Rubicon Models 28mm Tanks - Gifts from Santa

I'm happy to report that I received a handful of World War II Miniatures this year for Christmas!  I also got lucky and received George Nipe's book on Kursk "Blood, Steel, and Myth" so all-in-all I made out pretty well :)

Earlier today I posted a photo review of the Warlord 28mm Plastic Infantry I received.  Here is a run down on the tanks I got.

I received 2 Rubicon Models 28mm Kits.  The first being a Panzer IV box set that allows you to model several different variants (F1, F2, G, and H).  There are instructions and a decal sheet included...  which is nice for me since I don't have many 28mm decal sheets.

I have to say that I really like these kits and I'm happy with how they assembled.  There are some limitations with the kits (like the extra-wide inner road wheels); but I am more than OK with this considering I don't want to spend a week gluing a more detailed kit together.

Details are sharp and crisp and there aren't very many mold lines to clean.  There were a few on the gun barrel, muffler, etc. but they cleaned off easily.

All of the parts fit together smoothly and I didn't have any problems with poor fit.

Once together and glued, I was pretty impressed with how solid it felt.  I have a Resin Elefant that is a few years old (that I glued but never painted, lol); most of the details have busted off over the past few years with normal handling.  I don't anticipate these details will be snapping off.

Putting this together reminded me of assembling PSC Vehicles...

I didn't do any measuring, but to the eyeball, Warlord Plastic Infantry look good in comparison.

The second vehicle I received was the Rubicon T-34; you can model a couple of different early turret variants.

As with the Panzer IV, I really liked the kit.  I've heard some complaints of the tracks being a little inaccurate, but this isn't really a concern for me since I usually model tracks with a little dirt on them.

The sprue includes a handful of different options that you can model on the hull to your preference.  I kept mine fairly clean.

Parts fit together very well and I had no problems gluing and assembling...  took me about 30 minutes but I could have done it much faster.

I think Rubicon did a very nice job with the rear deck detail.  It is a good combination of detail that stands out but isn't too exaggerated.

Top down view...

And with some Warlord 28mm Infantry...

This isn't much of a "technical" review and I'm not the type of collector/painter/gamer that worries about complete accuracy.  But as a consumer, I give these an A+.  They are sharp, easy to assemble, solid, and they look great!  I hope I can say the same once I've had a chance to paint them.

I am looking forward to more products from Rubicon!

Happy New Year!

Tanner

Warlord 28mm Plastics - Gifts from Santa

I don't often receive World War II related gifts for Christmas...  and WWII Miniatures at that.  This year however, I received some from my kids!  (well...  technically, the money they used came from me...  but that's close enough).

For a long time now, I've been eye-balling 28mm Miniatures.  I've wanted to try something that is both fun to paint and provides a lot of detail to work with.  Several years ago I painted a Bolt Action figure and a Hanomag Halftrack; it turned out good but I never took it any further.  I also received some Rubicon 28mm Vehicles; I'll review those separately.

First up for review:  Warlord 28mm Plastic Infantry.  I received the Blitzkrieg German Infantry Box:

And the Soviet Infantry Box:

The detail is pretty good and I love the facial expressions (with some exceptions)

Proportions are solid and a bit chunky, but I like that.  "Realistic" sizing at this scale doesn't appeal to me.  These should hold up to use, and I don't anticipate broken/bent barrels like I've experienced with smaller scale plastics.

Round bases come in each of the boxes as well, so you don't need to buy any extra (except in the case of prone figures).

Each sprue comes with bodies, legs, arms, heads, weapons, gear, etc.  This is really a cool concept because it allows you to model so many different variants!  I love being able to pick the heads and facial expressions that I want.

There are flash lines to clean up as you can see...  but this really isn't a problem on plastics.  It is so much easier to scrape these lines off than to endlessly file metal figures (I hated this on Battlefront 15mm!!!).

Some of the facial expressions are a bit weird...  almost alien looking; but most of them look pretty darn good.  I can only imagine how hard it is to sculpt eyes at this scale anyway :)

Not sure what's up with the green bases...  but some  in the German box were green and some were grey.  Probably just older stock on bases.

Pouches, canteens, gas mask canisters, etc. are very easy to apply to the figure:  just use a little plastic cement and they melt right on.

There are 40 Figures in the Soviet box and only 30 in the German Box...  I believe the Soviet Box set is a little more expensive so this makes sense.

My opinion of these figures is very high!  I like the detail, the flexibility, and I don't see anything that is historically out of place.  Once I start actually painting them, that may change, but I'm excited to give these a shot in the near future.

Thanks for browsing and Happy New Year!

