casemate, although it appears to be missed in the instructions. A rail of spare track links is fixed across the rear of the casemate by a bar, with the barrel cleaning rods underneath, lashed to the deck with PE and styrene parts, then the four deck hatches are made with armoured vents. A pair of road wheels are carried on the deck with long pins through their holes that attach them to the rearmost pair of hatches, drilling the holes in the covers from inside beforehand. A field modification of a large stowage box is mounted on the centre of the rear deck, made from six sides with PE latches. To mount the paired wheels, the swing-arms with stub axles are applied to the sides of the hull, adding the final drive housings under the front, plus additional suspension parts that improves damping further. The idler adjuster is covered with armoured shrouds, and a group of pioneer tools are dotted around the sides of the engine deck, after which the paired wheels are fixed to the axles, with drive-sprockets at the front and idler wheels at the rear, plus a trio of return rollers on short axles near the top of the hull sides. The barrel of the gun has a bulky Saukopf mantlet cover, which is made up from three parts with a barrel sleeve moulded into the front, which the barrel slots into, tipped with a detailed three-part muzzle brake to give it the correct hollow muzzle. It slides over the recoil tubes of the breech later in the build, closing up the interior. The tracks are individual links that are held together by pins, using 94 links per side, and each link has three sprue gates to clean up, plus a little flash on the highly detailed sides, which will need scraping away with a sharp blade. I created a short length in short order for a previous review, coupling them together, and the result is a very well detailed track with flexibility to adjust them around the running gear of your model, and as they are a tight fit, they shouldn’t need glue, but I’d probably set them in position with liquid glue once I had them how I wanted them on the vehicle. Once they’re in place, the fenders are attached to the hull sides, with integrated mudguards and tiny fittings added to the inner faces. More pioneer tools and stowage are added to these, as space was a premium on these vehicles, and every flat surface ended up with equipment on it. This includes a convoy light and either a highly detailed PE fire extinguisher or a simplified styrene alternative if you prefer. Shovels, pry bars, jack blocks and the jack are also found on the fenders, as are the two towing cables, which have styrene eyes and you’ll need to supply the 111mm cable material yourself, with a set of PE tie-downs holding them in place on each side, and some PE brackets strengthening the front of the fenders. The last parts of the kit are two whip antennae on the rear of the casemate. Soviet X-Series Tram This part of the kit is based upon the passenger X-Series tram and is a mid-production variant that has been release separately before now. Construction begins with the floor and suspension leaf-springs, plus control chains and air-receiver for the braking system. Next is the sub-frame bogie, with two electric motors and axles sandwiched between the brake actuators and wheels, slotting it inside the long frame along with leaf-spring suspension mounts and cross-braces. The two axles are then integrated in the frame by adding end-plates and more cross-braces to stiffen up the assembly. The brake actuators are joined to the rest of the armature by a small cage and long rod that is connected to the driver’s cab later, with boxed-in steps at each end of the floor and a cow (pedestrian) catcher on a frame at each end too. These trams were fitted with dual controls, one at each end to avoid having to physically turn them around at the end of each run, so the driver’s controls are doubled up on a pair of lectern-like bases on the left, a set of controls on a tubular base in the centre, and another smaller upright on the right with the brake-wheel facing the driver. The driver’s seat is a simple wind-up stool on a tubular base, with everything mounted into sockets on the floor at each end. The passenger floor is applied in sections, and the front/back windows are installed at each end, with handed door frames assembled alongside the passenger seats, which have separate backs and legs, plus grab-handles on the outer corner of the fore/aft seats, which also have slatted backs. The completed seats are attached to the side walls and each window is made up of two panes, then supports are added at each end, notionally separating the seating area from the entrance vestibules. The sides fix to the floor, and the doorway parts are filled out with double-doors that are glazed with clear parts and have a triple push-bar across the top pane. To add strength to the sides, two cross-members are added between the passenger compartment and the vestibules. The big soviet star with integrated headlight that includes a representation of a bulb in the centre is placed front and centre in the nose at each end – unless you’ve opted for the simpler and less ostentatious headlamp of course. The roof is made of two mirror image sections with panelling moulded into each cab end and curved sections where adverts would be placed in view of the passengers, with a pair of lighting bars running along the rest of the length next to roof-mounted handrails. Uprights are glued to each side of the flat section of the roof and have a nicely detailed heat-exchanger unit fitted front and rear. Lights, two types of placards for route numbers and the big pantograph loop are assembled then fitted in the centre of the roof, angled