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New Zvezda item,Panzer IV tank.Has anyone got any of theese yet?I am ordering a few of theese today along with some Para Artillery for my 101st. troopers.So if some one already owns some these please leave a comment on the kit.if no ones has any of theese yet.I will updated this article with a review of the kits when i get mine.thanks again.

I do. See below or my blog (which has bigger pics):

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/425602.page

It's a nice kit but I was forced to add some details that weren't correct and also (not pictured, as I did so after I took the shots), the turret isn't high enough, so I had to add .20" plasticard under it to make it the correct height.

Thanks,i am probably going to throw some Battlefront bits on mine,Skirting,mgs and extra stowage and tracks.

I rekon Ill be picking a few of these up
BTW nice blog

Do Zvezda have their own game and rule system? What's the detail like on the models?

The detail is very nice indeed, especially when you consider these cost under £3.

http://timstanks.blogspot.com/search/label/Zvezda%2015mm

There are some great reviews of them on this Blog (not mine but a damn good read).

They have a rules called 'art of tactic' which as far as I'm aware is avaliable only in Russian. It's more of a board game in the Memoir 44/Tide of Iron style as far as I can tell. It's a mish mash of scales, Infantry is 1/72, vehicles are 1\100 and aircraft are 1\144.

It would be interesting to find out just how may of their 1/100 vehicles have been bought for use with their own game and how many have been bought for use with 15mm tabletop wargames. It certainly wouldn't supervise me if the tabletop players where responsible for the majority of the sales.

Anyway all their stuff sofar is based on Barbarosa (understandable as they are a Russian company) but if the range is successful then who knows? I think some land lease stuff is coming out in the summer, so perhaps British FOW players could take advantage of them.

LuciusAR wrote:The detail is very nice indeed, especially when you consider these cost under £3.

http://timstanks.blogspot.com/search/label/Zvezda%2015mm

There are some great reviews of them on this Blog (not mine but a damn good read).

They have a rules called 'art of tactic' which as far as I'm aware is avaliable only in Russian. It's more of a board game in the Memoir 44/Tide of Iron style as far as I can tell. It's a mish mash of scales, Infantry is 1/72, vehicles are 1\100 and aircraft are 1\144.

It would be interesting to find out just how may of their 1/100 vehicles have been bought for use with their own game and how many have been bought for use with 15mm tabletop wargames. It certainly wouldn't supervise me if the tabletop players where responsible for the majority of the sales.

Anyway all their stuff sofar is based on Barbarosa (understandable as they are a Russian company) but if the range is successful then who knows? I think some land lease stuff is coming out in the summer, so perhaps British FOW players could take advantage of them.

Great link, Lucius, and I agree with everything you've said.

Along with the Zvezda PzIVs, I also have the Panzer IIs, Sdkfz 251 Bs, Opel Blitzes, and T-26s (for my Finns). I also just ordered 8 KV-1s for a Russian Guards Heavy Tank Co. from Thewarstore. As Lucius said, they have pretty good detail (though I had to add some details with plasticard, mostly because I'm too detail-conscious) and look even better once primed. Two important things to note:

1) Zvezda tanks are cast in ABS plastic, which is somewhat softer and therefore harder to cut/sand (though the slight bendiness helps to make gun barrels more resistant to breakage). This means you need to glue everything with CA glue or ABS cement, regular model cement will not work.

2) BE SURE TO WASH THE MODELS THOROUGHLY BEFORE PRIMING!!! I can't stress this enough, the mold release agent is noticeable on these models (the surface feels slick or oily before washing) and, if you don't wash them off in warm water and dish soap, the primer won't adher right.

That said, they are such a good value that I've been able to assemble the bulk of my EW/MW Mittlere Panzer Co. for under $50 (13 tanks, 4 halftracks, and an Opel).

I have the T26's, BT-5's, T34's and KV1's from Zvevda and all are excellent. I found that the only thing I had to glue was the turret, the snap fit on the rest was good enough.