Tanner

Santa brought me Axis and Allies Europe and Pacific 1940!!!

Happy Holidays everyone!  I hope the season has been cheerful and you are ready for a great new year.  I also hope that Santa has been good to you...  while I didn't get any miniatures, books, paints, etc. I did get a good surprise that I'm quite happy with:  "Axis and Allies Europe 1940" and "Axis and Allies Pacific 1940".  These are essentially the latest versions of the Axis and Allies line of board games - but on steroids.

First off, I spent Christmas up in the mountains.  The wife, kids, and I were all happy and surprised to wake up to a White Christmas...  a surprise snow storm had blown in the night before and dropped a few inches that we were able to play in.

Living in Arizona, I don't consider myself an expert in heating (furnaces, space heaters, wood stoves) as I've never had much use for it.  However, with the temperatures dropping to around 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 C) I had to learn quickly.  I think my wife was quite impressed that I was able to get such a hot fire going :)

On account of the cold weather, I had a perfect opportunity to crack open my gifts from Santa.  I have to admit that I am pretty impressed with the quality of these board games.  All of the represented nations (US, UK, Germany, Franch, Italy, USSR) have their own sculpted miniatures with the exception of France; you can easily tell what the sculpted variants are.  The counters, manual, and storage boxes, etc. should hold up just fine over time.

And here is the Pacific board that comes in the Pacific 1940 game.  There is lots of space in that big ol' Pacific.  China and ANZAC are represented as well.

One of the reasons that Wizard of the Coast (Avalon Hill?  Hasbro?  Who knows...) created this series was so the two stand-alone games could be combined into a single "Global" game.  I have to admit, for a board game it is pretty large!  The picture below shows it sitting on my table that is about 6 feet long...  I have not played the Global game yet, but I imagine it will be a big undertaking.

I did manage to setup and play the Europe game for a few turns before we had to take it down so we could eat dinner.  I definitely recommend that you use a dedicated table so you have time and space to play.  The mechanics are pretty simple and easy to grasp and there is enough complexity to allow a lot of diversity in strategy.  My kids enjoyed it and my wife has committed to playing another game on New Years Eve (yay!).

Overall these are both pretty cool board games and I'm excited to get a little more use out of them.  Thanks Santa :)

Amazon has both the Europe 1940 and Pacific 1940 available for free shipping.  As of this writing, it seems that several places have sold out of the Europe edition (it's popular I guess).  Be sure to look for "Second Edition" as it has some updated rules and playing pieces.

Zvezda 1/144 Aircraft - IL-2 Sturmovik

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted anything worthwhile...  life has been plenty busy.  A couple of weeks ago, I celebrated the day of my birth and picked up a couple of new toys as a little gift to myself:  Zvezda 1/144 Aircraft and Plastic Soldier Company Panzers.

I want to take a few minutes and share some photos of the Zvezda IL-2 Sturmovik and some photos.  To sum it up, I think they are a good buy and worthwhile...  although not perfect.

Each box comes with an aircraft sprue and a cheap little stand.  The aircraft parts fit together fine and are actually quite easy to assemble.  They are solid and should hold up fine to the rigors of miniature wargaming.  I have only two complaints:

1.  The propellers are flimsy and I opted for clipping them off
2.  Mould lines run right down the top of the fuselage and are dang near impossible to remove cleanly.  I'm going to do my best to integrate them into the paint scheme rather than remove them.

The aircraft stand is useless in my opinion except for maybe a temporary stand.  I plan to replace them with a "Flames of War approved" type flight stand (if anyone knows a good source for these stands please let me know).  The best part about these aircraft is I got them for $3.49 each (nice!).

The aircraft seem to hold paint just fine as you can see.  The photo shows a "Work in Progress" model so please don't snicker at the glossy finish :)  It will be weathered and matte finished soon.  The box does come with decals but I used some from I-94 as the included decal quality was just average.

Here's the underbelly...  you can see the mould line running lengthwise down the fuselage if you look closely.  I also picked up some Ju-87's at the same time and they are of similar quality (pictures to come).  In summary, I think these are a good option for Flames of War Aircraft, especially at $3.49 a-piece.  The quality is so-so but personally I would choose these over Battlefront made aircraft.

Finished photos to come...

Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 Goodies!

This week I got my Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 Panzer IV boxes that I've been waiting for.  I pre-ordered these in early May and once they were available it took about 2 weeks to arrive from the UK (not bad).  I also picked up a box of the new 1/72 Soviet 45mm Anti Tank Guns.

