Танкомастер 1993-04, страница 7

PTS Models

T37 Amphibious Tank in 1 /35

By

Peter Brown

From the former Soviet Union comes this very nice model of an unusual subject. The little T37 was developed from the Vickers amphibians bought in the 1930s, and it served on into the war years. With a two-man crew and one machine gun, they were fast little scout machines but outclassed by real tanks and even big rivers. Anything other than a firm, gentle slope to a river bank and they lacked the power to pull themselves onto dry land. Strong currents also meant embarrassment for the unwary.

The mode depicts the second version with the flat front to the driver's compartment. Hull and turret are resin moldings, with very neat surface detail and no sign of air bubbles on my sample. Both are in two parts, which makes for some problems fitting them together, especially making a neat joint in the turret without losing rivet detail. One face of each part has to be sanded flat, this is due to the use of one-piece molds and needs some care to get a flat surface. The instruction sheet showed a separate turret hatch, but on my model it was molded solid.

The separate driver's hatch and the

Boresight - November 1993 ЮМОРИНКИ — эту и другие прислал Е. Ю. Жалов.

grill over the engine decks are also resin, all the rest of the kit is white metal. Castings are nicely done, with some very fineparts— the machine gun especially is nice and thin, far better than most plastic renderings. The Horstmann style suspension consists of no less than ten pieces each, even each road wheel comes as separate spoke and rims. The main problem is fitting the whole unit' together, and it is not for Йгё beginner in metal models or those without steady hands. I found it best to cut off the short stub-axles and hold the whole thing together with short lengths of wire, Г find staples a good source. Assembly is tricky, but the end result is worth the effort.

Other parts fit well and easily, although the tracks tended to break when bent

around the wheels and need care to align the short lengths together. With so little reference material on the tank, it looked correct against the few available photos. Plans in various Zaloga books suggested the exhaust silencer was too short, but that is soon changed.

With a little care a good model results, the only real fault I could find was that no shovel (or is it a paddle?) and crowbar are included, but these are easily added. I painted it dark green with markings guessed from various sources. My sample came direct from the producer, V.O. Sh-pakovsky, VI Dzerginskogo 33-43, Penza 440061, Russia. Best to contact him direct, or better still, get your local hobby shop to try him.

"Возможности этой модели невероятны" — пишет о 120-мм миномете Звезда Девид Кимбрелл. Вот как!

Italeri/Zvezda Soviet 120mm Mortar and Crew

By

David A. Kimbrell

Italeri's latest release is the result of a joint arrangement with the Russian form of Zvezda. Zvezda means "star" in Russian, and their white, red and blue logo can be seen on the box front. Their releases of two Russian infantry sets and an announced BT-5 are expected to be from Zvezda as well.

The 120mm mortar (kit #348), is a very nice model of this famous weapon, modestly priced for between S7-8.

The kit consists of two parts trees— one green; the mortar, and one tan; the crew. The mortar comes with the special trailer, a bi-pod in the firing position, one in the transport position, two ammo rounds, and an open ammo crate. The wheels for the trailer are the spoked variety.

The figures (4) look like they are wearing the 1936 pattern uniform and may build up very nicely. Both the 1936 and 1940 pattern helmets are included. The infantry weapons are the Model 1891 /1907 carbine.

The really nice thing about this kit is that the Germans also used this mortar. In fact, they not only used captured weapons, but produced a direct copy. The Russian designation is 120mm PolkovoyMinomyot 1930 (120mm PM-38). The German designation is 12cm Grantwefer 42 (378r for

captured weapons). It weighed over 12001bs with the trailer and could lob a 351b shell 3.5 to 4 miles. This mortar is still in service all around the world. The potential for this kit is tremendous.