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Author Topic: 10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions  (Read 1660 times)

Offline mrcleh

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 84
10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions
« on: September 21, 2020, 06:09:09 PM »
Hi everyone,

first let me provide a bit of context:

I had an interest in Cold-War-Gone-Hot scenarios for a good couple years now. After an aborted attempt at playing Team Yankee in 6mm some years ago my interested was rekindled after hearing a lot of good things about the "Seven Days to River Rhine" rules and the prospect of the Battlegroup NORTHAG being released a while back.

As for miniatures and scale I was torn between doing 6mm or something I haven't done before, namely 10mm. I decided on the latter and after a bit of research identified a couple of manufacturers, among them of course PSC and their 10mm range released in support of Battlegroup NORTHAG.

So today on the way home from work I stopped by the FLGS and picked up two boxes:

1. Soviet Motorised Rifle Company
2. Soviet T-80 Tank Company

I knew in advance that the infantry is a scaled-down version of their 15mm infantry released in hard plastic a while ago, which judging from pictures look quiet good.

I also knew in advance that the material used for their 10mm miniatures is called "Ultracast" and that it is some kind of flexible resin/plastic type material.

So with that in mind I went home and opened the boxes.

Here is my first impression:

Soviet Motorised Infantry:



Here's my first sample. 3 guys with AKs and an RPG.

You get 108 guys in the box, which is at first glance really good value I think. There is a good selection of poses, your basic AK-wielding guys, RPGs, Strelas, ATGMs and AGLs.

That being said this Ultracast-stuff reminds me a little of the material the plastic soldiers of my childhood were made of. It really is very flexible. The detail is good in some places, while in others it looks really soft and blurred. Furthermore the properties of the material make clean-up way more involved as with hard plastic or even metal alloys. There is flash in some places and basically every miniature has prominent mold lines. Scraping these off requires an extremly sharp blade. Filing these away isn't really an option, as it only serves to create a fuzzy kind of line where the mold line is, instead of removing it. I think factoring in the time needed for that kind of cleanup diminishes the good value a little, but I'll preserve the final judgement on that till I am actually done.

As for the claim that no priming is needed with this kind of material I'll be sure to try it.

That being said I think that even while clean-up will be a nightmare I think they will paint up nicely and I'll be sure to keep this thread up to date.

Now on the the second box!

Soviet T-80 Company:





The second box I bought is the T-80 company. You get 10 tanks in the box, which again is way cheaper than going with miniatures made from metal in this scale. Then again what I wrote about ULTRACAST before holds true here. The tanks require some cleanup, but due to the size of the models that process is easier than with the infantry. Each tank consists of just a few parts: Hull, turret, tracks and the external fuel tanks (not yet attached in my pictures). What concerns me is the flexibility of the barrels: Most aren't straight out of the box and so far I had no luck changing that, not even by applying heat. I'll try some more. :D
As with the infantry detail is good in places while soft in others. What I am really missing is the smoke launchers, which their T-64 model apparently has. But that is a small niggle. Considering the price I think the detail is okay and I suspect the tanks will paint up well enough.

But there is something that really irks me with this box:

This is the box art:



Notice anything? Yeah, the tanks in the box don't look very much like the tanks on the box. After opening the box I thought it was packed wrong - with T-64s. Granted, the early T-80 models look rather like T-64s at first glance, but the box art shows what to me looks more like later model T-80s, maybe T-80BVs considering the ERA present on the box art. I am no expert here, but the models in the box look more like T-80Bs, which would make sense considering the timeframe of Battlegroup NORTHAG.

After a bit of research I found out that the T-80s on the box look like the T-80 model from Miniature Figurines?
Well, maybe I am missing something here or I am being a pain, but I was pretty bummed out that the models in the box didn't look like the model on the box. Considering the box art even is a photo of actual models I find this a little misleading. :(

So in conclusion:

My first impression with Ultracast is so-so. On the one hand the price of the miniatures is really good, but as far as value is concerned it remains to be seen in how far the cleanup process diminishes it. Detail is okay, while obviously not as detailed as hard plastic or even some lead miniatures. From a business point of view it might make sense to go this way, as I know hard plastic is a huge investment that might never pay off in this niche.