As with the T-34's that I previously ordered, I'm quite happy.  The detail and accuracy is pretty good and they are easy to assemble.  A few parts required some slight shaving to fit snug but on the whole everything fit together perfectly!

The road wheel detail is the only aspect that is a bit inaccurate; but in reality it's not much different than the detail of some of the other fast assembly kits out there (Italeri Panzer III).  I'm guessing they opted for ease of assembly over splitting the road wheel halves.  With a bit of weathering and mud I think it probably won't be very noticeable.

The kit comes with several options for assembly (F1, F2/G, H) and I opted to assemble the first one as an F1; there are also some extra details that can be added like the two jerry cans on the side of the hull.

Dimensions seem accurate and it appears to be quite compatible with other brands out there.  The photo above shows a comparison with a Dragon 1/72 Panzer IV F1.  You can see the detail is better on the Dragon (and Dragon's road wheels are slightly larger), but they are pretty darn close in dimension.

The thing that impressed me with the 45mm Anti Tank gun was how efficiently they packed 4 guns and crew into such a compact box.  Not that this matters once the guns are assembled but nice job :)  Detail on the guns is very good as well and I was excited to see extra shells, ammo crates, and various barrel options included.  I'm assuming a German Pak 36 is up next and I'd be very excited to see that if it does materialize.

As I've said before, I think PSC puts out a great product and I am eagerly waiting for new and upcoming releases.  Based on the "Coming Soon" section on the Plastic Soldier Company website, I think we can expect a StuG III, Sdkfz 251's, Shermans, and more!

Plastic Soldier Company Panzer IV Sneak Peek

Hopefully you've all seen the 15mm Plastic Soldier Company T-34 that I recently finished; it was enjoyable to paint and I've been anxious to see what's up next from PSC.  I was talking with Will at The Plastic Soldier Company yesterday and he was kind enough to share these diagrams with me that detail his next up armor release for both 15mm and 1/72.  It sounds like the 15mm box is planned for April and the 1/72 in May.  I'm really looking forward to picking up a few boxes.

I don't know a whole lot about these yet but I think the pictures speak for themselves!  In my opinion, this is great news.  Be sure to checkout The Plastic Soldier Company at their website.  Thanks for sharing these pictures Will!

The Plastic Soldier Company - 15mm Russian Infantry

To round out my recent rash of 15mm Plastic reviews, here are some photos and my thoughts on The Plastic Soldier Company's 15mm Russian Infantry.  In short, I have to admit that I really like this offering and wish that I had something of this quality a few years ago :)  The box comes with 5 plastic sprues with several poses on each sprue (all 5 sprues are the same).  I ordered directly from PSC and was impressed with the speed of shipping and delivery...  I got everything from the UK (I'm in the U.S.) in 1 week.  With the current exchange rate I think I paid about $28 for the box.

What really struck me was to see the infantry through the little plastic window on the box...  I thought "Geez, these guys are small!"  However, when I actually compared them alongside Battlefront's Flames of War figures I was surprised to see they were about the same height.  The difference being that I was used to the unrealistic proportions of Flames of War figures (Pumpkin Heads, etc.).

Overall quality and detail is very good on these Plastic Soldier Company infantry...  you can easily see eyes, noses, and mouths...  not to mention individual fingers!  I found these small details to be fairly sturdy, however, I can certainly see some PPSh's or Mosin Nagant's breaking off if the figures are dropped or gripped too aggressively.

As you can see below, PSC size up pretty well with Flames of War...  although as mentioned the FOW figures sport thicker details.  To be fair, some of the poses for PSC are a bit odd and out of proportion; the grunt throwing a grenade is a perfect example.  But for the most part, I was happy with the selection of the poses.

A huge benefit that I see with The Plastic Soldier Company's offering is clean up and mould lines.  Cleaning Flames of War infantry is more often than not a huge undertaking...  sanding, scraping, cutting; I always ended with a pile of metal scrap when I was done with a Flames of War platoon.  I'm really looking forward to quickly scraping a small mould line with these PSC and then moving on.

In Summary, The Plastic Soldier Company has produced a great set of Soviet Infantry.  With 120 figures per box you're going to get great value; many people might only need a single box.  I for one, will no longer be purchasing Flames of War Russian Infantry...  I have found my set of choice.

Zvezda 1/100 Plastic Tanks Review

I have to admit that I've been pretty excited the last few weeks with the release and availability of new 15mm and 1/100 Plastic Kits.  I reviewed The Plastic Soldier Company's 15mm T-34's earlier this week and I think they are fantastic.  Just to compare, I purchased a couple of Zvezda's new 1/100 WWII Tank kits this week off of Amazon - a German Panzer II and a Soviet T-26.  They were $7.99 each with free Prime shipping; this might seem high but was actually cheaper than the $4.99 with $5 shipping that I found on eBay and other online shops - not to mention that they arrived 1 day after ordering.

