Crimean War Jägers (conversion) 1854 Sebastopol

I've been a long time away from the hobby, and here I return with a little 19th century project.

I had this Emhar Crimean War soldiers semi primed, which screamed to be properly cleaned up and made. And so, I searched for inspiration and I stumbled upon the Jagers from the Crimean War, that essentially wore the same uniform but with a different camo scheme. 

Then, I took the chance to make some changes, as they also had artillery figures and I had no cannon to go with them. Doing some fast head and weapon swaps I made to look more combative. 

Hope you like this inside and maybe inspire somebody to do the same.

ICM 1/72 URAL 43203 COMMAND VEHICLE Russian Army lorry truck model kit

Today we'll review a very recent and up to date model, which is still used operationally nowadays. The ICM Ural Command Vehicle.

THE BOX

This is the first box, in an all-white background, which is rather impressive and makes it stand out among other boxes and models. The artwork is realistic and good, although it is maybe slightly dull.

This is the second box you can find, which the background has been used and it seems not so black & white. I think the red background makes it look like amateurish and old-fashioned.

THE KIT

The quality of the model kit is high, with very finely moulded pieces, and without flash. The wheels are able to turn round, as the rims are separate pieces. Another nice feature is the movable suspension, that is very good for dioramas and is a nice touch to the kit.

A bad thing is that some pieces are so fine that sometimes can come broken in the box, or they can break very easily when you cut them, as the rear mirrors.

It is moulded in green plastic and black for the wheels, which if you are an eager wargamer you could even leave it unpainted :)  (I left it like that for 10 or so years, in my case for lack of a interesting paint scheme).


VERSIONS

There are many versions to make, as it is still used in our days, new paint schemes can appear at any moment! and it is used by a long list of countries. Here I have added some interesting versions;

OVERALL

Quite surprisingly, there are only two model kits of this vehicle made, this one and the ZV Models one, which at least share all the main body parts (apparently the command cab has been redone but I cannot confirm it since I don't own the model) so if you need this important vehicle of many armies from today, you need to buy this kit. It is a very nice model, I usually don't like too much modern equipment, but you have to accept this has a certain character.

It can be a bit tricky for the novice modeller, because there are many small bits which are very fine and fiddly to build, but for example all the cab is moulded in one piece, which makes it far easier than old school Esci or Airfix where you had to glue each wall (doors, radiator, etc) and there was many possibilities of ending up with a totally deformed vehicle :) .

You will be surely surprised by the dimensions, as it is not a small lorry, you get a good chunk of a kit for your money, something very appreciated as there are many armed cars like the Ba-65 which makes you wonder why you spent 15 €/$/GBP for it.

Built Examples;

If you have liked this review, we would be grateful if you could click once or twice on the advertising below. Thanks!

Esci WWII RUSSIAN Soldiers 1/72 set 203 Italeri 6057

We continue the WW2-themed reviews, but this time it's a set of soldiers which we are going to review. The Esci Russian Soldiers!

This is the original box. Typical Esci stuff, with a man portrayed very near and the rest in the background. Quite good and all poses are really included inside (only exception the crouched machine gunner).

This is the box of Italeri's reissue. I don't know why the "Rifle Forces" logo is there, just because there are so many riflemen? The artwork is depicting more action, but the colouring is a bit strange; they seem American infantry in the Pacific. The soldier outside the artwork looks strange and fat.

SCULPTING - 9.5 out of 10

These soldiers are very finely sculpted, with the usual perfect lifelike proportions Esci used to make. All detail is sharp, although, for example, I have my set bought in the mid-90s where detail is a bit blurred and not so sharp as always with Esci, and I have received some examples from eBay that were older and seem much sharper, so I assume that the originals had very good sharpness and the mould started to deteriorate with the years. I have no idea how Italeri's reissue is.

These soldiers can be found in grey, military green, and a sort of tan-egg colour and probably more.

The poses are well chosen, maybe the mortar-man looks a bit silly holding two projectiles and looking at the camera at the same time, or the man throwing the grenade shouldn't lift his foot, but the rest are very lifelike and correct. 

HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 10.0

You can't go much wrong with a subject that is 100 % researched, the maximum you could do is go wrong with pouches, weapon proportions, etc. And this time, Esci keeps the proportions very well , much better than usually when it gets a bit carried away with the firepower and gives too many machine guns. 



ARMY REPRESENTATION - 0

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

In WW2 is hard to reuse soldiers, and in this case, impossible besides reusing the horse.


FUNNESS - 9.0

This set has very high funness . First, it gives a woman with a radio, which is both historical and a neglected subject by other manufacturers. Also, we are given a cossack with his horse, and although some people would prefer a cossack set and to leave this pose outside this one, in those days there wasn't a cossack set, so it was a good addition. As always, you have a leader, although strangely there is no unique man in this set (not that he is so much needed in a so standarized  army, but maybe a general and a officer would have been better). The Maxim guns are also a very nice addition.

