The Browning M2 heavy machine gun needs no introduction. Serving the US Military for over 70 years, it is only out-lived by another Browning design, the Colt 1911. Several generations of fighting men and women all over the world have used the simple and effective design in all climes of combat. Though there have been several medium machine gun designs that have come and gone, the M2 proves that “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude, and has remained the main HMG in US inventory. It is hard to believe that the same gun mounted on Shermans during WWII also serves on the Stryker and Abrams today.

Zvezda is one of the myriad of injection molding companies that emerged in Eastern Europe after the Soviet block fell apart. At first, they used old, re-cycled molds from other companies such as Frog, etc, but now they are doing their own molding and, at least in this instance, doing it very well.

A couple of years ago, Italeri introduced a line of simplified 1/72 scale kits to be used in a war game that they designed. Now, included in this box is a sample card used in the game. While in Cyrillic and, at least to me, un-readable, it appears to show the unit's movement abilities and limitations. It would be interesting to see the entire game. The models for Zvezda's game are in 1/100 scale and are of the no-glue variety. They are not really snap fit, but rather pressure fit, as there are no locking mechanisms. However, their system works quite well.

The Aircraft

The Su-30 is a two-seat version of the Su-27. The mission is long-range all-weather strike fighter. Think F-15E vsx F-15C in the US inventory. The MKK is currently operated by the Peoples Republic of China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Venezuela. There’s going to be a wonderful aftermarket decal sheet for this kit!

There’s also a newer version, the Su-30MK2, which has maritime strike capability added.

There’s also a suspiciously similar aircraft called the J-16. China claims this is all-Chinese technology, but the Russians aren’t so sure.

The Kit

When I opened the box, I was impressed with how well Trumpeter had packed the parts. The fuselage halves (top and bottom) had a rubber ring holding them together, a piece of foam protecting the rear “stinger,” and sprues around the wingtips to prevent damage during shipment. Also, several of the delicate parts were wrapped in the foam, including the clear parts.