Overall I have mixed feelings about these Zvezda kits and I'll explain a bit later.  On first glance they looked like a match for Plastic Soldier Company.  The assembly was a breeze (much quicker than PSC) and the detail on the kits is similar to Plastic Solder Company's T-34.  Look at the photos to judge for yourself but I think these two lines will be very compatible with each other.

Now...  here's my concern with these Zvezda models:  the plastic material used is not on the same quality level as Plastic Soldier Company.  While PSC uses a very hard plastic that is similar to styrene (maybe it is styrene?), Zvezda uses a softer material that is glossy.  I have not yet painted either of these so to be fair it may hold paint just fine, but I wonder if there will be paint adhesion problems.  If I recall, Battlefront's Plastic tracks and details are slight glossy too...  so perhaps this is really a non issue.

The one drawback with this plastic that I did experience was the difficulty in cleaning up the mould lines.  Zvezda did do a fairly good job in hiding most of the mould lines but the ones that were visible were difficult to neatly clean.  I tried using my usual "scraper" and it just scratched and fuzzed up the plastic rather than cleanly removing the mould line.  The more I tried, the more hacked up it looked.  I tried a small jewelry file (see the T-26 below) and the plastic almost piled up.  In the end, I did get it to look ok, but it certainly was not a smooth removal of mould lines.  Does anyone have any good suggestions for cleaning Zvezda mould lines?

Overall I think these vehicles from Zvezda are ok, especially if you don't care about mould lines (and should the plastic prove painting friendly).  From my standpoint, the PSC are going to be a better option.

The Plastic Solder Company - 15mm T-34 Tank Review

If you have followed my painting for the past 5 years, you'll know that I have switched back and forth between 6mm (GHQ) and 15mm (FOW) several times.  I am all about precision and to be honest I'm not always happy with Battlefront's sculpting; that's not to say I don't like their product, it's just that I enjoy the painting and modelling aspect more than I do the gaming.  So details are important to me.

I just received an order of 15mm Soviet T-34's and Soviet Infantry (more on these in the coming days) from The Plastic Soldier Company in the UK.  At this point, I am cautiously optimistic that I have found what I'm looking for in 15mm.  Keep reading...

First off, these are hard plastic similar to what you'd see in a scale model kit.  The details are sharp and while they are not as raised or as pronounced as Battlefront's Miniatures, I think they'll work out nicely as I typically paint with an airbrush.  **UPDATE - after closer inspection, I think the details are just as pronounced, they are just more precise and so they appear more uniform and consistent on the vehicle...  definitely a Plus!**

No detail on the opposite side (except for the tracks) but no detail is needed.  I attempted to quick fit a tank and everything seems to line up precisely.  The one exception is the two halves of track...  they fit together good, but I can see them being a little fiddly to glue together.

The plastic T-34's appear to scale well with Battlefront's T-34 although they appear slightly narrower and shorter.  Hatches are actually round and fit tightly together.  Being these are plastic I'm hopeful that they'll be much easier to modify and customize.  The handrails on the turret for example could probably easily be replaced with some narrow brass rod...  there are probably more possibilities for battle damage as well in the form of holes melted with pins, etc.

So while everything seems swell so far, I do have a couple concerns.  For one, this is the only vehicle currently available in the range...  so, it'll be quite some time before there is a good selection to choose from.  At least TPSC got it right and started with a popular AFV that everyone can use (hopefully they do a Panzer IV next!)  Second, I have not glued one together yet, and I'm curious to see how everything fits...  especially the tracks.  If all glues together nicely, then I'm convinced these will be a huge hit.

I am VERY hopeful that these will take off and that The Plastic Soldier Company has more vehicles planned because I think they have a lot of potential.  I like what Battlefront and Flames of War has done for World War II gaming and painting but in my opinion they better jump on the bandwagon with Plastics or they are going to get left behind by the technology...  Again, just my personal opinion :)

**UPDATE**  I've assembled my first tank from the box and I must say that I'm impressed.  All parts fit together tightly and with no problems.  Even the tracks that I feared might be tough were pretty easy.  There are some small gaps on the ends where the tracks meet, but that should be very easy to fill in with superglue or a small bit of putty.  I think these are the real deal and I'm very pleased with my purchase.  Here's a few pictures.

Notice the tracks in the background of this photo...  the tracks layed perfectly over the road wheels like a puzzle.  Hold them in place with a little superglue for a moment or two and you're all set.