As far as my experience with the T-80 box art/model discrepancy - That is my biggest complaint, but hopefully I can get some clarification on that one.

I hope my first impression didn't come off too negative, I just think that there is some room for improvement as far as casting quality and box art ( :D) is concerned. That being said I am looking forward to finding out how these guys paint up!
« Last Edit: September 21, 2020, 06:27:34 PM by mrcleh »

Offline fred

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 4360
    • Miniature Gaming
Re: 10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2020, 08:28:07 PM »
Useful review particularly on the ultra cast. For the infantry, it may be that metal is a better option, from Pendraken you would be looking at about £20 for that many figures.

For vehicles there is a big price difference, with 10 modern tanks from Pendraken at £35 to £45 depending on model, and other than the barrels ultracast seems ok for tanks.

I think you may have got a mis-pack - as your tanks look very much like the box art for the T64. So well worth getting in touch with PSC.

Offline Jemima Fawr

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1733
    • Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog
Re: 10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2020, 09:02:26 PM »
PSC do have some form for misleading box-art.  Their Churchill box-art features a Mk VII Churchill, which regrettably happens to be one of the few marks of Churchill that aren't included in the box...  ::)
Suffering from insomnia?  Too much excitement in your life?  Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog might be just the solution you've been looking for: www.jemimafawr.co.uk

Offline mrcleh

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 84
Re: 10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2020, 05:56:58 AM »
@fred:

Thanks for the insight! Does Pendraken do modern Soviet infantry? I couldn't find any on their webstore.

As for a probable mis-pack: After some more research I am negative on that one. There exist unboxing videos of the Soviet starter force which contains T-64s on youtube - The tracks and turret of the T-64 are different from the models I got, plus there is a faint marking on the bottom of the hull that says "T-80". So my models are correctly packed, they just aren't the models shown on the box. :(

@Jemima Fawr:

I can see how that is misleading, but at least the box art for the Churchill is an artists rendition, not a photo of actual models. Small consolation I know, but I think it makes at least a small difference.

Offline Mako

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 779
Re: 10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2020, 07:22:02 AM »
Thanks for posting, and the review.

On the barrels, the BG Northag Facebook Group members suggest using very hot water to soften the gun barrels, and then to straighten them by gloved hands, or with pliers, so you don't get burned.  Apparently, near boiling temps is best.

Once straightened, if that occurs, then plunge into cold or room temperature water to set it.  Don't know if that really works, but people seem to think so.  Redo again, as needed.

Yea, the details on some of these can be rather soft, and/or almost missing, which is a shame.  Hopefully the next batch they produce will have detailing that is a little more pronounced, like on their BMP-1s front hull top.

A shame about the infantry, but you do get a lot for you money, both with them, and the vehicles, so that is a plus.

Can't wait for Americans and West Germans to be released.  Would also like to see BTR-70s, BTR-80s, BMP-2s, BMDs, 2S1, 2S3, etc., etc., released as well.

Pendraken don't currently produce any Cold War infantry for this period yet, but supposedly we may get some stuff later in the year from them for that, and/or possibly early next year.  I'm hoping by Christmas.

They do produce Falklands era Brits and Argies (you can use the latter for West Germans if you squint and pretend - would like to see a prone MG3 gunner though), and there are just a few Americans from Vietnam, for the earlier period.  Korean and/or WWII American GIs can be used for Danes, and early West Germans perhaps too, in a pinch, though hopefully we'll get some proper ones soon.

Offline Ultravanillasmurf

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 9307
    • Ultravanillasmurf
Re: 10mm PSC Cold War Soviets first impressions
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2020, 08:37:38 AM »
Thanks for the review.

I was disappointed when I heard the models were not going to be injection moulded polystyrene (or even ABS).

I was looking forward to a complete range in plastic (with maybe the odd items in resin/metal), but these do not appeal

Ho hum.

 

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