Hello ! I am in the process of assembling Éduard's mirage kit. It looks like it's the same design and molds, but I could be wrong.

You mention the Trumpeter kits. I don't have one but have considered them. What specifically is wrong or inaccurate about the barrels in them? Cheers

Received mine today. 3 grey resin crew figures included in a separate pack, although not mentioned anywhere on the box.

Another kit from the days before the hobby started to take itself very seriously. A kit like this should be built out of the box, for what it is now, a piece of nostalgia. Those old instructions were always a good source of information (for English readers anyway), providing an insight into the details of the actual subject. I'm not sure about this kit, but Airfix ones from +50 years ago were laid out in part number sequence. Start with part 1, then part 2 until the end. Simple. A couple of years ago a model shop near me had 5 or 6 of the 1973 issues of this, going for £15 each ($20?) in a closing down sale. I should have snapped them up.

Excellent build and thanks for the product recommendations. I doubt (most) kit manufacturers will include SMO specific markings, certainly until the conflict ends, and even then who knows. Similar sensitivities apply as to a famous symbol used by the Germans in WW2. Also certain letters (you know the ones) are actually banned in some European countries (and certain internet platforms also don't like them) and to display them will have the legal authorities paying a visit. I think the decals you used are from a country deemed friendly to Russia. The T-80 seems a favourite with tankers due to it having a sensible reverse speed unlike the T-72 and T-90 variants which I believe are limited to something like 3 mph.

Thank you for this. Your effort is appreciated. Combat Approved channel is very good - they covered the tank biathlons which were fun to watch. Zvezda availability in UK remains okay. The 1/48 SU25 arrived a while ago and the new KA52 should be on the way later this year. Yes, the prices have really increased, which is to be expected. Dasha Models on this platform is worth watching. She is an awesome modeller, who takes a lot of flak from certain watchers, but goes into a lot of detail on her subjects. Last year she did a video on Armatas in use in the UK following a fictional civil war. It was humorous but was quickly pulled. She also has a 'Technical' channel which focuses on the actual hardware and not models. She published a photo of a T72 (in Mariupol maybe) with 'Victoria's Secret' painted on the side, which was a bit different (lingerie company). I haven't seen it on any decals. That Zvezda 1/48 Hind was heavily criticised for not having rivet detail. I hope to order that Panda ZTZ-99A tomorrow. I'm wondering if the resin figures are in it.

Kinda funny, in that I'd have loved to see the looks on the faces of the Japanese tank guys when they saw this block of iron. Now, how in hell do we use this? And where?

Hoping for a 3rd party upgrade to a Japanese gun rather than the 88.

"Easy Assemble"

MAGA POWER! Wish it came with a Trumpster resin figure.

What’s next a Mexican Tiger I ? 😂

Japan never had a Tiger but this kit is still cool

Congrats on 100 subscribers

Your build looks excellent. I saw a video yesterday of one in combat, judging by the additions to armour, cage etc a fairly recent video. The missile tube ends appeared to be hollow, possibly because the missiles had been fired - definitely no red caps. Also, the spent casings being ejected were a dark dull shade, not the usual shiny brass. I had both Zvezda boxings of this but sold them last year. Seeing your build now I regret that. I do still have both versions of their 1/35 TBMP T-15 Heavy IFV, which is a huge kit. Thank you for the inspiration.

I've built this kit and I had the same issues, nice kit but crappy tracks (typical Meng). I would recommend QuickTracks T-35003 single pin (RMSh type) replacement tracks. These are individual tracks that snap together and no glue or pins required.

Wow! That's crazy. I wish I could be of help, but I've never built armor. What I can do is comment for the algorithm 🙂

I have built this kit, you are correct, however try these steps. First ,the jig should fit together snugly, second the pins should click in. Remove the tracks as you did and gently cut off the pins. If this does not work, and the pins still fall out, then you can place a small drop of the older cement on the outer end of the pin. Do Not use extra thin cement, the old school type does not run and will stay at the end of the track links. The Rye Field T-55A tracks are the same way. One last thing, these tracks are delicate, take care in handling them, if I recall correctly, the Meng T 90 has the workable suspension along with the poly cap wheels, this will help in the installation of the tracks, I hope this helps you.

One selling point for me is having the nose cone integrated with the fuselage. I wish more kits were like that. PS - what is your cat's name? You should introduce her to the viewers (if you haven't already).

Thanks for this review. I was initially put off by the pads, but when you revealed the stuff at the end I changed my mind.

I agree with you about having to cut the mesh. Italeri used to do that too. Many recent Zvezda kits are excellent quality, if sometimes a little over-engineered, but with annoying features (like the difficult to follow instructions). I built their 1:350 Arktika icebreaker recently and it is not cheap (+£60 in UK) and for that price should include etched railings which are standard in most other companies for ships that scale. I have my doubts the Armata will ever go into serious production. Tank design and tactics are undergoing some radical rethinking at the present due to the large scale advent of drones.

