Staple Food Van

Russian Military Van UAZ 3909 Zvezda 1/35, Ref. 3644 Developped from the very similar-looking UAZ 452, the UAZ 3909 is a 4×4 combi-type vehicle designed for the transport of freight and passengers with emphasis placed on ease of maintenance, excellent cross-country ability and low purchase price. Production of the -452 started in 1965, but the

Sherman for the few.

M4A2 Sherman 75mm Zvezda 1/72, Ref. 5063 The latest 1/72 armour kit from Zvezda, this kit is made up of 118 parts cast in the usual ‘Zvezda‘ grey plastic and 2 more (the tracks) in black plastic. The main features of the kit makes this a late M4A2: 47 degree slope glacis and 75mm turret

Sleek Air Bus

Airbus A350-900 Zvezda 1/144, Ref. 7039 The sleek-looking Airbus A350 is the latest of Zvezda’s airliner kits to reach us. The A350 is a very large airplane destined to replace the A330/340 family (and by the same token, compete with Boeing’s 777s and 787s). Made up of over 50% in composite materials, it features the

Staple Warrior

Soviet Main Battle Tank T-62 Zvezda T-35, Ref. 3622 Long after Tamiya (1988!) and even after Trumpeter (2009), it is Zvezda’s turn to offer us a very nice T-62, backbone of the Soviet tank force for almost one fifth of a century, and familiar silhouette of countless conflicts all over the globe since 1969. 344

Stretched Herk

C-130J-30 Heavy Transport Plane Zvezda 1/72, Ref. 7324 Given some of the parts included in their 2020-released 1/72 C-130H kit, Zvezda have duly released a stretched Hercules. I was a little surprised (and I will admit, a bit disappointed too) to see the kit feature the 6-bladed props of the J variant. I had been

More Sherman Hardware from the East

US Medium Tank M4A3(76)W Sherman Zvedda 1/35, Ref. 3676 Zvezda continues their work on the M4 Sherman family with this recently-released M4A3(76)W, offered in their traditional ‘sleeved up’ cardboard box that adequately protects the 322 plastic parts. The box is neatly illustrated with a US Army vehicle. The kit itself is molded in Zvezda’s typical

Low-profile Bug Killer

TOR-M2/SA-15 ‘Gauntlet’ Zvezda 1/35, Ref. 3633 It is in a fairly large box that this kit comes in, packed with 334 parts laid out over six grey styrene sprues, one clear sprue, and two large separate hull ‘halves’. Added to this are two small sheets of mesh in two different sizes, a B&W instruction booklet,

Bombing Mitten

Russian Light Bomber Yak-130 ‘Mitten’ Zvezda 1/48, Ref. 4818 The Yak-130, NATO code-named Mitten, is an advanced trainer aircraft designed to take over the Aero L-29 Delphin and L-39 Albatros. The advanced trainer entered service in 2007, and a combat trainer variant followed in 2009. Current operators include of course Russia, but also Algeria, Lao,

Top Quality 757 at last!

Civil Airliner Boeing 757-200 Zvezda 1/144, Ref. 7032 Another large box coming from the East, this one is bound to please many airline modellers, as the 757 from Boeing, despite being almost 40 years old, has not been well served by model manufacturers. The easiest kit to get hold until now was the Academy kit

Snap-fit British Jewel

Hawker Hurricane IIC British Fighter Zvezda 1/72, Ref. 7322 It’s a brand new Hurricane issued from a brand new tooling that Zvezda has had the good idea of releasing. Although marketed as a snap-fit kit, the kit is still made up of 51 parts, 5 of which are molded in clear plastic. We have not