Review of WWII planes by Zvezda, with photos
By Mike Crane
Zvezda has recently released several new figures and models as part of their growing World War II Art of Tactic game system. The game is unusual because it employs different scales of figures and models; infantry figures are 1/72, the armor is 15mm, and the aircraft are 1/144. A You Tube video is provided on the internet but, unfortunately,it is in Russian. Nevertheless, the pictures reveal a lot about the differently scaled models as they appear together in the game.
Having already collected a few U.S., British, German, and Japanese 1/144 models over the years, I jumped at the opportunity toadd some Russian planes and a couple more German aircraft to boot. Zvezda makes good products and these models are a wargamer’s delight! Since they are so similar in design, I will review four airplane models simultaneously: the Lagg3, IL2; Me109; and, the Ju87 Stuka.
Each plane is packaged in an accurately illustrated paper box. Inside the box are two pieces of hard plastic sprue, one containing the airplane (green for the Russians and gray for the Germans) and a black piece containing the stand. A separate plastic bag contains the decals and a clear canopy, a piece of paper contains the illustrated instructions, and a card contains information to use with the game. The fuselage and wings of each planeare castas single pieces. The entire model takes only a few minutes to assemble. The box says the models snap fit and no glue is required, but I used plastic cement for the wings and Elmer’s Glue for the cockpit just to be sure.
Although the models may be left unpainted by the impatient wargamer, I chose to spray the assembled planes (minus the clear plastic cockpits) with gray auto primer bought at Walmart for about a dollar. After they dried I sprayed the upper side of the Soviet planes with dark green camouflage paint (Krylon Ultra-Flat used by hunters) and left the bottom gray. After painting the bottom sides of the German planes light greenish-blue with acrylics, I sprayed two of the planes (an Me109 and a Ju87) with light green camouflage paint (Krylon Ultra-Flat) and cut up an index card to use as a mask to spray a splinter-pattern on the wings and fuselage of both. I sprayed a camouflage splinter-pattern on the two remaining gray planesby usinga darker gray primer (Rust-Oleum automobile primer). The next day, when the models were completely dry, I painted the spinners, propeller blades, tires, bombs, and guns. Then, using Elmer’s white glue so as not to craze the clear plastic, I glued the cockpits onto the fuselages. I always find applying decals to be tedious and, since I was not trying to create an exact replica of an actual airplane, the decals were applied as a simple identification aid for wargaming.
These kits were bought directly off a dealer’s shelf at Bayou Wars in June, so the prices given do not include postage. The prices on the boxes varied, so I am assuming the price of plastic in models is increasing the same way as gasoline does at the pump. The attack bombers were priced $4.99 and the fighters were priced $5.49 but, like all petroleum products, this is subject to change. I consider those prices to bequite reasonable and I am very happy with the quality of the models. Due to their convenient size, I think they will be a very useful addition to my WWII wargaming collection and will see plenty of action in future games.
A catalog of Art of Tactic models anda You Tube video may be found at this address: www.art-of-tactic.com.Arelated site can befoundat www.zvezda.org.ru.
Thesemodelscame from Bobe's Hobby House of Pensacola.Mike Bobehad a good inventory at the time. www.bobeshobbyhouse.com
5