MINIATURE WORLD; Vintage Modelling from Scratch Model Kits old 1950 1960

This is my first post which doesn't speak about a review. I plan to make this blog a reference for all miniature enthuasiasts, and I have decided to post also videos and interesting curiosities related with our beloved hobby.



I have found this interesting video about how in the 50s and 60s model kits were made, for companies and exhibitions, everything built from scratch. It is quite impressive for those days.


-->

LUBLIN R XIII PLAGE & LASKIEWICZ Model Junior 1/72 Polish Aircraft

Welcome to this review of a very obscure aircraft, and of a kit which is one of the worst kits I've ever built. Will all the suffering and time spent be worth it? Find it out reading this review;

BOX ART >> This is the box. No box art, though. But they show you a pic of the model made - then the model CAN be made, so that's a good start with some obscure brands as "Model Junior" (god helps the junior that tries to build this model).

THE KIT - 2.5 >>

(The score is from 0 to 10, just to leave things clear). A completely appalling kit. This brand doesn't have the technology or money to cast a kit with detail in both sides. Yep, you've read well. That means that everything must be in two parts, and so you have guns in two parts, propellers in two parts, etc. In a 1/35 kit maybe it would be ok. In 1/72, makes you want to discard half the pieces.

The engine doesn't have the correct holes, and you will have to do dremel or use a hot knife. The wings once attached seem very thick, and you will have to sand them a lot, as nearly every piece. It is like giving you "a kit to make another kit with it".

The person that made the kit in the box, was quite clever, as he didn't use the original guns, he added pilots, and probably didn't use  the propellers either .One wonders if it is really the same model. Probably it is the prototype, and they didn't try to build what they made.

The instruction sheet is just one image where all the kit comes together, a rainfall of pieces practically unidentifiable.

Another bad thing is that they directly didn't made the exhaust tubes, so you have to make them yourself or take them from another kit.

EXTRAS - 5.0 >>

 They give you floats to make the hydro version, so that's not so bad. But don't expect pilots. Probably making them in two halfs was too complicated.

POSSIBILITIES - 4.0 >>

Not many things to do here. You can do the float version with silver, a plain green Polish one, and one of the 17 planes that the Romanians reused;

You can look here to see further camouflages;

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww15/o/235/29

Pics extracted from Wings Palette.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 6.0 >>

It is rare to be seen on eBay, and the price can vary wildly. It depends a lot where you live. But most probably, it would not have the price that it deserves.

--> -->

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 3.5 >>

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.

273 were made, and they did fight. One of the Polish planes which saw more service in the war, that is the reason I bought this aircraft (I am very picky in this aspect).

For further details, you can look here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lublin_R-XIII

OVERALL - 3.0 >> 

I can't recommend this kit. But if you have more than a hundred models in your collection, you don't like to repeat similar planes, and you want to have a small representation of the planes that fought in every campaign, you will tragically be attracted to these sort of kits, that with the promise of giving you something which very few people want to have, they force you to get one.

The question is that  another brand now exists that makes this model, Acura, and anything can surpass this joke of a kit. Conclusion; if you want a challenge, get it. If you can't find the other model (which is a limited edition), get it. If not, avoid it all costs. And never give it as a present to a non-super expert modeller.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS 
(What? you have built this model? I'd love to include the pics here in the section so everyone can look at it. Just email me at tam_cob@hotmail.com !)

Model kit made by myself (I substituted the machine gun (that was a bad joke) for a italeri one, and I had to carve a hole in the fuselage to make the propeller spin. And I made with epoxi the exhaust tubes as they weren't provided, and I also had to make the glass. Finally, I decided to wire the model (although I didn't represent all the wires as I didn't want to risk spoiling the model))

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!

Zvezda VIKINGS 1/72 IX-XI AD north warriors Set 8046 norse miniatures figures Harald Hardrada

Today we review some epic miniatures, the Vikings.

A very good and correct artwork, showing the real poses made in the same set. The box art is good, but the figures inside are even better.

On the back we can see the painted soldiers (excellently, not like Mars, which is to show how not to paint them) and a brief description.  

Once open, this is what we see;

SCULPTING - 9.0 out of 10

Usual Zvezda set; detail a bit diffuse everywhere, without very sharp detail, but perfectly (and when I say perfectly, is perfectly) made proportions, lifelike poses (not the plain pseudo-egyptian poses we get in HaT and similar),  and absolutely no flash at all. 

