1/72 Wargaming News - Issue 1

Happy 2015! we start 2015 with new energies starting a new section of our blog, one which will speak and comment about the news that affects the 1/72 modelling and wargaming hobby world.

So, the news of this month in briefs;

Airfix has decided to cancel it's WW1 releases, which is a sad blow to all those who were expecting them (myself included!). It seems the world of producing 1/72 figurines is being seen as very uneconomical. We hope Airfix will retake these sets in any of the remaining 100th anniversary years to come.

Bachmann Trains have released it's WW1 Ambulance Train Pack, along with 6 figurines. Althought the scale it is officially HO/OO (1/76), this could be used along 1/72 figures quite fine. So, if you were saving to buy the Airfix sets, you can buy instead this! I attach pics of the model (click on them to enlarge);

 Hegemony Miniatures released past december it's 5th set, the Atlanteans/Minoans, in hard plastic. In difference with other previous, these figures come with separate stands and weapons, so you can choose how to build them, if in a big wargaming stand, diorama or typical individual soldier style. The spears have been improved and are strong, straight and without flash. For more information click here.

Soon, more news and interesting info to come!

MODERN RUSSIAN PARATROOPERS SPETSNAZ Esci Italeri Soviet Special Forces 80s 1/72 review nº6169 Mars Afghanistan Wars

Hello again and be ready for my friday review, continuing with the Esci saga, the Russian Paratroopers Spetsnaz!;

Box;Firstly, the box leads to confusion. Are they paratroopers, or are they Spetsnaz? are they both? this means everybody is both paratrooper and Spetsnaz, or just a half and half? leaving aside the title, the artwork is nice and better than standard, although it will be much better for paratroopers than special forces such as the Spetsnaz.

Italeri has decided that they are indeed Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces, equivalent to commandos or SAS), and has given them the new artwork, so very like the 1/35 ones, but nice all the same. 

Finally Mars in his copy gives us a unusual box, which seems from a bad 80s movie (I usually hate real pics on boxes, and this is no exception). Although I agree that in this artwork they seem more commandos and less paras, but they don't have anything to do with the contents inside. (attention to the painted figures, which most wear white sports shoes! certainly not very communist!)

THE FIGURES - 6.0 out of 10 - (50 figures, 15 poses)

x6

x3

x1

Detail; 9.0
Pose Quality; 4.0
Anatomical proportions; 10.0
Funness; 3.0
Wargaming Value; 5.0
Historical Accuracy; 10.0

Well, first clarify something; Spetsnaz doesn't have a regular uniform, they just wear any uniform or combination they choose for the job, and they can wear any official or unofficial uniform. 

So let's judge them separately; for Paratroopers, they are just a bit dull, for Spetsnaz they are awfully boring. Really, I think that Esci meant this to be just Russian Modern Army, just a sort of a equivalent for the US modern infantry. Why not making a proper Russian Army? did the Warsaw Pact set fulfilled that role? not really.

If they were to be Spetsnaz, they should be doing all sort of exciting and undercover things, and the only pose that seems doing something of the sort is the crouched sniper. If they are to be paratroopers, at least one pose should be getting his chute, or ready to jump, or whatever Esci wanted to do with a man and a parachute. So thumbs down for funness.

And then we come to examine the figures, and no, I haven't repeated the image of the same man, there is actually 4 (!) poses gripping their gun to the air with berets and just moving along marching slightly. One is moving a bit faster, the other is completely still, and their weapons are slightly different. I call this the worst misuse of a pose in a set I have still seen. It was quite bad with the Vietcong set from Esci, but that was nothing compared to this.

Again we receive no prone man, and no grenade thrower, as in the US Modern Infantry. Neither operating a radio.

Let's continue on the bad. All men seem to be wearing a size less of uniform than the one they need, so although the anatomic proportions are perfect all uniforms seem that they have shrunk in the wash. 

