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Leopard Crew of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (35757) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Ukraine has been provided with a limited supply of German Leopard 2A6 tanks in their efforts to rid their nation of its current infestation of invaders. Crews and mechanics have been trained in their use, and they are starting to be seen on the battlefield, making good use of these exceptional tanks in their ongoing fight against invasion. This figure set from ICM is intended to go with a Leopard 2A6 tank, which they’ve just released, and is being sold separately for those who already have a suitable kit, and just want to figures to carry on. The set arrives in a shallow top-opening box, with a captive lid on the lower tray, and inside is a sprue of grey styrene, and instruction sheet folded over, and a leaflet detailing their acrylic paint range that has been available for the last few years. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. There are five human figures on the sprue, plus a canine that is playing with one of the crew members. Four of the crew’s heads are trimmed down to a peculiar shape in order to fit a semi-soft three-part tanker helmet over them, and all five humans are wearing loose-fitting overalls and combat boots. One character is a half-figure that is popping out of a hatch with his arms outside the tank, with a colleague sat on the turret or deck sucking on a pipe. Two more men are kneeling and hunkering down in the process of fixing an issue with the tracks, one of whom is nursing a sledgehammer for advanced fixing duties. The final human is stood playing with the dog, which appears to be a Labrador or retriever, begging for a treat from the bearded tanker who is wearing a soft beanie cap on his head. Markings There are no decals present in the set, but the instruction sheet doubles as the painting guide, as mentioned above. The common camouflage use by Ukrainian armed forces is a brown-based digital scheme, and if you don’t fancy laying out and blocking in that level of detail, there are decal sheets available that you can purchase via model shops and online auction sites. One such sheet is done in conjunction with our friends at Dora Wings, so keep an eye out for those. Conclusion Figures… blah, blah, blah… human scale. You know what I’m going to say by now. These are great figures with realistic poses, and bear in mind that they’re at rest, so wouldn’t be suitable for a combat diorama, as they’d all be safe(r) inside the vehicle. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

German Panzer Crew France 1944 (35364) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII, German tank crews usually consisted of four, sometimes five men, led by their commander, who was generally dressed differently from the other men, and had the lofty seat in the cupola on top of the vehicle, communicating with the rest of the crew and others in their unit by radio with a wired throat-mic, and over-ear headphones. In the early part of the war, the crews were usually dressed in black uniforms with a large beret, but as the war progressed, they transitioned toward camouflaged uniforms to make them at least a little less visible when they were outside the comparative safety of their tank. The set arrives in an end-opening figure box, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene in a heat-sealed bag to prevent chaffing during shipping and in storage. The painting on the front of the box shows the poses of the figures inside, and on the rear of the box there is a reproduction of each of the figures, separated out from each other and covered with arrows that lead to part numbers on the relevant sprue, and to blue number codes that correspond to a table that gives paint codes for Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK Realcolor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, as well as the colour names and a small swatch of the colour by way of example. There is also a square of camouflage on the rear with paint codes as a guide to painting the uniforms. Sculpting is up to MiniArt’s usual high standard, with high levels of detail as well as realistic texture and drape of clothing, topped off with naturalistic poses. Parts breakdown is also sensibly along natural seamlines where possible, with separate heads, torso, arms and legs, plus flat-topped heads to accommodate hats, and boot soles moulded separately for better detail on the seated character where they're visible. Conclusion Another finely sculpted figure set from MiniArt that will improve any situation that they are placed in. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi, I seem to be unable to find anything suitable, so: Does anyone know of a set of british tank crews fitting the 1/72 Mk.10 & 11 Chieftains by Takom? Ingo

Does anyone know when the new Miniart Modern U.S. Tank Crew is due to release? I considered using them with my Tamiya TUSK, but in not wanting to get rid of the figures that came with that I decided to scoop up an Academy TUSK for them. I'd checked a few times, but hadn't spotted any particular release date. Cheers in advance Gaz