Zvezda Stuart "Honey"

I see that Zvezda have brought out (or are bringing out) a shed load of new 1/100 Art of ataxic related AFVs thus year. So far I've seen the Tiger, M3 Medium and M3 Stuart in our local model shop, but am looking forwards to the Soviet SP a Guns and Elefant. I was disappointed to see that the Tiger was priced at £6 like the Cold War Vehicles. This doesn't make it particularly good value in my eyes when compared to the alternatives.....

Simple to build, the instructions are on the back of the box.

The model is moulded in sand coloured plastic like many of the recent additions. The boxes no longer include the stats cards. These are now available to download on line.

All the 12 parts are on a single sprue and are easy to remove with side cutters.

The lower hull is assembled first. This fits together leaving a slight gap visible behind the track units. I filled this with a bead of polystyrene cement.

The upper hull is in one piece including the very finely moulded bow mg.

The turret is made from four pieces, but Looks the part.

The completed model is tiny, but is detailed and strongly made. This AFV can be used in so many theatres of action, ii is extremely flexible.

I chose a simple finish. Vallejo Russian Green substituting for British Bronze Green. Then a Sepia wash and finally dry brushing lightened Russian Green. I went back to my old way of painting tracks, light grey with black wash followed by flesh wash to simulate rust. Finally I based it on mdf and sprayed varnish to protect it. Just a few white allied stars finished things off.

Great little model.