All the shields are given separate, which gives a very nice detail to figures.


HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 10.0

We have a perfect historical accuracy here. Maybe we should have more axemen, the chief could wear a more special and ornamented helmet and shield (horned helmets are now regarded as unhistorical by modern historians, but for those we have seen hundreds of films and other representations, to see a full set of Vikings without any horns seems strange).

Another thing is that these Vikings seem Swedish Vikings of the east, the ones that confronted the Slavs, mainly for the archer with that hat and a bit for the standard bearer, but is nice to see an approach not so directed to fight in 1066 at Stamford Bridge like other sets.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 7.0

Two or three could be used for any Dark Age barbarian/germanic faction (the skirmisher could be used as a Goth of the 3rd century to a light Medieval troop), many also could be used for Medieval kingdoms of the north like the Denmark, Norway or Sweden, or early Russian kingdoms. 

Finally, some could be used as early Angles, Saxons, Frisians or Jutes. 



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"

Vikings are always a fun theme. Maybe this are very historical, wargaming-adapted and correct Vikings, which makes them not so fun, but nevertheless we have besides the unique leader and standard bearer, a nice Berserker biting his shield, and the very interesting figure kicking a enemy, literally a figure I've never seen before, but you can be sure that Vikings bited, kicked and punched, any sort of way to defeat their enemies. 

You could say that this set is more really like a Viking Army, like those of the late Viking age, and not so much an adventurer gang of wild Vikings like those of the early Dark Ages.


WARGAMING VALUE - 10.0

Zvezda is a wargaming-concerned company, and this set gives everything a wargamer might need. There is many Vikings made, but none so useful to wargamers as this one. The leader, the standard-bearer/musician, the skirmisher and archers, etc.

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"

Not everything could be perfect in this set. The cheapest is about 8-9 GBP, and it can be more on retail shops. The question is that you are only given 41 figures, which seems a bit few, to make way for the shields that are made separate.


PAINTING AND GLUING - 5.0

Zvezda plastic is not too good to paint and glue, it will not be required glue if you don't to modify them, but painting them can be a bit tricky.


OVERALL VALORATION - 8.5

When they were released, there were existing already 4 sets of Vikings (Emhar, Orion, and Strelets have made two), of which I already owned two,  I don't like having more than one set of every faction, nevertheless , I did buy this set making it my third pack of Vikings. 

Is this the best set of Vikings? many would say yes, but my heart is still with my first set, the Strelets Vikings against Franks, but this is a very personal opinion. 

If you are a wargamer, this is your set. If you want epic and diorama usefulness, maybe the Strelets Vikings against Franks is better. 

I strongly recommend getting this set, even if you already have some of the previous sets. They are very nicely made, and although can be a bit expensive they represent very well a Viking army.

In my opinion, the Orion and Emhar sets seem to be very early Vikings, nearly more Angles than vikings in the Emhar one, and the sculpting of all the 4 previous sets are inferior in quality.


PAINTED EXAMPLES

Thanks to Miniaturas Aconcagua, I can show you this great way of painting them!

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

Hasegawa M3 GRANT Medium Tank Mk.1

My first Hasegawa review, the M3 Grant.

Let's see the boxes;

BOX ART >> All Hasegawa boxes are quite the same, here the box art is maybe better than average, although they show you different men from what you get in the box.  I've never cared too much for the blue-grey around the box (I prefer the green older one), but that goes for all Hasegawa boxes. Forgetting the typo on the title (Gramt instead of Grant) a good box all round.

THE KIT - 4.8 >>

A standard good kit, which starts to show  it's age a bit (beginning of the 1980s). It is a simple kit to build. This is a kit I first made when I was starting in the hobby, and I did again recently (and is still available in shops).  It has good detail, but perhaps it needs a few more attachments, such as a machine gun, and the box on the back should be better done. For those who like to glue (or not to glue them) all the bits like shovels, axes, etc, you will be disappointed as they are in one piece with the main body.

Generally everything fits ok, but with so many reissues some parts of the hull are starting to leave gaps, so you will need a filler or a sand them thoroughly until they fit.

But now, it comes the terrible revelation; this kit has half the proportions all wrong. Yes, I didn't notice until I made this review, but you have only to compare with a real wartime picture;

The turret is far too flat, and the whole body seems too high. I am not picky with these things, but this is just very obvious, at first I thought it was another version! they also suggest that you glue the  visors on the turret in a wrong position. 