toward the direction it has come from. The base is injection-moulded, and has criss-cross supports moulded underneath to prevent it from sagging under the weight of the models, but you may wish to increase support if you feel it warrants the extra effort. The two catenary posts have a four-part base and single riser part, with a choice of a simple or decorative arm for each one. They are held taut by wires that you will need to supply yourself, and you will need to do a little research to correctly wire in the rest of the cables to your tram’s pantograph, but the kit provides the tensioner screws that are adjusted by engineers during installation and maintenance. Figures Panzer Grenadier was a term that was coined during WWII to describe troops that supported armour, or motorised infantry. They wore pink piping on their uniforms, with an S that stood for Shützen, or Protect to differentiate them from gunners or other armoured crew. If they weren't riding on a tank, they would travel to battle in trucks, or if they were really lucky, a half-track such as an Sd.kfz.251. This set of figures from MiniArt contains a squad of Panzer Grenadiers sat in various poses on the vehicle, culled from two sets previously released individually, and the StuG crew that are a German SPG Crew that were also an earlier release, all in a sympathetic array of relaxed pose with the exception of the driver, who is at work. The painting and main construction diagrams are printed on the rear of the instruction booklet, with colours and part numbers indicated with arrows, and the codes called out in a chart that covers Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya colours, plus swatches of colour and generic names for completeness. From the box you can build eight Panzergrenadiers and five StuG crew members, each having separate arms, legs, head and torso, plus all the usual accessories common to the period and their role. The grenadiers are all seated in differing poses, with most of them nursing Kar98s rifles or MP40s, while one holds an MG34 across his lap and wears a length of link ammo around his neck. Each of them has the usual complement of pouches, gas mask canister, entrenching tool and water bottle, with ammo pouches to match their personal weapons. The vehicle’s crew wear tanker uniforms with peaked forage caps and double-breasted jackets, with a pistol holstered on their belts for self-defence. Three crew are stood in hatches in various poses with their arms resting on the deck, while the driver is working on controlling the tank with his hands and feet, the final crew member sitting relaxed on the deck with one leg straight out in front of him and the other folded under, one arm draped over the superstructure of the StuG. There are two weapons and two accessory sprues, each of the weapon sprues providing two Kar98s and MP40s, bayonets, a pistol and flare pistol, plus open and closed holsters, along with first aid kit, map case, binoculars and ammo pouches to personalise the crew or diorama with. The MG34 is on its own sprue, with a separate breech cover, drum mags, a bipod in folded and extended poses, a length of link, and an ammo box. The end of the ammo box and the muzzle of the weapon are slide-moulded with hollow ends for realism, and the length of ammo can be heated to better drape around the neck of the gunner or one of his colleagues if you intend to use it. Signposts A single sprue contains all the parts necessary to create a simple post that is adorned with ten signposts that have corresponding decals appropriate for the region on the accompanying decal sheet. The instructions show the post uprooted and propped in the doorway of the tram, but its location is entirely up to you, but you may wish to mimic the angles of the signs in case they are accurately oriented, and if not you can blame the instructions for misleading you. Markings As this is a special edition Big Set from MiniArt, there is only one colour option illustrated for the StuG and tram, plus a set of decals for the front of the signs on the post that are included. From the box you can build the following: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This box is stacked to the brim with plastic, and the quality of the contents is first rate, as are the accessories and generous quantity of figures. It is a simple method of creating a believable diorama of an important battle on the Eastern front during WWII, needing little more than paint, glue and some of your modelling time to complete. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Dear fellow Britmodellers, having completed my move from the city to the countryside, I now enjoy bird songs instead of road noise and the greenery of my garden instaed of concrete facades! It took quite some time to set up my modelling room and equipment in the new house, and I'm happy to share my first completed models with you. Number one: the 1/72 Dragon Hummel from the "Neo Pro" line wich features link-and-length tracks instead of the dreaded rubber bands they used before. I built from the box, adding the antenna from stretched sprue, and painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics. Markings represent a vehicle of an unknown Self-propelled artillery regiment on the Eastern Front, 1944/45. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. # Thank you for your interest, best greetings from Lower Austria, Roman

