Zvezda British Infantry Tank Valentine II (6280) 1:100

[Mike]

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