THE RISE OF CHINA

Brigademodels.co.uk £8

Brigade Models have some new 15mm vehicles for their‘soon to be revamped’

SF Chinese range. They are – specifically – models for the Han Chinese faction in their Hammer’s Slammers line (so they caught my eye) and the two vehicles so far released are to be supported by at least two further models and the whole range is to be replicated in 6mm.

The vehicles they have sent initial samples of are the ZTZ-81 Laser Tank and the ZSL94 APC. Both are in resin and with separate turrets in white metal: the tank has a larger one with a small rear facing secondary turret whilst the APC has a smaller gun with an additional missile pack. Each has an interesting,‘cold war’sloped armour feel to it, and comes mounted on eight, resin ‘balloon’tyres (for mobility).

Although both of the bodies are cast as one piece resin components, as I would expect, the wheels – rather than being eight, individual metal wheels (as is usually the case with the Brigade ranges) – are, instead, cast as a‘mono-block’of four wheels per-side, complete with the side armour areas. There is one downside to this, I guess: individual wheel painting is no longer an option (and – if you want to do that with a mask and an airbrush – good luck...) but the up-sides outweighs that in many ways. For a start, they are much, much easier to assemble and line up without getting a‘wonky wheel or two; plus they are more robust (no “I’ve lost a wheel in my carry box” conundrums) and, frankly, they save weight (and manufacturing and postage costs for Brigade). A win-win, I’d say. Recommended.