Operation Bagration The Soviet Destruction of German Army Group Centre, 1944 Casemate Publishing Operation Bagration was the codename for the immense operation by the Soviet army that sealed the fate of the German forces that were already in retreat after the failure of Barbarossa when the might of the Soviet forces woke up to the danger in the nick of time. It exacted a heavy price from both sides, with almost half a million dead and a further 300 Germans falling into captivity, from which the majority wouldn’t return. It began in June 1944 with the mobilisation of 1.2m Soviet troops and armour, and ended with the demolition of the German forces and their removal from all parts Byelorussia, with the Soviet Juggernaut only stopping due to the ever-extending supply lines reaching their limits. This book by Ian Baxter from Casemate Publishing arrives in a stiff card cover with folded fly-leaf and 128 pages of glossy paper inside. It is a balanced book of text and photos, many of which are unlikely to have been seen by most of us, documenting the rout of the ailing German Central Army throughout the campaign, unable to reverse their fortunes even after the appointment of Hitler’s favourite trouble-shooter General Model. It begins with a table of contents as follows: 06 Timeline of Events 08 Prelude to Disaster 11 German Forces 24 Soviet Forces 30 The Eve of Battle 42 Operation Bagration begins: June 23-28th, 1944 64 Fighting for Survival: June 29th/July 16th, 1944 85 Operations in the North: July 7-13th, 1944 96 Operations in the Centre and the South: July 14-26th, 1944 111 Soviet Triumph 121 Aftermath 126 Further Reading 127 Index The photos are of excellent quality for the most part, with a few showing their age but that’s down to the performance of the cameras of the day, as well as the size of the original article. In between the sections are a number of colourful sections showing the uniforms, weapons and equipment carried by the various protagonists, from German Machine-Gunners to female Soviet Snipers. The various force lists show the huge disparity in numbers between the Germans and Soviets, a situation that grew worse as the campaign progressed. As well as the staged photos of the generals of both sides, there are a number of pictures that are more candid in nature, showing troops in action, at rest and doing the boring stuff in between the terrifying parts, such as digging trenches, travelling and pushing vehicles out of muddy fields. There’s a lot of diorama inspiration within the pages, in addition to the text and the captions to the photos. Conclusion The highlights for me were some of the detail photos showing hand-applied mud as camo on a half-track, a close-up shot of some Zimmerit on the side of a Panther, and my personal favourite was a nebelwerfer being towed by an Sd.Kfz.10, then in the process of firing, where you can actually see the blurred outline of the rocket leaving the tube. At time of writing, there’s a discount on the title from the link below. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi, Next from my Caproni shelf - Caproni Ca 311. Model made from Italeri kit, some interior details added. decals from drawer - markings are from 128 Squadriglia, 61 Gruppo Osservazione Aerea, Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, Zaporozhe, Ukraine, Nov. 1941. Comments welcome cheers... Jerzy-Wojtek

This is another, much older build that I finally got around to photographing a few years ago. This model must've been built sometime in the 1990s, I really should've kept decent build notes back then. A few years ago, I took it and several other models (see the Bell AH-1S Cobra) to another small-town airport, the Coffield Regional Airport in Rockdale, Texas, about 20 miles away. The airport used to belong to a local millionaire, H.H. Coffield, and he had lot’s of cool WWII planes out there, including B-25s and C-47s. I thought the old hangar had a cool, “classic” look to it and used it for a background. The model’s first release date, according to the instructions, was 1969, then 1983 and ’89. It must’ve really been somewhat “state of the art” in 1969 with lot’s of cool detail and features. I added a little bit of wiring/tubing and tried my hand at dirtying up the landing gear and belly. It is done in Soviet Air Force markings and colors and represents one of over 4,000 Airacobras turned over to the Russians on Lend-Lease terms during World War II. Paint is Humbrol and ModelMaster enamel, applied with the Paasche Model H. Decals came with the kit. As to comments that it might be just too clean for the Russian Front, there’s this: “Too clean? Da, IS clean. Clean due to heroic efforts of Sgt. Alexei Nadgudunov, crew chief. Sgt. Nadgudunov was awarded Hero of Soviet Union medal for his efforts to maintain aircraft even in most-forward positions of front against German fascists in Great Patriotic War! Wielding high-pressure water spray, Nadgudunov beat back worst conditions that Mother Russia could provide. Sgt. Nadgudunov stated that even in harsh circumstances of combat, Soviet aircraft could go to war in presentable condition! VVS General Dimitri Klekov said Sgt. Alexei Nadgudunov exemplified efforts of patriotic Russian comrade citizens and soldiers in war against the fascist invaders.” 😉 Although I'd change several things if I were building another, this one turned out to be a fair “four-footer” I guess. Thanks for taking a look, and all comments welcomed! Gary