Finally, there is the odd man holding his gun up, a bit like surrendering, or maybe celebrating, or simply drawing the attention of friendly troops from a distance. 

Maybe the most important thing that is lacking are some snipers, but representing in a general way the Red Army,  this is an absence that can be understood.


WARGAMING VALUE - 8,5

As we have commented, it has a very nice balance. The Cossack and its horse will be of little use, but you can always use it as a supply unit adding sacks to the horse. 

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 9.0

"The price value ratio of this soldiers will vary between any shops you go to, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay"

46 men and two horses maybe looked a few compared with other Esci sets, but now it is a perfect quantity. You are also given 3 Maxims. You can get it shipped for 7 pounds, and  at a similar cost in shops. If you keep alert on eBay, you'll find them second hand under the Esci name for even half this cost .
--> Help support this site by clicking on the ads.
PAINTING AND GLUEING - 3.0/8.0

The Esci as always are slippery and flexible, a nightmare to paint and keep painted. The Italeri reissue solves this with their hard plastic. It is your choice if choose the sharper detail of the old Esci ones or the harder plastic of the Italeri reissue.


OVERALL VALORATION - 9.0

A very fine set, some of the best sets Esci made. And I frankly believe the best Red Army set on the market still. The Red Army in winter dress of Italeri is a interesting set, but it doesn't cover fully the subject and has some flaws (that will be commented in a future review).

In one phrase; simply a must have, after all these years, for any wargamer/collector interested in WW2.

Thanks to Gabriel, a superb painter and modeller, for giving permission to use pics of his painted figures.

You can see more of Gabriel's work on his website; http://1-72degabriel.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Infanteria%20Rusa%20WW2%20-%20ESCI

Make any comment! We´ll love to read it! If you want to share your painted version of this set, send a email to tam_cob@hotmail.com with the subject "Painted Soldiers" and I will include them in this post.

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

Orion SLAVIC WARRIORS Slavs Figures Miniatures 1/72 Soldiers Army Slavonic

Today we talk about.... the Slavic Warriors from Orion, a very important faction from the Dark Ages, with plenty of uses. But is this a great set that will fill a huge hole in history, or rather 48 scruffy looking men that leaves a lot to desire? Discover it in this review!

The Box

Not bad, with the typical Orion "website" style, and the box art is not my favourite style, but it is correct, and I have seen worse. On the back, we see the painted figures, while normally Orion showed the unpainted figures, and this is a change for the better (probably following Zvezda's steps). In the middle we see a sort of sacred "totem", which looking at the box seems that it is included (I did think that myself when I bought them!) but no, you don't get it. This makes me think I have to get some clay and make it. (Edit; as pointed by Umpapa, the idol is the famous Zbruch Idol, more info here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbruch_Idol)

                        The Sprues

SCULPTING - 7.0 out of 10

They are nicely sculpted, as Orion nearly always does. The anatomical proportions are good too. The problem comes with the moulding, as some examples have lots of flash, which is very difficult to remove due to the nature of the plastic used, and because instead of a big blob of flash, it is small sparks of flash all round the figures, which makes it very tedious to remove. 

Some examples don't have any flash (mine is quite good), but you can see in the pics how it is quite present, and by my experience with other Orion sets, if you get a bad one it diminishes the overall quality of the set.

The spears are pretty bad, I have seen worse (like the Early Byzantine infantry), and at least you will have the temptation of replacing the spear in one of the poses.

Finally, the third man on the first pic, I think it is depicting a slinger (no, he isn't a Indian waving a freshly cut head of hair). He has a very unusual pose, and the sling doesn't seem a sling, nor does it seem that it contains a rock. You probably be better off cutting it off and replacing it by another weapon. This is strange as Orion has done previously other slingers finely. It seems the sculptor couldn't make his mind if make a slinger or a another axeman, and finally he got the pose of the axeman with something similar to a sling.

The poses in general are not too conventional, which is very welcome when you have a lot of soldier sets.



HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 10 out of 10

Orion has done it's homework. They represent perfectly the Slavic Warriors. I couldn't be happier with the representation, it is exactly as I expected them to be, and they fit all historical depictions.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 8.0

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

If we extract some square shields, and change a bit the heads/hats, you can have a generic european/eastern european standard army from 400 a.c. until 1000 a.c.

With these figures you will have excellent figures for Germanic factions from the time of the Fall of the Roman Empire. You could transform them into early Baltic Tribes, use some as early Lithuanians, and of course as from all early Slav kingdoms. Some of the figures such as the bowmen could fit as peasants for Medieval Russian and Scandinavian kingdoms.

