Object 279 was a Soviet prototype tank designed in 1959 to be capable of operating on a nuclear-biological-chemical battlefield and even survive the blast wave from a nuclear weapon (from a distance, anyway). The tank had a bowl-shaped body to channel blast energy around itself. The vehicle carried a 130mm main gun capable of firing discarding sabot shells that could penetrate over 400mm of armor. The tank’s own armor was up to 319mm thick. The tank had four tracks to assist it in going over exceedingly rough terrain. In spite of its advantages, the tank was never put into production due to gearbox reliability issues and its inability to cross some bridges and move in swampy areas, due to its weight.

Kit

The kit comes with four parts trees, three parts trees for the individual track links, the upper and lower hull sections, a PE fret, a small length of copper wire for the tow cables, and the instruction booklet. Also, there is a print of the box art photo.

Background

The French Renault FT-17 can claim the distinction of setting the standard for tank design for the entire Twentieth Century. By the end of 1915, Jean Baptiste Estienne, General of Artillery and a specialist in military engineering, realized that artillery could be mounted on tracked armored vehicles. This vision led him to create the French tank arm. He is considered by many in France to be the Père des Chars (Father of the Tank). Some early companies approached by Estienne produced medium size tanks – the Schneider and the Saint Chamond. Estienne believed, however, that a light tank was needed, and approached Louis Renault in July, 1916, who then developed the FT-17. Innovative in its design, the FT-17 featured the first rotating turret, along with a rear engine compartment and front driver compartment, and only weighed around 7 tons. Early FT-17’s were armed with an 8mm Hotchkiss machine gun, and later designs carried the 37mm Puteaux canon.

While Meng does not have many kits on the market, they have quickly gained the respect of many modelers for the exquisite detail of their kits. They continue their trend of releasing very interesting, modern subjects. The High Mobility Vehicle, manufactured by the GAZ group of Russia, is a multi-purpose, diesel-powered patrol vehicle. It first premiered in 2001 and pilot production started in 2004. It serves in the Russian Army and paramilitary police units and has some customers around the world. The Tiger kit has seven sprues molded in green plastic, one decal sheet, clear parts, five tires, and the hull and chassis of the vehicle. Some customers have reported some problems with the rear door frame of the body being smashed in shipping. No problems here. The quality of the molding is outstanding with very little in the way of flash.

Introduced into active service in 1980, the M1 Abrams has served as the United States’ main battle tank for over 30 years, and will continue in that role for the foreseeable future. In production between 1986 and 1992, the M1A1 is an upgunned and upgraded version of the original M1, and has seen service in worldwide, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Revell introduces young modelers to this mainstay of modern American armored warfare in the form of a 1/35 scale SnapTite kit – and a fabulous introduction it is! Molded in tan plastic, its 56 pieces are well-detailed with crisp raised and recessed features, and are accompanied by 2 pre-joined black vinyl tracks – also nicely detailed. A sheet of stickers provides the vehicle’s markings.

Dragon Models has released their third incarnation of the German Sturminfanteriegeschutz 33 self-propelled heavy infantry gun in 1/35th scale. Based on the venerable Sturmgeschütz III chassis, this version of the sIG 33 mounted the improved 15cm infantry gun, offset to the right side, for which 30 rounds were carried. Fielded in 1942, the sIG 33 saw service on the Eastern front, notably in the breakout attempt at Stalingrad late in that year. Only one survived the war and is on display at the Kubinka NIIBT Research Collection in Russia.

Previously released as Dragon #6042 and Cyberhobby’s #9123, this Smart Kit release has been improved upon by the inclusion of two additional photo etch sheets and their wonderful DS track. The new track replaces the individual, clip-clean-and-glue track found in the earlier kits.