EXTRAS - 5.0 >>

They don't give you too many, but you do get two drivers. The problem with them comes that they are American, and even if the Grant was built by the Americans, it was the version made for the British forces. So you can use the drivers for other american tanks, or simply paint them as Britsh and say that they have borrowed some gear from their American friends.

POSSIBILITIES - 3.0 >>

There is not much you can do with it. If you want to escape the plain green for Burma and the desertic tone, there is just some additions to the desertic ones, like this;

And some other variations with two tones of browns, or another one like the one above changing brown for green.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 8.0/5.0  >>

Don't be fooled; if you see it for more than 8 pounds, don't buy it, or at least try and compare with other physical retail shops. I bought mine recently for 6 €, and I think that now in a retail shop it isn't very much expensive, but if you search by eBay, the cheapest shipped is 11 GBP.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 7.5 >>

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

After reading too many books about the North African campagin, maybe you tend to maximize the historical weight of some of the types, but the M3 Grant was very important at a stage in the war when the British army didn't have anything capable of blasting the german Panzers. So, even if the type had several problems, and  was soon substituted, it had it's time of glory.

WARGAMING - 7.5 >>

A sturdy and fast build, it is very good for wargaming, although the inaccuracies with the turret and hull will annoy the perfectionists.

OVERALL - 7.0 >> 

It is a nice model, and if you forget the turret proportions (I have now the proportions of the model kit recorded in my mind, and it seems more natural to me the model than the real one!) this is a very nice kit. If you seek more accuracy, there is the Mirage kit, which for 14 GBP shipped roughly you will have lots of detail and no big inaccuracies. For wargaming and newbies in the hobby this kit will be good enough. Then there is also the Airfix one, but it is 1/76 and I think it has even bigger inaccuracies than this one.

                 IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS

Model kit made by myself.

Another depiction made by Miniaturas Aconcagua

AIRFIX-JB MODELS VICKERS LIGHT TANK MK VI a/b/c 1/76 desert ww2 world war II

Let's review a great small tank, the Vickers from Airfix, which is a reissue of the JB Models kit.

Today we see the box in 3d;

BOX ART >> A nice realistic illustration, a bit simplistic maybe. The JB Models is curious indeed, as it is drawn, it gives the sensation that it is a modern tank. All the same, if I had to choose, I prefer the JB Models box, as it has the style of 90s comicbooks, and the Airfix seems too plain, as though made by computer.

THE KIT - 7.5 >>

A correct and regular kit, a bit deprived of detail compared with kits from other manufacturers. The wheels and the track are all in one piece, which to some modellers might seem outrageous, but I am quite happy with it, as with a so tiny vehicle, and made in 1/76, it would have been very tedious to build the wheels and attach the small track, and probably it would have looked worse.

The kit itself is easy to build, and probably a good starting point for newbies in the hobby

EXTRAS - 4.0 >>

Nothing too exceptional, but at least you can choose between different versions, the short or the long cannon. With a so small vehicle, a couple of figures or a small diorama should have been included.

POSSIBILITIES - 5.0 >>

Besides what is suggested in the box, there are three other possibilities;

A cracked camouflage for the desert, also used in Malta.

Two-tone green for the defense of France.

And finally a three-tone "Indian Pattern" for the desert too. There are also other variations with light blue or maroon instead of purple.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 6.0 >>

You can get this tank easily for 10 GBP on eBay, and probably less in retail shops. The JB Model maybe you can find it cheaper, but at least, before the reissue of Airfix, it was about 12 GBP in retail shops, and this, 5 years ago for a tiny tank, put me off buying it, and I really wanted to have this tank.

The price-value ratio is not very good, as it is a very small tank that can leave you a sense of "where have my 10 GBP  gone?". For the amount of plastic involved, they could have given you two kits, like Pegasus do with their tanks. All the same, if you can get it maybe a bit cheaper in a retail store, it is a good model to complete your British tank collection.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 8.5 >>

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

With 1,682 examples built of the type, it is a must. It also helps to represent other marks of Vickers tanks which were used, as this is the only regular release of a Vickers tank, so it is this kit or nothing. 

WARGAMING - 7.5 >>

It is a correct and easy build, with not too many parts, but the price for just one unit (you would probably need at least two for wargaming) and the fact that it is 1/76 (which I don't think it is too important, but a bit annoying with a so small tank) lowers the wargaming score.