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 just boring. So I feel that this is an important point when deciding if you buy this set"

They represent very well the subject, but they are completely lacking a leader. They don't have any fun addition, everything is a bit flat, you would need to make conversions and take figures from other sets to represent heroes, priests, leaders, etc.

At least the figures seems fierce, and the man with the big club is very nice.

The archer standing, seems, at least from my first impression of the artwork, to be a woman. She(?)is slimmer than the rest, and she has long hair, but looking again, and as Orion doesn't say anything, probably she isn't.

WARGAMING VALUE - 7.5

They have a good ratio of different men, skirmishers, archers, slingers, axemen, men that could be used as Berserkers... but it lacks unique figures, or simply a repeated example of leader, sub-leader, musician, etc.

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 8.0 

"The price value ratio of this soldiers will vary between any shops you go to, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay"


Their average cost is 10 € shipped, which is fine for a quite new set depicting a completely new subject. It is a fair price really.





Please make a click on the eBay listings to help support this site. If you plan on buying them, I will be very glad if you could do it through this ad, as it will help me improve these reviews by buying a new camera, new sets and paints etc:) .
PAINTING AND GLUEING - 5.0

The plastic is good both to paint and to glue, but you will have to completely remove all flash, and you could think it's not a big deal, but believe me, when you paint you need a figure completely flashless, and to achieve that it will be complicated. 



OVERALL VALORATION - 8.8

This is a notable set, and depicting a subject so important, and never made as it is, for me it is absolutely a must. I bought them right when they appeared from eBay. Some collectors if they are not too much interested in this period will not consider them so important, but I believe that in this world of miniatures so centered in famous subjects, having completely new factions not made before and that are not easily represented with other existing sets, the choice of Orion is praiseworthy.


PAINTED EXAMPLES
"Your figures could appear here if you want! just send me a email with the pictures to tam_cob@hotmail.com and I´ll gladly include them"

Thanks to Miniaturas Aconcagua for the permission to use his image of these excellent painted soldiers;

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

POLIKARPOV I-190 Amodel Plastic Model Kit Ref: 72112 Russian Aircraft 1941

Welcome to my second review of an aeroplane, a unknown aircraft to many, including myself, before finding this model on eBay, and I have a full bookcase of WW2 airplane books. We are speaking of the prototype Polikarpov I-190.

This is the box art;

BOX ART >> Very correct and stylistic box, typical stuff but nicely made. It gives a nice sensation of strength and speed. If you wonder who is the guy portrayed  on the top left, it is the famous designer, Mr. Polikarpov himself. A curious addition, only seen normally depicting the famous pilot.

THE KIT - 6.8 >>

The quality of this kit is not very high, it is on the line of Smer, Kovozavody Prostejov, and other eastern lesser known brands. You will need to sand quite a bit to get good fittings, I discarded the panel board, as it is useless (it doesn't fit inside the model, it is way too big) and it is nearly impossible to see it (more if you plan to put a pilot , which I did). 

You will need some putty to fill in some of the cracks, particularly between the upper wing and the motor, where you are left with a gigantic gap after assembling it. 

I decided to fit it with wheels, but the skis seemed very fragile and not specially well done.

It is just one of those kits that you buy because it is a rare model, and so you overcome small difficulties such as these in order to get what any other brand can offer you. If this kit was made by Hasegawa for example, buying it would be pointless. But as that won't happen, better you get your hands on to some putty and start sanding!.

EXTRAS - 7.0 >>

There are plenty of extras here, and although you are not given a pilot, you are given extra bombs, two types of vosp, and the possilibity of choosing between wheels or skis. 

POSSIBILITIES - 0.5 >>

Just one example was completed, so there are  no possibilities in  terms of the camouflage, but as you are given some options in terms of equipment, you could say there are some possibilities. All the same I can't imagine any one who would buy two models of this kit. 

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 6.0 >>

Not a very common kit to find, probably online is your only possibility of getting it (I've never seen Amodel kits in any model shop before, and I've been in model shops in various european countries). You currently can find it for 13 GBP, which is a bit expensive, considering what you really get. Although other similar kits, of strange themes like this one exist, sometimes they are much more expensive.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 0.3 >>

The historical importance score is determined by how many were built, and how much operational service they had, and how much influence they made on the conflicts in which they were involved.

This is one of those "could have been but never was" kits. Yes, it did exist, which is more than some prototypes that make it into kits, and it flew, more than some German late war aircraft. But it crashed during testing, and the other one that was in construction was never finished. End of story. It didn't achieve the desired performance, and the crash sentenced this plane to death. It has just a small or tiny bit of importance inside the pre-war prototypes.

