Zvezda 1/72 Soviet WWII 37mm AA Gun

The strange kit I could only but dream about in my youth. Made under license in Russia the ubiquitous Bofor AA gun in the sacred 1/72 scale so beloved of me. Zevezda do come in trumps with strange exotica (see below):

Famous in my eyes for firing the opening shots of the Stalingrad Campaign, manned by women militia workers firing over open sites at the advancing Panzers. A nicely moulded, no fuss model, if ever so slightly fiddly to put together, hampered perhaps by my choice of using super glue. Got there in the end though :)

I have another one of these to put together plus an 85mm AA gun for my Soviet AA unit.

PSC Russian AT "Chain of Command" Supports

Further to the Italeri offerings the PSC have a nice duel option kit with the 57mm and 76mm AT guns being available as alternative variants. The number of guns in the pack are nice too, as in four (see below):

The Zis 3 76mm AT Gun and servants (see below):

The Zis 2 57mm AT Gun and servants (see below):

I must confess I was slightly taken aback with the length of the 57mm AT (Zis 2) Gun's barrel. It must have had a heck of a mussel velocity but just did not pack the punch to trouble a Panther or Tiger, so it was replaced by the Zis 3 76mm gun.

Correction: Please read comments for the "real" reason ;)

Soviet 20mm WWII "Chain of Command" Supports: Zis 3 76mm AT Gun

Alongside the Esci/Italeri basic Russian Infantry Rifle Platoon (now complete), the Chain of Command "supports" section lists those "must haves" for any Soviet Platoon Commander. In 1944/45 you need a decent anti-tank deterrent to knock out Pz IV's and at least a Cat (Panther or Tiger). Enter stage left the Zis 3 (76mm) anti tank gun from Italeri (see below):

Even better when you see that you get 'two' to the pack (see below):

It is an absolute hassle free construction and is a perfectly molded kit and superb crew figures. The only thing to note is that the hard plastic gun components beckons super glue rather than poly cement.

Next Stage: A bit of paint ;)

Mad minute in a Model Shop

It was one of those days. A tease of a day. Real-life commitments puts me within sniffing distance of an area where I know there is a 'model shop'. I go on the hunt armed with just an acute sense of smell. Time is against me, to confound it all I get lost and don't find the one I am after but lo and behold I find a different one, how X-Files is this getting? However I have just minutes to take everything in. Literally a smash and grab, pay the man and get out.What did I manage to get?

Check out: Valiant Miniatures

I got the 1942-44 American GI set (20mm 1/72) and they are absolutely superb. Now a definite racing certainty to get the rest (particularly the British and early and late war Germans). Although Valiant have arranged it so that the "box" is an OrBat for a Rapid Fire infantry Battalion, you pretty much easily get a Battalion worth for other rule systems too (64 US figures, 68 in the other sets for some reason).

The other purchase was an Italeri Russian Zis-3 Anti-Tank gun (nice to have two to the pack) and a pot of Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow (as I seem to be running out of it).I did make a mistake though, in my haste I forgot to pick up a Revell (old Matchbox) Hanomag 251/1, hmm "fume".

PS: I have Man-Flu :(