OVERALL - 8.0 >> 

With it's historical importance, even if the price and the quality of the kit aren't perfect, it is still a must for all 1/72 WW2 collectors.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS

Model kit made by myself, next to 1/72 figures Esci and Airfix miniatures.

HaT EL CID SPANISH INFANTRY Medieval Warriors 1/72 figures miniatures 8176

Time for another HaT review, this time the recent El Cid Spanish Infantry;

Box;

 Standard HäT box, this time the quality of the drawing is quite low, it doesn't attract you very much to buy the product, and with a set with very different types of soldiers showing just one man is not a good idea. Fortunately, the figures inside are better than the box art.

The rear of the box shows you the poses, basically drawn. I prefer the Zvezda way of showing the painted figures, as sometimes the drawings suggests  better quality figures that you really get.

Sprues;

SCULPTING - 8.0 out of 10

Although the detail is not very crisp,( it is a bit faint everywhere), they are really nice figures, some of the best HäT has produced, in a style I would love to see HäT continuing to produce.

HäT has the particularity of being nearly the only brand that has very distinct styles of making their figures, not just between different periods,but even in the same period and at the same time.It is not a progressive evolution, just a random selection of sculptors with very different techniques. 

In this case, all "El Cid" miniatures have the same style. This is a style with diffuse detail, but good proportions and quite good poses. 

             HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 10 out of 10

The research has been well done - I don't see any historical error. What is best, the research has been properly applied, with this set being different to other Medieval Christian sets, having a distinct "flavour" and maintaining a good balance between spearmen, swordsmen, archers, etc.

The only curious thing is that everybody is wearing full clothes and seem to be fighting in winter, as it would be hard to continue wearing such garments in summer in Castille and in the center of the peninsula, so they should be named "El Cid Spanish Infantry in winter dress".

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 9.0

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

Except the slingers and the skirmishers, all these figures are perfect to represent a myriad of Middle Age factions. With their long robes, the first that comes to my mind would be doing the Medieval kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, etc. 

Being also one of the nicest Medieval sets around, this is  very recommended to make that regional kingdom that no brand has the guts to bring into the market.

Even two or three of the light infantry (specially the swordsman with round shield) could be very nicely used to represent any Barbarian/Germanic kingdom of the Dark Ages.

FUNNESS - 7.0

"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"

It is a good set, but a bit too oriented to wargaming. Everything is a bit standard. You are given no leaders nor special men, but it is supposed that you have to buy the HaT El Cid Spanish Command to have them.

The most fun figures are the two bearded men, which have a lot of character. The Medieval sets that have been made, don't give you many bearded men, and much less warriors passing their 40's, so the bearded man in this set with the mail coat clearly being in his 50s is a great addition.

WARGAMING VALUE - 10

We are talking about pure wargaming here. They have very wargaming dimensions, you don't have to glue nor attach anything, nothing breaks easily, everybody has big bases, you get a perfect balance between the different types of troops, etc. The choice of 96 figures given is also a clear reference to their wargamingness.

The only but, is that you need to buy the El Cid Command, as they are absolutely needed to complement this set, as it will give you a musician, flagbearer, commanders, healers, etc.

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"

Is surprising in our days to have such a big number of figures given for a very reasonable price of 12 GBP shipped roughly. In retail stores it is usually more expensive, retailers seeing that they are giving too much for too little!

Some people who are not into wargaming, or just not happy wargaming with 48 figures or less, will perhaps find no use in 96 figures, and will find it too expensive. But with the possibilities of cutting them into different Spanish or medieval kingdoms, I find that 96 at this price is the best choice.



PAINTING AND GLUEING - 8.5

This is the new plastic HaT is using. It is sort of rubbery, it glues well, and is great for painting, as it is not slippery. The only bad thing is that it is not fully elastic, and if you bend a weapon too much   it will just break more easily than a more elastic plastic like Zvezda uses.



OVERALL VALORATION - 9.0

One of the (if not the) best miniatures HäT  has produced, filling a huge gap in history. Where before you had to buy French and English and modify them a bit, now this set will fill not just the intended Spanish kingdoms, but also many others. The reasonable price just adds more to this set that has to be a must for any Medieval collector.


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 (http://miniaturasaconcagua.blogspot.com/) for giving permission to show his awesomely painted figures.

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