Let's come on the good to brighten this gloomy review. We get 5 unique men, one of them actually writing something, one of the few soldiers to do it. We get a sniper, some anti tank weapons (the pose firing to the air is very good), there is no flash to speak of (but be alert, the Italeri reissue has missing the ends of various machine guns and this can be annoying),  and you get 50 men.


ARMY REPRESENTATION - 6.5
"The army representation score is the potential of the soldiers to be used for other purposes different to the one originally intended"

They can be very easily used to represent other paratroopers from other Soviet/Communist countries, or they could be used as Marine troops with some modifications.


PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 7.5

"The price value ratio of this soldiers will vary between every shop you go, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay and online stores"

Quite good for 50 soldiers, and you can always get some second hand ones from Esci at very reasonable prices.


OVERALL VALORATION - 6.0

Disappointing, for those looking for lively figures. Good if you just want a Russian Army for Afghanistan. But so much more could be done, and they are a bit too similar in poses to other Esci sets. Still, even the failure of Esci can look quite good and decent in modern days.

Conclusion; Lacking style and force, it just covers what is asked for. 

Scroll down to see the painted figures;


If you have enjoyed this review and want to say thanks, the best way is to click in one of the advertisings in the blog. Every little help will be appreciated. 








PAINTED EXAMPLES

If you have painted these figures I would love to include them in this blog. Send a email to tam_cob@hotmail.com.

Soldiers painted by myself in five different styles;

Here you can get inspiration on other painted sets gathered from the net;

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next battle!

Tutorial; HOW TO MAKE A STONE BUILDING in 1/72 for WARGAMING and DIORAMAS How-To

Welcome to my fourth video tutorial, this time something that will be useful to all wargamers and diorama makers, making realistic stone buildings. 

As always, you can follow this tutorial with some of the most basic elements you can find; clay easy to find everywhere (if you live in a suitable area, you could even get it from nature) and cardboard (you could also use transparent plastic, but it would not bond together so well).

Hope you find it useful;

See finished pics below;



If you've liked this tutorial and want to say thanks, one way is just to make a click on the advertising below, that will help me buy modelling materials and dedicate more time to the blog and less to work!

Esci Revell Italeri Vietnam War NORTH VIETNAMESE VIETCONG army 1/72 soldiers figures

Today I will make the first review of a modern era set, the Vietcong!

Here is the classic Esci box, quite nice, but a bit dull and lacking the force that theme deserves.

Same artwork, in the ERTL era.

This is one of those sets that has also been released by Revell. The artwork is interesting. It is a good idea to represent while fighting in a crop field. But the quality is quite low.

And well, this is probably the worst. I actually had to convince myself "forget the box, there are nice Esci figures inside", maybe, without counting the Caesar Trojans, the box that has put me more off buying something. Thanks to Plastic Soldier Review, I knew they were very nice figures. If you analyze it coldly, it's not a so bad artwork, but it seems more a modern Chinese army set, forgetting the deformed man in the foreground, which seems he has half a torso.

As a curiosity, in Italy it seems that many Esci sets were sold by A-Toys in this type of packaging, being exactly the same. If they were done with authorisation or not is a mystery.

THE FIGURES - 9.0 out of 10 - (50 figures, 16 poses)

I keep the innovation determined in the last review of separing the figure score;

Detail; It depends on what release you have. If you have the original Esci, it is standard high quality, but in the Italeri reissue the detail is slightly "blurred". Maybe it is the hard plastic used, or just the moulds are old. Anyway, all releases have a minimum quality, which is high still in our days.


Poses; Good, with some more imaginative than the typical Esci, but with several omissions and strange choices. We are lacking prone figures! Nearly all Esci sets have them, and curiously, this set that would need several has none.

Also, without explanation, we are just given one grenade-thrower, as if it was something very special. There aren't any mortar troops either.

Finally, at least two poses are very similar to others (the two men running are practically identical, just with differences of clothing/equipment.The same with the two poses moving with kalashnikovs) that could have given more exciting poses.


