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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

V is for Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) Part 5; Tracked Metal

The complete range of MAB Mobile badged military vehicles, to which can be added the BTR 50P, which follows the same construction layout of die-cast main castings with plastic for the wheels, add-ons and more technical castings. Mild steel wire is used for axles and the elevation mechanism of the FROG 4 (Free [-flight] Rocket, Over [the] Ground, 4th identified variant. NATO designation).

This sheet of transfers comes in every box of late production, with various markings for Warsaw Pack forces. The problem being the roundels were usually only used on parade - so no good for war gaming, while the two tactical numbers were the same for every set!!

The FROG 4 has various angles of elevation cased by little bumps in the moulding, a slight knock and it would fold down for a quick getaway!

This is a nice model, the detailing is fine, and unless you are a rivet-counting purist worried about the position of every little detail and hatch hinge, as good as anything Dinky, Corgi or Matchbox produced, simply by dint of having a thin matt coat rather than the multiple layers of two-pack gloss most Western die-casters would employ.

It is however - as hinted at above - closer to 1:76 than true HO/1:87th scale.

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