58 Model Military International - September 2019
A round-up of the latest news and releases in 1:72 and 1:76
ITALERI
1:72 SCALE
BATTLE SET – 1944 BATTLE AT MALINAVA
ITEM NO. 6182
This set comes in an impressive box with excellent graphics all round. The premise is the action at Malinava in Russia
involving tank ace Otto Carius and his ‘wingman’ Kerscher, where they charged into the village of Malinava and
destroyed numerous Russian T-34s and IS-2s. The total destroyed is a matter of debate but the action certainly was
ruinous for the Russians who lost 15 – 20 tanks to these men in their Tigers.
The box itself is the tray type and contains several items to ‘recreate’ the battle, I don’t know who the set is aimed at
but it will appeal to the wargamer to get some nice items for their army or younger novice modellers starting out and
looking for an exciting set to build.
The box contains several bags of items to create the battle, in one bag two Tiger tanks (Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.E); in another
bag a KV-2 and T-34/85; in another bag two sets of soldiers, one Russian and one German, also the ZIS-3 Anti-Tank
gun; finally a shrink wrapped set of laser cut buildings including, two Isba’s (huts) and a barn. There is a very nice
instruction booklet printed in colour and with clear instructions for the construction of all the elements. There is also
a sheet of decals for all the tanks.
The Tigers each come on a single sprue with a separate upper hull. The part count is low and all the necessary detail
is cleanly moulded onto the various parts and no flash to speak of. As quick build items they are very good and when
made up will produce a good representation of the tank. They are not meant to be detailed models, but wargame
type models, however they are nice little tanks and represent the type well.
As with the Tigers the T-34/85 and IS-2 are on one sprue each and again cleanly moulded with no flash present. They
look the part and will produce good representations of the respective tanks. Similarly with the Tigers they are not
meant to be detailed models being wargame type models and they look nice tanks and represent these types well.
The bag containing the figures has both the Russian and German troops, along with the ZIS-3 Anti-Tank gun.
The set of German troops is from the Italeri Set No. 6033, German Infantry, which was originally the Esci Set No.
201, German Soldiers; originally released in 1982. The set of Russian troops is from the Italeri Set No. 6057, Russian- Still, given their age, they are not too bad and have a decent level of detail, certainly they will be of use to the
wargamer and younger modellers will be able to hone their painting skills with them. The ZIS Anti-Tank gun is a more
recent release, appearing as a set in 2007. The moulding is crisper than the other two sets and the poses are dynamic
and well thought out, this will make up into a very nice set piece.
Now we come to what is the star of the set, the buildings. These are laser cut items on what appears to be 2mm
MDF type material. The main buildings, the Isbas and Barn are easily pressed out of the sheet they are printed on and
construction is straightforward, the items being glued together to form the structures. I imagine PVA, or wood glue
would be the best option for this and especially for the detail pieces, such as window frames and door frames.
The buildings will have to be painted and the colour illustrations on the box and in the instruction sheet will help
with this. As a bonus the used sheets left over have large areas of the MDF material that could be used for making
other little structures, such as hen houses, pig sties etc.
The decals are nicely done and you have several options for the IS-2 and the T-34/85 models, there are only two sets
of decals for the Tigers as they are for specific tanks. The IS-2 set has a nice pair of Guards Division markings and the
Tigers have an Elephant marking for the Schwere Panzerabteilung 502, which was Otto Carius’ unit.
This is a nice set in so far as it is aimed at wargamers and novice modellers, there is little for the serious modeller,
other than the excellent buildings. However I would recommend it for the demographic it is aimed at.
Recommended.
Thanks to The Hobby Company Limited for the sample http://www.hobbyco.net
Paul Giles