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Russian PT-76B (03314) 1:72 Revell The PT-76 was designed in the 50s, and the 76 relates to the size of the barrel, rather than the year, when Soviet tank doctrine became interested again in the light tank concept, and added the amphibious requirement to the mix to create a very capable platform that can ford a river without breaking stride, punch above its weight in a shooting match, and in later incarnations it was also fully NBC capable. The PT-76B was an improvement on the original and could fire a new more potent armour piercing round, ran a new uprated engine, and had improved battlefield electronics to further increase the type’s capabilities. It was in production from the 50s until the late 60s, and saw plenty of action, with many still in service today with a number of operators. The Kit This is another reboxing by Revell of a Toxso Model tooling, and there is a ton of detail included. It arrives in a small end-opening box, with five sprues in grey styrene within, plus a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which has a length of fine wire taped to the front. The origin of the tooling is less than 10 years old, and this shows in the level of detail included on the sprues, some of it thanks to slide-moulding. Construction begins with the low-profile “dalek” turret, which has a quartet of brackets fitted inside, then is outfitted with the detailed breech that fits into a ring glue into the bottom of the turret. The two hatches, searchlight, spare track links, aerial base, and a choice of the NBC exhaust dome or its hooked extension. The base for the extension has a pair of small sink-marks around the pipe, which should be easy enough to fill because the pipe is a separate part. A pair of rails are arranged around the top of the turret, then the mantlet, hollow-muzzled barrel and the coaxial machine gun barrel complete the turret. The lower hull has two water intake gratings moulded into the underside, and the two hull sides make up the rest of the lower. Unusually, the road wheels are first attached to their suspension arms before they are fitted into the hull, with the drive sprockets and idlers installed first and some bump-stops that aren’t moulded-in (some are). The wheels are glued to three styles of suspension arms, so take care which go where and follow the instructions carefully so that you end up with the pattern shown in a scrap diagram from the side. The tracks are standard styrene lengths, and each run is made up from two parts that are wrapped around the road wheels and joined into a band to complete them. The tracks are directional, so make sure you install them the correct way around by referring to the instructions. The upper hull is assembled around the roof, with two side panels and the aft bulkhead that has the two water-jet exhausts and their covers moulded-in and glued on respectively. The water pumps are depicted in full, complete with a two-part induction horn that runs from the intakes underneath to the exhausts at the back, and has the manoeuvring jet take-off for the side vents too. They are handed, and a scrap diagram shows their completed position within the upper hull. Before the two halves are joined, the circular turret floor with a stool for the commander is inserted onto a short peg in the floor, which is directly under the turret ring once the upper hull is glued in place. The completed assembly is decked out in pioneer tools, fuel canisters, hatch and vision blocks, headlamps, plus a few sundry small parts and the bow-wash deflector in front of the driver’s position on the glacis. The engine deck has two separate hatches inserted into the holes, plus two PE grilles that glue over the other louvers, with some lifting handles added to the largest one. Mudguards are added front and rear, a set of PE cages are folded up for the headlights, and on the left fender, a tapered pole is mounted on pins. The turret is twisted into position to lock it into position, and using the wire supplied, you can make up the two towing cables using the styrene eyes that are included. The photos I’ve seen online however show the cable as being braided, so you may want to look into that. The supplied wire is also not as malleable as it could be, but it could be used as aerial wire to save wasting it. Markings There are two/three decal options on the sheet, both green as you may have expected. From the box you can build one of the following: Soviet Naval Infantry, unknown unit (with alternative turret codes) Nationale Volksarmee DDR, 1970 Decals are by Zanetti, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s a nice kit with some features I wouldn’t have expected on a 1:72 kit, and somewhat advanced for its original release-date. The inclusion of PE parts is just gravy. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

