Scales: various
More 3D-printed items this month from the team at FC Modeltrend. The output of this Spanish company is prodigious, to say the least, and they offer a wide range of detail parts, figures and, latterly, complete kits. The four items reviewed this month cover all those bases in a variety of scales. First, we have T-72B Destroyed B (ref. 72500). This 1/72-scale model – I hesitate to say kit as there is no assembly required – is one of a series of releases showing destroyed Russian vehicles from the current war in Ukraine. They are designed using the technique of photogrammetry, that is the scanning of objects to make 3D models from them. I’m not sure whether these are based on scans of actual wrecked AFVs in Ukraine, but there are incredibly detailed. They are really an exercise in painting for the modeller as the only preparation that is needed is to remove the very many printing supports. These are a necessary evil in a print as complicated and detailed as this, but the result is worth the effort. The tank comes on an integrally printed base, as do all these 1/72-scale models of destroyed AFVs. Moving to 1/35 scale we have set of Unimog S404 Weighted Wheels (ref. 37117) for the excellent recent ICM kit. These will fit any of the ICM kits without issue and look to be excellently printed and finely detailed, with only a minimum of clean-up required. Also, for the Unimog we have Unimog S404 Crew 60s (ref. 37122). This is a nicely posed set and, of course, the benefit of 3D-designed and printed figures is that anatomically they are spot on. This had an integrally designed steering wheel, which is a very welcome touch. As with many of FC Modeltrend’s figures, the detail is a little softer than you might expect from a more traditionally designed resin figure. These are, however, the only suitable 1960s Bundeswehr figures on the market and if you need someone to drive your Unimog you need look no further! Finally, and keeping with the Bundeswehr theme, we have six 1/16-scale Bundeswehr Beret Heads (ref. 16519). As far as I know, the only large-scale Bundeswehr figure comes with the Takom Wiesel, but these will make an excellent addition to that. The facial expressions are all different and very well done. I particularly like the one barking orders! Our thanks to Federico at FC Modeltrend (www.fcmodeltrend.com) for the review samples this month.