Totenkopf Division Kharkov 1943 (35075) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models The Totenkopf division were officially known as the 3rd SS Panzer Division but were more usually known as the Death's Head due to their skull and crossbones divisional badge. They were reserves during the battle of France and took part in the invasion of Russia, coming back to the Eastern Front after assisting the transfer of power to the Vichy government in France until 1943. There they took part in the attempt to stop the Soviet advances including the third Battle of Kharkov, where they were at least partially successful in holding the line for a while. They and numerous other SS Divisions were involved in a number of horrible war crimes throughout the war due to their fervent belief in their Fuhrer and the inferiority of their opponents. Although the SS were and still are a hated group, there is no doubting the fact that they were involved in the fighting and played a part in many pivotal battles of WWII. This set contains a group of five figures at rest dressed in winter garb as befits their involvement in Kharkov. They arrive in a shrink-wrapped figure box, with five small sprues of figures and four of accessories all in grey styrene. Also included in the box is a short instruction leaflet to aid in construction of the accessories such as weapons and ammo crates. All of the five are seated in various poses nursing their weapons in their laps, with thick winter clothing consisting of padded trousers and a hooded smock that only one has over his helmet. Their footwear is a mixture of leather and suede boots and one wearing boots with cloth spats over them. They all have ammo pouches, water bottles, gas mask canisters, entrenching tools and bayonets, with plenty of spares on the accessory sprues. Three figures have Kar98 rifles, and the remaining two each have an MP40 or MG42, the latter slung across his lap with a length of link shown wrapped around the breech. The link is supplied, but you might have to carry out some heat flexing and surgery in order to get it to sit right around the gun. Each figure is broken down individual legs, arms, torso and heads, plus hoods that fit between the torso and head. The hooded character has a separate helmet front and two-part hood that closes around his head then attaches to the torso. The rest have helmets from the accessory sprues that fit directly to their flat-topped craniums, and some have woollen "snoods" under their helmets to prevent frostbite, while others are toughing it out with just their helmets. Their poses are hunched over and miserable in nature, and would suit a squad riding a tank in driving snow, or waiting for orders in bleak winter conditions. Either way, they won't get any sympathy from us. As usual with MiniArt figures their sculpting is exceptional with crisp detail and sensible parts breakdown plus loads of extras to add some detail to their vicinity if you use them in a diorama. The MG42 can be posed with a drum mag and open or closed bipod if you wish, and the MP40 has either a folded or open stock, while ammo boxes, grenade cases, oil cans, map cases, pistol pouches and plenty of spare weapons can be found on the sprues. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

From Leningrad to Narva (9786155583186) Peko Publishing After the horrific siege of Leningrad was broken and the remaining Germans that could escape retreated back toward Nazi held territory using the tactics of collapsing retreat to delay the inevitable, then holding the pre-invasion line around Narva, which they managed to hold for some time. During this period there were numerous battles, offensives and counter offensives with significant casualties on both sides, and it is this process that this book documents in detail, including lots of photos. Bound in a hardback cover in landscape format, the book contains 80 pages of printed material, plus two fly-leaves inside. It arrives in a shrink-wrap cover to keep it in good shape and the pages nice and crisp. The text is in English by author Kamen Nevenkin, and is interspersed with some impressive and poignant pictures of damaged vehicles and at times the crews and soldiers that died with them. The photos are all black and white, which adds to the desolate feeling they evoke, with the information in the captions adding to it, as well as pointing out interesting points that may have slipped your attention on first glance. It is broken down into chapters according to the timeline, as follows: Chapter 1 Page 3: The siege of Leningrad Chapter 2 Page 13: The Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive, January 1944 Chapter 3 Page 33: The Raid of the 16th Tank Brigade Chapter 4 Page 45: The First Battle of Narva, February – April 1944 Chapter 5 Page 66: The Fall of Narva and the German Evacuation of Estonia, July – September 1944 Sources Page 80 The book begins with the German siege of Leningrad and continues to document the initial Soviet attempts to break the deadlock, which was eventually successful in the early part of 1944 once the lake had frozen over. The Germans withdrew to the Estonian border, which was where the original Barbarosa offensive had begun years earlier, with Narva being an important centre of operations. It took the Russians a long hard battle to cross the river's frozen surface, and further hardships to secure the bridgehead that eventually led to the German forces withdrawing and eventually opening the floodgates for the final assault on Berlin in 1945. Conclusion With a broad variety of photos spread throughout the book and informative text around it, this makes for an interesting read, as well as a treat for the eyes, which will doubtless inspire some diorama opportunities. Review sample courtesy of

Pegasus Hobbies Fw 190A-3. I had bought this kit with all the pieces out of their sprues (but with all the pieces being present) and without the original decals (it came with two sets of badly stored ones). I used Eaglecals decals for the Fw 190A-2/A-3 in 1:48 to represent a plane used by Schlg 1 in the Eastern Front. You can look this plane up on Google as "Fw 190A-3 jagdbomber a." I used a Hasegawa 190 bomb rack, and a Bf 109 bomb.