French R39 Light Infantry Tank 1/35 HOBBYBOSS via Creative Models Designed by Renault, this was an interwar light infantry tank used by the French army in their unsuccessful defence of their homeland at the beginning of WWII, after which it remained in service with the German forces as a beutepanzer, where it was either used in second line service, or heavily converted to a makeshift gun carriage and used as a self-propelled howitzer. It was originally intended as a replacement for the diminutive FT-17, but due to the sloth in re-training their crews, they were still ill-prepared even on the eve of war. The R39 is a variant of the R35 but armed with the heavier 37mm SA38 L/33 gun allowing it to operate in an anti-tank capacity. When Germany pounced, there were almost a thousand R35s in service, although they had been found unreliable, poorly armed to combat tanks, and with too little armour. All the remaining vehicles were taken on charge by the Germans and more than a little tinkering with cutting torches began. Some had their turrets removed to use as small gun emplacements, while others were thoroughly butchered to become tank destroyers, although in doing so the original chassis was horribly overloaded, leading to slow, breakdown prone vehicles that must have been loathed by their crews. By the end of the war a small number were left and used by the French until they were replaced with more capable tanks. The Kit This is a re-boxing by HobbyBoss with a new sprue for the heavier turret on this version. The kit arrives in a fairly small box with a divider keeping the sprues from rattling about. Inside are seven sprues, upper hull in sand coloured styrene; two sprues containing the tracks; a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, decal sheet, colour painting guide and black and white instruction manual. The engine is first to be constructed, with a two part block that is heavily detailed with additional parts, a great many of which are absolutely tiny, which conspires to give you a very nicely depicted motor for your R35 chassis. Work then commences on integrating the engine with the lower hull, beginning with the sand-cast rear bulkhead, which has the idler tensioning devices and towing hook added, after which the radiator, cooling fan and ducting are assembled with the power-take-off wheel projecting from the rear of the box. The hull itself is made up from two side panels and a floor piece, into which the radiator housing, a styrene/PE stiffening plate and driver controls are added. The side panels are fitted out with three return-rollers and a final drive housing per side, and four bogies with two wheels per housing and a big suspension spring are built up. Two more solo bogies, two drive sprockets and two idler wheels are also constructed, and are installed on the suspension mounting points on the hull sides. At the same time the driver's seat, fuel tank and engine-mount bulkhead are ensconced within the hull, and the rear bulkhead closes up the rear. After adding a few more driver controls and their linkages, the drive-train is dropped into the hull, with a transmission housing added to the front, and driver-shafts to the sprockets complete the drive-train. Given their small size in 1:35, HB have decided to go down the link and length route with the tracks. The straight track runs are made up from six parts with a few links in between the curved lower sections, and twelve individual links at each end. Each of the individual links have three sprue gates, while the lengths have additional dead-end tabs that ensure against short-shot links, and also double as ejector-pin positions, saving the delicate detail from marring by miss-alignments. The upper hull is detailed inside with the driver's instrument panel, plus a choice of actuator for his vision hatch, which can be posed open or closed. The final drive inspection hatch is added along with some PE parts, as is the lower part of the driver's hatch, with the upper section added in the open or closed aspect, depending on your whim. The upper hull is then closed up and a host of pioneer tools are threaded through their tie-down blocks to be added to the sides of the hull together with the silencer/muffler and exhaust, the feeder pipe for which comes from the rear of the vehicle. Their is a large tail on the rear of the tank like those seen on the Renault FT-17 to assist on crossing trenches, a throw back from WWI. This is then built up and added to the rear of the tank. The new turret which is the feature of this boxing is then built up. The main hatch is added along with the vision opening on each side. The 37mm gun is quite detailed and is a full gun both sides of the mantlet. The rear loading hatch is then built up and added, The turret base can then be added and the completed turret placed on the tank. Decals Decals are provided for one rench tanks, and one re-used by the Germans. No details regarding units etc are provided. Conclusion This is a great looking kit from HobbyBoss and their attention to detail is to be commended, it is good to see more lesser known tanks being kitted. Overall Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I'm off. A little delayed with the post but as I type the kits are washed and dried and ready for the actual build. Start time 11:40 CET / 09:40Z.

This is the new Tamiya AMX-13 French Light Tank. The model was built straight out of the box, the only additions were the aerials. Painted with Tamiya paints, weathered with a Flory wash and a Tamiya weathering set. Thanks for looking. Here is the link for the WIP

This is the new AMX-13 French Light Tank from Tamiya released earlier this year. The model is in 1/35th scale moulded in tan coloured plastic with full-length flexible vinyl tracks. Detail includes, one etched part, tools, jerry can and a commander torso figure with markings for 2 French Army Units. The box art. A sheet naming parts of the tank. Sprue A (X2), hull & turret. Sprue B, the hull top & torso figure. Sprue C, details including, hatches and canvas turret cover. Decals, full-length flexible vinyl tracks & the etched part. Apart from using wire to simulate the sag in the top run of the tracks, I intend to build the kit straight out of the box. I've not tried the wire technique before, but I think the tracks will benefit with a sag along the top run whilst still using the tracks provided in the kit. Thanks for looking, Joe.

I've very nearly finished my airfield starter, and am planning my next build. Another GAZ project, this time with tracks ... I may regret the choice, since there are over 100 individual track links to assemble. Oh, and I've just ordered some brass for this (I hate brass ) The kit includes 5 crew members and decals covering five vehicles for December 1942 through Spring 1943. The crew are in winter coats that have shoulder boards (appropriate to 1943-45). I'm not sure how early those coats would have been issued, or whether they can be adapted to suit winter '42/'43?

Here is one of my christmas builds, although I bought it some years ago! (one of those you build before the christmas models arrives and makes you forget older unbuilt models). I searched for a long time for a camo and I finally went for a woodland camo used for BA-10s, adapted to both the tank and the gun. At one point I added too much inkings and weatherings, and I had to "clean" a bit the tank to don't make it look like it has been taken out from a lake! The crew is painted representing a reconaissance camo, although it ended up looking too much like the 60s uniform. I modified all the original poses as I didn't like them all being just seating on top of the tank doing nothing. More pics here; http://toysoldierchest.blogspot.com/2014/02/soviet-t-70m-zis-3-wcrew-miniart-135.html