Plastic Soldier Company 1/72nd Scale Russian 45mm Anti Tank Gun kit

Well, this is my 100th post. Hard to believe I have wittered on so much since the very first one back on the 31st of January 2011. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with it so far.

So, this post highlights one of the latest releases from those very industrious chaps at The Plastic Soldier Company Limited, ("PSC") the 1/72nd scale Russian 45mm Anti Tank Gun.

The box comes with 4 of these -

And 2 of these -

Which, when put together will allow you to build 4 gun models and 16 crew figures. No instructions in my box as to how the parts all fit together but to honest there isn't really much to building the gun model - there are a total of 7 parts to each gun and it is fairly easy to work out what goes where, though I swithered a bit as to which way up the trail legs would go.

And although, the box describes the contents as a 45mm Anti Tank Gun kit, the parts available allow you to build the M1937 version, the M1942 version or the 76mm Infantry Gun. When I first posted this review I was concerned that this model might have caused some of the purists issues, given the shape of the gun shield that is provided with the kit.

The 76mm Infantry gun option in the kit.

From a quick scan of the interweb, I had found this picture of the 76mm Infantry gun-

(c) thetankmaster.com

And as can be seen from the picture the gun shield is quite different and I had thought that this might annoy those who like their ordnance to be just right. However, thanks to Mserafin and Dom Skelton on the thread posted on TMP here they have pointed out that the photograph is of a 76mm M1927 version which is the early war version and that in fact PSC have got it spot on for the M1943 version, so thanks for clearing that up chaps!

The 45mm M1937 version

(c) thetankmaster.com

And a real one!

The 45mm M1942 version

(c) thetankmaster.com

All 3 versions

The 2 crew sprues build up 4 sets of 4 crew figures

Commander, loader, assistant loader and "extra guy"

Not much scope to vary the poses with these guys. The loader figure is a nice pose, caught as he is in the action of about to shove the round into the breech of the gun. Not sure what role the "extra guy" is supposed to perform. I gave him one of the rifles that comes on the sprue (there is also a PPsh 41) but the weapon doesn't really sit in the hands of the figure, so looks a bit clumsy.

The figures are all clean, with no flash and what mould lines there are (mainly on the helmets) can be easily removed with your craft knife. Detail on the figures can be a wee bit soft in places. I found that on the loader, the detail on his back between his pack, bed roll and water bottle just a bit indistinct. The hands on most of the figures also lacked any real definition, and too thick a coat of flesh paint will hide any finger detail on the hands. The faces are well done although, with my sausage fingers I found attaching the heads to the torso just a wee bit frustrating!!

On the gun sprue, there are also provided extra shell rounds and ammo boxes with which to add some clutter to your bases - you will note though that no bases are provided for either crew or gun model, but I suspect this will suit most people who would prefer to be able to base these models with their own basing style.

The main selling point of these figures, as with all the range produced so far by PSC, is the price of the set. Ordering from PSC direct will cost you £12.50 plus Postage and Packaging. They have now, at least, dropped the £0.50 surcharge for "low value orders". The equivalent cost of getting this amount of kit in metal is, for example, buying Reiver Models from Under the Bed Enterprises would be £23 plus Postage and Packaging, so the PSC figures definitely have the advantage on the price front. So a good set, well executed and my initial concerns about an iffy gun shield for the 76mm thankfully unfounded.

For some excellent pics of Russian Artillery at the Museum of Artillery in St Petersburg visit Carlo Antonio's blog Military Miniatures, where he has snapped dozens of pics from his visit there with various types of Russian Artillery on display in their 40 shades of green.

The PSC Panzer IV's have arrived, so hopefully I will get a review of these up soon.