This aircraft is available as an option on Eaglecals EC48-129 and 32-129. Both sheets come with a poster of the aircraft with too much sheen on the left fuselage, making it rather difficult to see any fuselage camouflage details. This photo shows the contrasts between the RLM 70 and 71, and also shows the aircraft carrying a white-outlined Swastika, without the black filling. I hope you find this photo helpful.

Heinkel He 111H-16 (48263) 1:48 ICM via Hannants The He.111 was originated in secrecy, disguised as a civilian transport in the mid-30s, but once Nazi Germany came out of the closet and disregarded the Versailles agreement, it immediately became clear that they were rearming in a major way. The early civilian and military variants had a more traditional stepped canopy, and there is a famous piece of film that is used and reused in documentaries showing a D or "Dora" variant dropping bombs during the Spanish Civil War as part of the Condor Legion, which was Hitler's proving ground for his new designs and Blitzkreig tactics. Various revisions followed until the P, which introduced the now-iconic stepless fully glazed cockpit, which improved both aerodynamics and the pilot's situational awareness. The P series saw limited action in WWII as it was replaced by the more competent H variant, substituting Junkers Jumo 211 engines, detuned to give it the throbbing beat that was to be heard over Britain almost until the end of the war. The H-16 was a product of the experience of the Battle of Britain, and from the H-11 onward, improved armament and armoured glass for the gunners was introduced along with additional armour around the crewed areas, some of which could be jettisoned in an emergency. Additional improvements were made to the -16 in communications and radar equipment, with the capability added to carry an external load over the bomb bay by the installation of a rack. The H series continued until the H-23, although there were also a number of side-projects such as the Z, Zwilling with two airframes joined by a central aerofoil and sporting five engines, designed to tow the Me.321 Gigant glider. The Kit This is a revision of the recent new tooling by ICM, who have raised their game substantially over the recent years. The kit arrives in their lidded top-opened with a glossy card lid and painting of a care-worn example on the front, with ten sprues in medium, grey styrene, two in crystal clear styrene, an instruction booklet in line-drawn colour, and a long decal sheet that can be found ensconced within the booklet. On opening the bags, it is very apparent that this is a modern tooling, with lots of lovely details, crisp moulding, and some very clever engineering on display. The cockpit and partial interior will require some thought for painting, but if you get the order right, you should minimise the swearing when you have to reload the airbrush for the Nth time. The new parts include a new insert for the dorsal gun station, the choice of two under-belly trays, guns, props, wheels and bombs, which are spread over three sprues, two of which are identical. The clear parts are augmented by a new sprue that contains armoured and adapted parts to accommodate the double-Zwilling mounts that were used in the gondola and flank gun positions in this variant. Construction starts with the two wing spar parts, which are separated by the gear bay roof assemblies and a walkway part. Additional detail is added to the bulkheads along with the fuselage walkways and a smaller bulkhead toward the tail, with the lower portion of the mid-upper "turret" ring attached to the floor. The cockpit floor is then assembled with rudder pedals, instrument panels, seat and control linkages, slotting into the front spar once finished. An additional chair and the overhead instrument panel are installed later in the build. As a prelude to closing up the fuselage, the tail wheel is fitted together, which has the wheel moulded-in, and consists of three parts. Preparation of the fuselage halves involves adding the inserts into the wing roots and making good the join; inserting the paired side windows which now have alternative parts and twin machine guns; adding ammo can racks; radio panel; the pilot's control column, and more glazing in the ventral gondola. The spar/cockpit assembly is then fitted to the starboard fuselage half and the port side is added along with some glue. The rudder is separate and fits to the fin with actuators, then the missing fuselage panels between the spars are added, which of course will need painting and fettling in if you're bothered about the endoscope-equipped viewers. The mid-upper insert is designed to cater for the revised gun installation, and has a lovely serrated ring moulded-in, with controls and bracing strut added before it is installed into the fuselage opening, closing off much of the rear fuselage. The bomb bay is left on the sprues in this boxing, with the opening covered either by a large raised area with five sets of bomb shackle slots, or two raised sections that can carry two larger bombs. The bombs themselves are built up from two halves that have two fins moulded-in, and a single part that fits on the tail forming the other two fins in a cruciform layout. To these are added stiffening brackets, with either five smaller bombs or two larger ones to fill the station layout that you have chosen. At this point the wings are begun, with the lower sides added to the fuselage/spar assembly first. The ailerons are separate, and are built up before the uppers are added, as are the elevators, and the two engines, which are