Over the relatively short time that MiniArt has existed, I have been consistently impressed by the imagination and daring of their figure releases. They have released wonderful civilians, troops and tank crews, often filling gaps no other manufacturer has been able to do. I’ve had wonderful results from their French and Italian tankers, and look forward to getting their Hungarian tank crew soon.

MiniArt has done it again with this current release, filling a void that has been in the armor field for quite awhile. On examining the contents of the box, you get five full figures, two of whom are in relatively typical light grey overalls, two in what can only be described as “pseudo-Russian” uniforms, and a single figure who really seems to exemplify the Finnish, with a mix of a Russian-style black leather jacket, Finnish riding pants and very local-looking boots.

The AIM-9 Sidewinder has been a mainstay of the US Air-to-Air arsenal since the 1950s. The AIM-9G/H was used extensively in the Vietnam War by US Navy. Most of the Navy kills during the war were with the AIM-9G. The later AIM-9H was a navalized version of the AIM-9G and had the highest kill ratio of the Vietnam War. The difference between the two missiles were all internal with the H having solid state electronics. The AIM-9H missiles were used well into the 1970s when they were superseded by the AIM-9L.

The CBU-105 Cluster Bomb Dispenser was an improved version of the unguided CBU-97. The primary change was the including of a GPS system and tail fins to more accurately place the weapon. This also allows the interior bombs, BLU-108 submunitions to rain down and destroy tanks, antiaircraft and more.

Eduard has produced a wonderfully detailed set of six resin cast CBU-105 bomb in this release. The set is cast in the standard Eduard gray resin. Prep work involved cutting the fins and the front bomb off the casting blocks, sanding smooth and then gluing together. One note, make sure you glue the rear fins on in the correct orientation- the drawings are excellent so follow them! I fixed any seams with putty smooth with lacquer thinner. This was then primed with Alclad gray primer.