Zvezda

German MG-34 Machine-Gun
with crew 1941-1945 Winter

While primarily aimed at the wargaming community (witnessed by the base with oversized banner, the wargaming stats on the back of the box and on the playing card inside), these figures can be used for static display without reservation.
Inside the small end opening box are two sprues of fairly hard grey plastic. This contains the parts to assemble three figures. A large part of the sprues is taken up by a base plate, a wall and a banner.

The instructions are simple and for most experienced modelers overkill. The figures are very well molded with little flash and excellent detail overall, except perhaps for the ammo belts. The MG itself is rather nice.

While the figures might be built by snapping the parts together, glue really is needed to get a convincing fit, whatever the boxtop might claim. Even then, some filling might be needed, based on my experience with other Zvezda figure sets.
I am always wary when buying plastic figures, as most manufacturers use some ungluable vinyl. While the plastic used here is softer than some styrene, it does react very well to glues like MEK. I really mean VERY well, so be careful as the plastic will soften immediately. This is good to get a convincing joint, but it might also mar the detail. Removing the seams with a sharp scalpel is no problem (for as much as removal is needed) and sanding goes smoothly as well.

Talking about joints, the way the parts are engineered will give you a joint right across some delicate detail, so care is called for when applying glue and some rescribing might be in order.

Review sample purchased by the author.

Zvezda kits can be purchased from

Article Last Updated: 24 September 2015