provided in their entirety, along with much of the ancillary equipment and engine mounts. The completed Jumo 211F-2s are fitted to the front of the spars and depending on whether you want to display them or not, and then enclosed by cowling panels, radiators and the intake/outlet ramps. The bottom cowlings can be split to reveal the engine detail, which is a good way of showing off the detail without ruining the lines of the aircraft. The upper wings and ailerons are fitted, the remaining cowling panels with the flame damping exhausts are added, which could do with drilling out to simulate being hollow, and finally the nose glazing, which has a machinegun and the aforementioned overhead instrument panel moulded in clear styrene, has a decal for the instruments. The nose "cone" is a separate clear part, and it too is fitted with a machine gun with a single drum mag and dump bag for the spent brass. Another two MGs are fitted to the new rear glazing part on the gondola, and the mid-upper gun is added to the new rear-facing armoured glass, along with the protective clear shroud at the front. The main wheels are each built up from two halves, and placed between the twin legs that have the main retraction jacks moulded in, and secured with a number of cross-braces between the two legs. An additional ram is fitted within the bay, attached to the rear cross-brace. The gear bay doors fit to the bay sides with large tabs, and the new props are made up from a single part with two part spinner and back plate, which fit onto the engine's output shaft through the vented front of the cowlings. Markings There are four decal options included in the box, two in winter distemper finishes, the other two in RLM70/71 splinter pattern over RLM65 with the unit markings and codes to differentiate between them. From the box you can build one of the following: He.111H-16 5./KG4, Eastern Front, Winter 1942-3 He.111H-16 2./Schleppgruppe 4, Eastern Front, Winter 1942-3 He.111H-16 Stab II./KG53, Eastern Front, September 1943 He.111H-16 2./KG100, Eastern Front, September 1943 Decals are printed by ICM, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas with a few exceptions around some of the fuselage codes. These can easily be cut off before they are applied however, so it's not an issue. Conclusion The He.111 is a truly iconic shape, and we're long overdue a new tooling of the type in this scale. This new variant adds breadth to the range, giving the modeller a number of Eastern Front options that played an important part in the war there. Very highly recommended. Available from UK Importers, H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

Just finished another project. Polikarpov I-152 (I-15bis) from Special Hobby in 1/48 scale. Building process and more pictures you can see here: https://goo.gl/photos/EWb28Anj2Hx8CUZ77 The model is not for beginners. There were some difficulties, but overall positive experience. The result - one box became less Hope you like it Regards Ivan.

Just finished this project few days ago. Building process here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234941996-mig-3-trumpeter-148/ . This model from Trumpeter is really nice. A bit scratch parts plus photoetched from Eduard. Hope you like it

Hi guys! Started another project few days ago. Trumpeter MiG-3 Early version. Nice kit. Also I got Eduard photo etched set for cockpit. Artbox got few books as references With planning to get A. Pokrishkin plane... probably something like this: I know this kit got few mistakes but not critical. Going to change armour back plate on pilot seat and not to use harness straps because no one wartime photo showed it. So, lets go rock and roll Tried to deepen and make thinner pilot's seat First version armour back plate beside original one Progress at the moment. Hope you like it Ivan.

Heres goes another attempt fingers crossed. After Bagration offensive the Soviets go on the offensive towards the Baltic states in order to cutoff the German lines of communications with army group north. Soviets of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Batlic front with parts of the 3rd Belorussian front armies throw themselves on the against army group north and centre including the famous Grossdeutschland and infamous SS. Germans get caught in pockets the Luftwaffe and german navy attempt to resupply. The Prinze Eugen and her escorts bombard soviet positions, German merchant men bring out German casualties or evacuate troops from pockets. Germans attempt futile a offensives. Tiger II's clash with IS2's and SU100's, Panthers, Panzer IV's, stugs and AFV's take on T-34's ISU-122/152, KV's and lend lease Shermans and other AFV's. Russian Yaks and lend lease fighters take on German FW190's and BF109's. Stuka's and Il-2 strafe and shoot up enemy infantry and armour This battle included 1 546 400 troop, 17 500 artillery pieces 3080 armoured vehicles and 2640 aircraft Russians and 7 300 000 troops 7000 artillery pieces 1 260 armoured vehicles and 400 aircraft. This GB should should be able to cover most modellers interests. Take a dive guys and learn something about the other front. Vehicles, ships and aircraft as long as it was involved in the Baltic offensive. Regards Crossy