OVERALL - 7.0 >> 

It is a interesting model, as it was the last biplane of the russian airforce. If we add to this that it has a nice design, and it has the novelty of being unknown to many, it is a attractive model for those who have a big collection of model kits or are enthusiasts of the Russian Air Force. The downside of this kit is the price and the minimum historical importance, but if you find it at a reasonable price (I paid like 8 €) I recommend you to get it.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS

Model kit made by myself. Atlantic figure modified was used as pilot.

Today we talk about... Zvezda 1/72 Zaporozhian Cossacks 8064

Welcome to the second entry of this blog. This time we'll change the era and we'll speak of a 16th century set, the Zvezda Zaporozhian Cossacks.

Here is the box artwork;

Box art is good and absolutely shows everything you get (11 poses), which is very welcome in this world of box arts that show you great figures that you never get. The quality of the drawing is very high as in all Zvezda boxes.

And also as usual in Zvezda, on the back we find a clear picture of everything given, and superbly painted, that functions as a great guide when it comes to painting. 

Once open, this is what we see;

SCULPTING - 7.5 out of 10

Nothing to complain about here. The detail could be a bit sharper everywhere, it´s  kind of a bit "diffuse", if compared to other manufacturers such as Caesar Miniatures, but everything is well done. 

About the height, they are a bit taller than   they should be for 1/72, but it´s not very important. 

What is a bit worse, is that the mounted figures are as tall as the dismounted figures, this in the same set, which is a bit of common problem in Zvezda, where all cavalrymen seem bigger than the foot soldiers. 


HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 9.0

This set shows that it is supposed to cover from the 16th to the 18th century, this is maybe stretching it a bit ; they are better used as 17th century.

Maybe we are missing a bit more firearm weapons, but as it is a set that stretches across 3 centuries this is acceptable.

The cannon on the wagon would have to be subjected in a more sturdy way; it seems that it could snap with a single shot.

Besides this, I see a very good historical accuracy.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 3.5

They don´t score too highly in this aspect, as their clothes, weapons and haircut limits their use to just what they are, Cossacks, although they could pass for some other nomadic tribe of the same time era, like the Astrakhan Khanate, or Kazan peoples.

The cavalrymen with the lance doesn't have anything that identifies him specially as a Cossack, and could be really a russian soldier of the same era.



FUNNESS - 8.3

"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 this set"

Making  so bellicose a tribe as the cossacks means they need to have aggressive and combative poses, and these are well made here. We don´t get any "I am just passing by" pose, nor "I don´t know what to do now" pose.

The only lack here is, first, we could have a few more  poses, although thanks to removable arms you can modify slightly each pose and give them a bit more life.

The big drum is something very nice and appreciated. The three drummers  maybe are too many,  one or two  would have been probably  enough.

We are given, as always, 3 unique figures, which is hugely appreciated.  

Also we are given 9 sacks, probably of gunpowder, or maybe some smuggled goods. It is a very nice touch to fill  the wagon up a bit.

The wagon with cannon is also a very fun addition, this will give plenty of life for the dioramas and the like. 
Curiously we are not given horses to attach, so we'll have to draw them from another set, but it is not really a problem if you have a good range of other sets.

A 

WARGAMING VALUE - 7.0

Wargaming value here is not very big, as we know Zvezda tries to give you a bit of everything and you end up with few figures, so you would have to buy another set or use it along with the Orion Ukrainian Cossacks.For a wargamer maybe you'll prefer the Orion Cossacks, which are more standard and better, but you would have to also purchase their cavalry then to have a full army. 

All the same Zvezda gives you the musicians and flagbearer which Orion doesn't have.

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"

The average eBay price is 12 €. I was lucky to get mine from a retail shop for just 6,50 €, so that was a great price. 12 €  might seem a bit steep, but you are given 8 cavalry figures, 19 infantrymen and one wagon, and many brands will take 10 € just for 12 cavalrymen, so it´s not too bad.


PAINTING AND GLUING - 3.5

They are made with the typical Zvezda plastic, which is quite bad to glue and worse to paint, always very slippery. If you dont apply a good primer, you´ll have to apply two or three coats of paint.

About glueing, fortunately everything fits so well that glue is hardly needed. 


OVERALL VALORATION - 8.5

It is in overall a very nice set, and as with 99 % of Zvezda sets, worth having. If you are a true Cossack enthusiast, this is a must. If you want to have a nice representation of the Cossacks, this is also a must. Either way, it will probably be a good purchase, even if the Orion infantry and cavalry sets are quite nice too.

I am not specially a follower of this era,  my main interests being pre-16th century and WWII, but these were so nice and they just asked to be bought. 


PAINTED EXAMPLES

 These figures have been painted by myself.

Now, thanks to Model Maniac, a great modeller and miniature painter, his rendition of this great set;

You can see more of Model Maniac's work on his website; http://www.falconbbs.com/

Thanks to Miniaturas Aconcagua, we can show you yet another great way of painting them!

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