The man asking for help, and the man giving it, is a very unusual never seen again pose. Sure, Esci have done more or less the same thing (soldier helping wounded) a zillion times, but not in this way. However, it is not clear if he is being dragged, at the point of being pulled or what, but it doesn't look natural either way.

Anatomical proportions; As usual with Esci, nearly perfect proportions. Height is ok too (thank god they are not basketball players, as other oriental soldier sets). Maybe they are a bit fat, as some would be very skinny.


Execution (how the company has made the figures); simply perfect. Flash is absolutely non existant. Zones without detail are very few and perfectly tolerable.

Plastic used; it depends on the release. Esci has a very flexible plastic very bad for painting and gluing, and Revell and Italeri has a hard plastic very good for painting and gluing.


HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 9.0

This set is really a mixture between professional army of North Vietnam and the rebels.But really  needs much more representation of the rebel part.In other words we miss several civilians wearing various typical vietnamese  costumes.

Also, some man should have been wearing the big fisherman conical hat, and instead something similar is done but much more smaller and rounded.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 6.0
"The army representation score is the potential of the soldiers to be used for other purposes different to the one originally intended"

They can be used for other oriental modern armies, or simply oriental rebels, but as many are wearing sandals or go bare-footed, only some will be ok to convert them into regular armies. 

With some modifications they would make good Cambodjan, Malaysian or Timor rebels, or North Korean troops.


FUNNESS - 6.0

"I feel that many reviews are oblivious to this point - there are fantastic figures, which you can´t say anything against, but they are just too "correct", maybe too static, and so just boring. So I feel that this is an important point when deciding if you buy a set"

The Vietcong is a fun theme, and Esci did very well to make every soldier different , but much more could have been done. Men digging tunnels , preparing explosives for sabotage, snipers, stabbing with knifes, opening their way through the jungle with machetes, setting up mines, even children with grenades! 

The subject allowed it and encouraged it all, and we get a very dull set instead.


WARGAMING VALUE - 6.5

Not very good wargaming value, they could have done at least a general, or some officials. All the men are fighting which is good, but we miss staff.

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 8.0

"The price value ratio of this soldiers will vary between every shop you go, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay and online stores"

At an average 10 € for 50 figures, the value is good. These figures might be old, but they are not any worst than the most recent releases.




OVERALL VALORATION - 7.7

If you were born before the 1990s, the Vietnam War was everywhere in series, films and books. It is an powerful and famous theme, such as Vikings, Cowboys or Spartans. This is a good set, above average, but not fantastic, and it was easy to get it right, better than what we have. But better not complain much, as there isn't any alternative made, and I can't see any manufacturer doing a set, as the Vietnam War is something quite forgotten now. We can only wait that HaT or a similar manufacturer gets interested in the subject and starts doing everything.

Conclusion; Good Esci set, but much more could have been done.

Would I recommend buying them over other alternative sets? ; Maybe, if it existed any alternative :) .


If you have enjoyed this review and want to say thanks, the best way is to click in one of the advertisings in the blog. Every little help will be appreciated. 






PAINTED EXAMPLES

I haven't painted mine yet, but if you do, please send me pics to tam_cob@hotmail.com and I will include them here!

Here there is some examples I found painted on eBay;

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next battle!

HOW TO MAKE WATCHTOWER Tutorial 1:72 Wargaming Diorama Scenario creation

This is my third video-tutorial, this time how to make a fast watchtower (it took me 15 minutes, with practice, and in factory mode, you can do them as fast as chips) and I hope I have improved about the other ones. I've made clearer, faster (x2 speed) and made sharper pics in the end. 


Thanks to the collaboration of the Byzantine soldier, the Varangian guard and the Alan archer who will remain anonymous to pose for the final pics :) . 

Hope you find it useful;

See finished pics below;




If you've liked this tutorial and want to say thanks, one way is just to make a click on the advertising below, that will help me buy modelling materials and dedicate more time to the blog and less to work!