Pz.Kpfw 38(t) Ausf E/F 1:16 Panda Hobby The Panzer 38 started life as an inter-war Czech designed medium tank that was co-opted into service by the Nazi war machine when Czechoslovakia was annexed prior to WWII. It's age is exhibited by the comparatively light main armament and the riveted and bolted construction of the armour plates. Additional armour was deemed necessary in German service, which was achieved by the addition of extra plates to the existing armour, rather than replacing the panels, and these were designated as E through to G. Although it was already a fairly old design by the outbreak of WWII in Europe, manufacture continued until 1942, when the realisation that it could not take on the Russian tank of the day, the T-34 dawned upon the designers. Its chassis carried on however, and was used as a Flakpanzer, the well liked (by its crew) Hetzer and the Marder III. Crews said of the drivetrain that it was well-designed for use as well as maintenance, which resulted in a low breakdown rate, with easy repairs when it did fail. Its main use was on the Eastern Front, but it was pulled out of frontline use due to its light armour, and although it continued as a reconnaissance tank, that was the remaining chassis from the 1,400 that has been built were re-tasked in earnest. The Marder III was an attempt to break through the armour of the T-34 with captured 76.2mm Russian guns mounted in open turrets, and this in turn led to the more successful Hezter. The diminutive Hetzer (officially designated Jagdpanzer 38(t)) had a wider chassis and heavier armour in a turretless design, turning it into an effective tank destroyer that became increasingly common right up to the end of the war, with almost 3,000 built. The Kit This is the first kit in Panda's new "Huge Monster Series", as evidenced by the 16001 catalogue number on the end of the box. Even though it is a relatively small tank, the dimensions on the front of the box show a length of 288mm, width of 133mm and height of 144mm, which is handy to know if you're not familiar with the scale. The box is around the same size and proportions as an Airfix Valiant box, just to give you an idea of how it'd fit in your stash - it's a top opening box that is pleasingly heavy, and inside you will find rather a lot of styrene in individual bags. There are eleven sprues in dark grey styrene, seventeen ladder sprues in mid-brown styrene containing the track links, a clear sprue, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a turned aluminium barrel for the main armament, and a sheet of decals for the tank's markings. The instruction booklet is in the form of a narrow A4 and runs to eight pages packed with construction sequences. The painting and marking sheet is A3 and printed in full colour on glossy paper, with a side-profile printed on the rear that could be framed and hung on the wall after use if you're careful with it, and so minded. First impressions are good, and after you stop looking for the hull and realise it is supplied in slab-sections, it is obvious that a lot of detail has been crammed into the parts, including a basic turret interior and full breech. It is also clear that the kit has been made with absolutely no regard for motorisation, which I'm sure will disappoint a few folks, but most will be happy with a static model of this lesser known, but important tank. Slide-moulding has been used where sensible, a turned metal barrel improves the look of the gun immensely, and the individual track links with separate pins have been well done, and have only seams and sprue links to clean up - not an ejector pin in sight. Of course, instruction starts with the drivetrain, and detail here is good. The drive sprockets are made up from two sprocket parts with two hub components coupled to the final drive, and the idler is similarly doubled up to trap the guide-horns, with a track-tensioner axle attached at the rear. The roadwheels are built up in pairs on their suspension arms, which have traditional leaf-springs between the axles. The wheels are separate from the tyres, which will please a lot of folks, and again, the two-part hubs are present. The return-rollers are built from two parts attached to a small stub-axle, and these are then attached to the hull. The hull itself is built up from a base with rolled front section, two side panels, front glacis plate with a large hatch in it, and the rear bulkhead, of which you have a choice of two for E or F models. Once that has set up, the running gear is added using locating pegs & holes in the sides of the hull, along with a bump-stop for the front suspension pair and two return-rollers per side. The fenders are one-piece per side, and run from stem to stern, with folded PE brackets providing extra strength on the real thing. The upper glacis panel is built up from the two layers of armour, and the ball of the bow-mounted MG is trapped between them, with a simple breech added to a socket on the rear of the ball. The muzzle of the 7.92mm ZB-53 gun is hollow thanks to some handy slide-moulding, but its part number is wrong. The vision blocks are shown in the open position, and have small hinges, stays and latches added during construction to finish them off. The upper hull with the turret ring is added next, and here Panda have taken the trouble of putting a highly detailed set of teeth around the aperture, although it will seldom be seen unless you model the tank as knocked-out. The fenders are festooned with pioneer tools, which are very well detailed with more realistic tie-downs when compared to the usual shapeless blocks you see on smaller scale armour. For some reason these steps are repeated in steps 13 and 14, so can be ignored. As mentioned earlier, the barrel of the gun is turned from aluminium and has a hollow barrel for realism. This is clamped between the breech parts, which are built up into a good representation of the 37mm kwK 38(t) L/47.8 cannon, the German version of the