SPARTACON XXIII COMETH!!!!

Now that everybody has gotten past the holidays we can look to the future.

Spartacon XXIII is scheduled for 12JAN13 at the Lansing Center in (oddly enough) Lansing Michigan 08:30 until midnite. The usual $10.00US fee gets you into the Con and lets you sign up for games; there being three gaming sessions 09:00-13:00, 14:00-18:00 and 19:00-23:00. Further info can be found on the Spartacon website. In the past this Con has been accompanied by some pretty outlandish weather events so dig out you best winter gear and make sure the survival kit is in the car!

I'll see you there.

Plastic Soldier Company Tiger I 1/100 scale 15mm

     I have had this kit for a little while but have finally gotten around to doing a review of it. At first glance it is a beauty, as well as second and third glance too! Cleanly molded in a a panzer-yellow plastic this kit comes with the parts for early/mid/late production models. I will leave it for the rivet-heads to nit-pick the tiny details, to my wargamer's eye these neatly fit the bill for all my Tiger I needs. Plus the kit will generate quite a few spare parts to dress up my older models from other manufacturers. But enough of my prattling on; here are the photos!

the box cover, artwork is an improvement over other recent releases,

 but this IS the biggest box they use

Plastic Soldier Company T-70 Russian Light tank in 1/100 15mm

     I spotted this box at Michigan Toy Soldier a while back and bought it right away. Once I opened it I was delighted to find that PSC had lavished their usual attention to detail on this this tiny model. Cleanly cast in a light olive plastic this kit provides five models of this very common Soviet tank. At last I can finish that Soviet light tank horde that I was working on!

box art is OK, not a lot of choice in camo schemes with Soviet stuff

New stuff at G A Models

     Craig over at G A Models has many new items on his website, From a host of LVT variants (both afloat and ashore)to German light AA and the assorted trucks and tracks that the Krauts hauled them around with Craig has got it all. These are still one of the best buys on the market ($5.00US each and one free for every ten you buy) for gaming models plus Craig fearlessly goes where others don't even try (he even has gliders and a good selection of Japanese tanks).

 

     The best part is that the kits come assembled and base-coated, almost ready to go!

      Highly Recommended!

Warlord Games 28mm Ruined Hamlet

    I got a chance to take a look at this kit in person the other day and I must say I like what I saw. Too many "wrecked building" kits are designed in such a way that they can only be assembled in one way, and often lack a "reverse side" so that, if viewed from another direction, you can seen the model lacks true thickness walls. None of those problems apply to this kit. The kit is intended to assemble into three very badly damaged European style village houses. The box shows suggested ways to build them. The number of parts and the way that they are cast will allow the gamer a wide latitude in the assembly process.  Add in a bit of foamcore and some modelling compound and you could probably build a half-dozen less damaged buildings using the parts provided here. The kit contains three bags of demolished buildings, on for each building I presume. Each of the models are cast in a solid gray plastic with good detail and no obvious mold-lines or flash. The level of damage to the buildings would suggest that high-explosive has been used, old fashioned roundshot would have to work long and hard to create this sort of havoc

the front cover

Plastic Soldier Company ZiS 2/3 guns set in 1/100 15mm

    Fresh from PSC we have their kit of the ZiS 2/3. This builds either the 76mm field gun/anti-tank gun or the 57mm dedicated (and far more lethal) anti-tank gun. Molded in a green-khaki plastic this kit is devoid of flash and comes complete with a crew for each of the four guns in the kit. The kit contain enough extra barrels and wheels to correctly portray four copies of either gun, as well as boxes of ammo, no doubt that the spare parts will be put to use by creative games and scratchbuilders. Available in person or over the internet from Michigan Toy Soldier.

front of the box

Zvezda Soviet T-26 Flamethrower tank 1/100 15mm

      Having given the Germans a flame-tank Zvezda took a turn at making one for the Soviets. There probably more of the T-26 variant made than the PZ III version now that I think about it, the Russians were at the cutting edge of experimentation for most of the thirties. This little gem is molded in hard dark-green plastic and is replete with delicate detail. It is a snap-tite kit and will go together quickly and with little fuss, do be careful with the tracks as they are delicate and could break if forced. This little beauty is available from my local brick-and-mortar in person or via the internet.

the box art, not much to work with as almost all early-war Soviet stuff was just green, 

but nice all the same

Zvezda PZ III flam 1/100 15mm

     I am sure some rivet-head will correct me but I am pretty sure that this model will also stand in as a Panzer III l/m as it has the spaced armor on the gun mantle and hull front. That said it is a very pretty kit of the Panzer II flame-thrower tank. It is molded in a hard grey plastic withall the detail and precision that had become the standard for Zvezda. Remember also that this is a snap-tite kit (but I always glue mine)

box-art, a pretty unusual color-scheme for a PZ III

28mm American Frontier Blockhouse from Architects of War

     I popped by my local brick-and-mortar hobby shop today to find on display this nifty log structure blockhouse. Molded in a hard gray-brown resin this kit has a cast metal doors and ladder. The detail is good and the top and second story are removable so that the entire interior is accessible for skirmish games. This goes perfectly with the French and Indian Wars figures reviewed a short while ago and is large enough to work with the Tomahawk and Musket figures. Architects of War also produce a log cabin and Dark Ages farmhouse in 28mm.

the box

Zvezda AEC Matador British heavy truck in 1/100 15mm

     One of the most common heavy trucks of the UK's armed forces this vehicle served on many front throughout the Second World War. Zvezda has done an excellent job of bringing this workhorse to wargamers at a very affordable price ($5.00US) and in beautiful detail. There was a time when a "snap together" model meant that the kit was some ugly, ill-fitting parody of a famous vehicle. Zvezda had killed that paradigm with their series of 1/100 scale gaming models. and this one is a beauty even by those standards. Flawlessly cast in a medium tan plastic this kit captures the look of the ungainly original to perfection.

box art front

Zvezda 1/144 Hawker Hurricane Mk I

     Because of the high quality of their earlier aircraft releases I was excited to see that Zvezda was going to release a Hawker Hurricane in 1/144 to go with their Art of Tactic game. It is a relief to see the Hurricane instead of the Spitfire, in the early part of the war it was the Hurricane that did most of the fighting as the Spitfire was slow to get into mass-production. This kit is crisply molded in a light tan plastic with optional raised or lowered undercarriage  and is provided with a stand (which, if it is anything like the other stands from Zvezda, will require a weight at its rear to keep from tipping forward).

box art provides adequate information for painting and decal placement

Zvezda 1/100 15mm Matilda MK II

     I somehow missed these when they first came out but there they are; the first of the new Zvezda releases for the expansion of the Art of Tactic game (can't say I am into the game but these "playing pieces" they are making are great). The Matilda Mk II was the mainstay of the British Infantry tank force for the first half of WWII and the folks at Zvezda have done it proud. The kit is molded in a hard light tan plastic with not the faintest hint of flash and only the finest of mold-lines. The detail is crisp and clear.

box art is good

Musket and Tomahawk 32mm(40mm?) French and Indian War figures

     Well, perhaps a little more or less than 32mm (they might even be 40's), I didn't have a metric scale when I was taking a look at these.Aside from the size thing these are some stunning figures, I mean STUNNING. The poses, proportions and detail is over the top. As the are intended for use in a low-level skirmish game it probably isn't a big deal about the size and it looks like they produce a comprehensive range of minis.

front of the box