Where can you find this kit new?

Holy sh*t! So much . . . and you sound quite young!

A beautiful aircraft. Your build looks excellent. The Heller kit, although older, is still a very worthwhile offering, although aftermarket decals are advisable.

If you're going to do Canadian troops with the Ross rifle, then don't use the heads with the gas-masks. By the time this type of gas-mask came into service the Canadians had got rid of their Ross rifles and were using SMLE's (for which the Canadian troops were, no doubt, profoundly grateful!). Also the trench periscope is actually a gas warning rattle.

So are you going to get another set so that you can build them the other way? The Ross rifle really got slagged during the war because it was a piece of shit and jammed all the time, or mostly what happened is you got to fire the first round and were never able to clear/eject the empty casing. The truth of the matter was that the Ross was built with precision and with close tolerances, so it was never able to use the myriad of different ammo out there, yes they were all .303 but again Canadian ammo was made to a better standard, so if you happened to be using British ammo that was made to a slacker standard shit went sideways. The Lee Enfield wasn't built to as close/precision tolerances so it would run anything. After this was realized the Ross rifle would get used as a sniper rifle with Canadian sourced ammo because it was deadly accurate.

VERY nice kit.and a good review, Sir. Try rolling the curve out of the PE fret first, see if that works.

Great review. Another one I've been considering. The colour schemes are excellent. And thanks for the biathlon footage!

I believe the tags are for marking the sprues, it helps in locating and identifying the sprues.

I obtained a 1:144 Sturmovik by Zvezda about 10 years ago, I must say I was underwhelmed… Compared to Japanese & Chinese models in this scale in my collection lacked surface detail and had sink marks… The good news is that Azur/Fromm (Special Hobby) is about to re-release a 1:72 version and Trumpeter has a new mold 1:48 kit also coming out of this important part of early Bomber Command history! Except for very large and/or querky aircraft I’ll be sticking to the larger scales 🤗

Thanks for this 👍🇳🇿

I bought one of these about a month ago. Loved the box art and it was at a great price. It also looks like a great kit. Thanks for your very positive review.

Without having seen them in my own hands, the 1/72 female looks more female than the 1/35 sniper figure (Lyudmila Pavlichenko?)

Great objective review. I've been considering this set for a while, but will now definitely buy it. I just discovered your channel today and am very interested in most of your subjects. So, a big thank you! And another sub for you.

Looks a whole lot less "involved" than the Trumpeter offering w/interior! If the price is right, I will get one. Great review, Sir.

Thanks for reviewing this. In the UK most Zvezda kits are still available - at least on eBay. Some retailers have acquired new releases, like the 1/48 SU25, but the prices seem higher than before. I have noticed that the few 'western' YT channels still reviewing this brand do attract a little grief from some viewers, so be prepared.

Looks really nice I would love to see it assembled. QR code worked perfectly fine.

The 'periscope ' is a gas rattle. A wooden rattle designed to give a loud signal of the presence of gas

Looking at it, you can’t build a Korean version from this kit, it is a late model BMP, and has a lot of differences to the early Korean versions. It sits a lot better than the Trumpeter kit and given that the Trumpeter interior is a work of fiction anyway.

BMD-4すこ😉

🌹 *Promosm*

I want to get the British and German sets and do a ww1 diorama! Great video Pile! Always great video work!

I'm looking for this same model AND the TOS version. My local Hobby Lobby doesn't carry the Star Trek model line.

I have a load of modern Chinese subjects (tanks, AFV’s, armored cars, amphibs etc.) from HobbyBoss (very nice kits!); seen some Meng kits in the shops and wondered what they were like… thanks for showing! I think you’re right about the tracks, best to find some quality replacements for such a beautiful kit.

Nice review. If you really want to know what the box says, they make translation apps for smart phones. I use them a lot at work.

Give your furbaby some loving..

Looks like a kit. I got you subbed and look forward to seeing more detail reviews like this. Thanks for sharing ~ Cory

the ferdinands were established in the 653-656 Abtelung

That rod you see on the dog's back is a detonator for the satchel of explosives the dog is wearing. They trained the dogs to run up under German tanks and blow themselves up. Desperation move, to be sure.

Zvezda have some very fine figure kits in 1/35 scale, but what’s really nice are the figures they include in their aircraft, jet & helicopter kits in 1/48 & 1/72 (mostly pilots & crew), most manufacturers leave these out or sell them separately… Nice to see you reviewing figure sets as well as vehicles!👍🏽

I built an academy green box Hellcat and it was an easy kit to put together I agree that these green box kits are decent for the price. great video.