original Skoda A7 unit. The coaxial machine gun is also present in another ball-mount, this time trapped behind an internal bezel within the mantlet. This also has a breech identical to the bow-mounted one. Unlike the bow-mounted MG though, the turret coax doesn't have a hollow barrel, but could be quickly drilled out for extra realism if you wished - why they gave us only one hollow barrel is a mystery. The turret has a high cupola for the commander, which has a quartet of clear vision blocks mounted in armoured blocks every 90o around the hatch. This is added to the roof of the slide-moulded turret part, which lines up with the four sections of the inner hatch wall moulded into the turret. Additional sighting is achieved by a periscope that sits just forward of the commander's cupola on the port side. The underside of the turret with its cut-out is glued inside the turret shell, and a pair of jump-seats are added on tubular brackets for the gunner and commander. The aft deck is fairly empty, save for one grille that has a PE mesh panel installed over it to stop debris and grenades from finding their way inside. The exhaust is on the rear bulkhead, and is cylindrical with input and exhaust tubes on either end. Attached to that is a shroud for the input pipe, and on the rear of the cylindrical section is a box that is intended for smoke candles, set on a bracket. Additional track links are added to the fenders, and here the repeated construction steps start to take their toll. Clearly there were other steps that have been missed out during production of the booklet, as there is a large sloped sided box on the starboard fender behind the jack-block, and yet it is not mentioned in the instructions until it magically appears on the back page. It's a shame, as it's a nicely done perforated piece, which has benefited from some slide-moulding to make it in one piece. The jack fits across the top of it in a pair of recessed, and this is also ignored in the instructions. A length of spare track also appears on the underside of the bow, with no word of how it is affixed, although I have a hunch that part E50 has a hand in it. Oops! I'm sure that this will be corrected now it's known, but in the meantime, a little guesswork will be required, and some reference to reference photos to see how it goes together. Oddly for a tank, the tracks are not covered until the very last step, almost as an afterthought. In a scrap diagram the links are shown being glued together, and you are told that you need 186 of them, which I assume will mean 93 per side. The track pins that are provided in large quantities on the side of each track sprue aren't mentioned however, but most tracks seem to be assembled with an open or closed pin, which are both supplied, six of each on each sprue. You'll need to check your references to see which one goes where, so take care when assembling them. The last act is to add the turret and some small PE parts to the upper hull, and place the communications aerial on the bow plate on its bracket that attaches to the port corner. Markings Decals forfour options are supplied in the box on a medium sized sheet that has been printed in China. Printing is nicely done, with minimal carrier film between the numerals, although there is a slight registration error between the black and white colours, so you'll need to trim the ends of some of the balkenkreuz (German crosses). From the box you can build one of the following machines: "525" Pz. Regiment 25 of the 7th Pz. Division, Russia 1942 - overall Panzer Grey "833" Pz. Regiment 204 of the 22nd Pz. Division, Crimea 1941-2 - overall Panzer Grey "522" Pz. Regiment 204 of the 22nd Pz. Division, Crimea 1941-2 - overall Panzer Grey "1003" Pz. Regiment 25 of the 7th Pz. Division, Russia winter 1941-2 - overall Panzer Grey with a worn white distemper overcoat Conclusion As someone that has recently been introduced to the world of 1:16 armour, I'm very pleased to see this kit, and it bodes well for the next and subsequent kits in this scale from Panda. Detail is excellent, just as you would hope with the increase in scale, and even the most hardened adherent to rubber-band tracks will be able to deal with these nice big links, although having to research where the pins go is a minor pain. Of larger concern is the mistake in the instructions, as less experienced modellers might struggle to figure out where the unmentioned parts go, and may not even realise that they are missed, resulting in an incomplete tank. Hopefully Panda will come out with a downloadable addendum for those that have the incorrect instructions, but it's a mistake that could have easily been averting by proofing or even a test build following the instructions. Somewhere along the line, the copy & paste machine took a wrong turn. Don't let that put you off the kit though - it's well done and highly detailed. We shall have to wait for the P38(t) experts to pick over the fine details to hear more about the accuracy of the shape when built, and to find out whether there are any smaller details that need working on, as is so often the case with any older, and even some of the newer tank designs where production was in a constant state of change from month to month. If you've not tried 1:16 armour before, this would make a great introduction, as the finished product is relatively compact, and the detail is that of a model kit, rather than a well-detailed toy. It deserves to do well. Highly recommended. Welsh Dragon Models are hoping to have amongst the first stocks in the UK soon. Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops