L-29 Delfin was the main jet trainer of the Warsaw pact countries for over 30 years. Since it was introduced there have been 3 kits in 1/72: Kopro, Bilek and Special Hobby, none of which did justice to this important aircraft. Luckily in 2016 Avantgarde Model Kits brought a contemporary model to the market, 3 years after their 48th scale kit was introduced. AMK’s first 1/72 release features 4 grey and 1 transparent part trees in plastic, a fret with photoetched parts, and a large decal sheet with markings for 5 different aircraft.
AMK’s beautifully crafted Kfir kit in 1/72 is the latest addition in my collection. I love the way this kit is prepared, molded, detailed, the abundant loadout and 2 airframe versions with 5 decal options it provides, all at a very affordable price. Just look at the loaded box!
Box contents
8 part trees for the airframe itself, 4 types of weapons in more than sufficient quantities and large decal sheet for 4 different operators.
Instruction sheet: long fold-out affair rather than a booklet. Simple black and white diagrams with enough space for notes, logical sequence and clear part placement.
The Soviet BRDM-2 family of vehicles (Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina, Russian for “Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle”) is based on an armored 7-ton, 4-wheel drive amphibious chassis.
Completed BRDM-2 and 9P148 Konkurs from S-Model kit 720023
It features a pair of retractable chain-driven wheels on each side, that can be lowered to help with trench crossing. The most numerous variant features a cupola with a 14.5mm KPVT machine gun with a coaxial PKT 7.62mm which is available in the S-Model kit. The chassis also was used as a basis for chemical recce machine, a command vehicle, a short range surface-to-air missile (quadruple 9K31 Strela) and an ATGM carrier with quintuple 9M113 Konkurs launcher, known as the 9P148 that you also see featured here.
In recent years Zvezda has released multiple snap-fit aircraft kits in 1/72 scale that include excellent pilot figures. They have now “gone full circle” by releasing ground crews to accompany these kits. First off – the Luftwaffe crew.
Zvezda 1/72 German Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6188
As shown on the now-standard box – there are 5 figures, a bomb trolley with a bomb, a fuel drum and a jerry can included. As with some other sets you can either use a single base for all the guys, or use individual ones.
Zvezda 1/72 German Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6188
Typical for the Art of tactic game series the plastic is light gray, parts are on 2 sprues.
Announced back in 2013 (or was it 2012?) the expected development of IS-2 is finally here. Please welcome ISU-152 by Zvezda!
Zvezda’s 1/72 ISU-152, kit 5026
Previous Zvezda kits in the scale had sprues on their own inside the box. That made each sound like a baby’s rattle. Parts here are sealed in a soft plastic bag, which prevents parts loss, and makes plastic less prone to breaks.
Zvezda’s 1/72 ISU-152, kit 5026
The ISU-152 is big, grey and bad@$$, and at first sight appears to have a very small amount of parts in common with the IS-2 kit from the past year (which is a very good one if I may say). That’s sort of misleading because there is still a lot from the IS-2 – the sprues are simply re-done and parts are re-arranged for the new machine.
MiG-29 has attracted the attention of multiple scale model manufacturers even when it was only seen in blurry pictures. Available kits vary in scale, accuracy and markings in area so wide it would take a book to describe.
The reason I picked up Revell’s 1/144th MiG-29 was its R-60 missiles that I used in another model. I was thinking of giving it away, because strange as it may sound I am not a big fan of the aircraft for a number of reasons. I elected to keep it though, so it will be briefly presented in this article.
Below is the galery of the completed model. It’s painted in a number of Revell enamel greens – various mixtures of ##48, 65-69 and 361 to simulate faded paint, areas where water of fuel accumulated, crew walked (or couldn’t, e.g. around the edges of the hatches and the hinges). Edges and certain areas were highlighted with green pastel chalks, then some Promodeller washes to pop the details. Decals do silver, because I did not gloss the surface underneath them.
Bronco have done a fantastic job on the kit, which does not have any assembly issues, or serious problems with accuracy. Building is very easy for such a large and well-detailed kit thanks to clever engineering; assembly process is supported very well by the instruction booklet (although several views of the completed steps wouldn’t have hurt). Outside the erroneous “cast surface” effect on the superstructure and the ejector pin marks on the fenders I don’t really have anything to complain about this kit. If I have the opportunity – I would build another one without any hesitation.
Looking for references for the SU-152 brought about the conclusion that this SPG was indeed a rare beast, and is even harder to find today. While there’s a lot of ISU-152 that were remanufactured to the M and K standards, the KV-based subject was not as lucky: there are very few survivors, even fewer are in presentable condition, and none appear to be able to move on its own.
Books on the “Beast killer” are also few and far between. I was able to find Wydawnictwo Militaria’s “SU-152” (332). Beside the examples pictured in the book (pretty devoid of any fittings, really) there’s another survivor in Kubinka, but since it cannot be photographed from all sides you’d need to rely on a very few images with scarce detail that keep repeating in all books on the subject.
Bronco has released two versions of the legendary Zveroboi SPG (popular nickname for the SU-152): early (the subject of this review) and late production. Confusingly the kit of the late variety appeared first, and this kit was released a few months later – in the beginning of 2013.
The sprue count alone is staggering: there are 59 sprues, including 1 with clear parts and the hull tub. A PE fret, decal sheet and two lengths of braided copper wire complete the kit.
Sprue A contains parts that are applicable to the entire KV-1 line and derivatives. Fenders and engine deck are marked “Not for use” in the parts plan.
