Gloster’s elegant Gladiator biplane was a staple of the British Air Force through the 1930’s and soldiered on through some of the tougher early campaigns of the Second World War in such places as Egypt, Libya and the Maltese Islands. Battling against often superior and newer opponents, it nonetheless distinguished itself before itself being replaced by newer, faster, and more heavily armed aircraft. It also made its presence known in a number of foreign services including Finland, Greece and the Netherlands.

ICM has released a number of variants of the Gladiator, including both Mk. I and Mk. II versions as well as the Sea Gladiator with arresting hook. All of these have proven to be thoroughly enjoyable builds and really do a fine job of representing this noble little aircraft in 1/32^nd scale. This combo set features the Mk. I only and does not include parts for either the Mk. II or Sea Gladiator.

ICM continues to please with their latest figure offering – three French tank crewmen showing off their pride and joy to a couple of typically bedazzled kids. Not surprisingly, the sculpting is first-rate, with distinctive character to every face. As the figures don’t come with a lot of equipment, assembly is very straight-forward with no real glitches. A wee bit of putty here and there is definitely called for, especially around the officer’s coat tails.

Although the box art shows them gathering around ICM’s new FCM-36 French tank, the seated tanker can fit into almost any French tank. The standing figures, of course, are appropriate for just about any vignette you can think of.

The Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) is a 30-ton armored tracked combat vehicle with a 105 mm cannon based on the running gear and hull of the Marder Infantry Vehicle. It has been designed considering the constrains of roads, bridges and terrain of Argentina. It was designed as a joint effort of Thyssen-Henschel and TAMSE (an Argentinean company specially created to build the TAM). The hull has been adapted into a whole family of vehicles, including APC, mortar carrier and even a 155 mm SPG on an elongated hull.

Dukel Hobbies, from Buenos Aires, is a large retailer that caters to the hobbyist in Argentina. Recently they started dipping their toes into the manufacturing business, with the TAM (Tanque Argentino Mediano) in 1/35 scale and their upcoming Pucara aircraft in 1/48 scale. They also host a YouTube Channel with tutorials including a 4-part series as to how to build this kit and others (in Spanish only).