Many of the game pieces produced by Zvezda for their Art of Tactic game system essentially repeat figure sets or kits that have been done before, which is reasonable since these are specifically for the game. The ZiS-3 is one of these, as it has been done several times before in 1/72 plastic, notably by Italeri and Plastic Soldier. In both cases the gun was considerably simplified to make assembly quick and easy, and for many this would be fine, but the gun in this Zvezda set is a lot more complicated. With 21 parts, the gun is a much more sophisticated kit, but the results look good and seem perfectly accurate to our eye. Everything goes together effortlessly and without the need for glue apart from the parts at the end of the trails to lock them together during transport. The trails can swing just like the real thing, and the barrel can also pivot, so this is a great little model with good detail on areas like the shield and fun to put together.

The three crew figures are all very appropriate; the first pictured man is operating the gun, the second is about to feed a shell into the breach and the third is observing with a pair of binoculars. All wear the standard boots, breeches and gymnastiorka plus the steel helmet. One point worthy of note is they all have shoulder boards, which means the uniform is 1943 or later, when these were reintroduced. The ZiS-3 was first in production in 1942, so while not suitable for the early months of this gun’s history, they are fine for most of it. They have some assembly, but the poses are great and like the gun everything fits well.

This gun was a very important element of the Red Army during World War II and its place in the Art of Tactic range is obvious. Although I has been done before, this is a particularly highly-detailed model compared to the rest, and the crew, although only three in number, are also better. When put together on the provided base (the figures do not have individual bases) the result looks great, so this is a really nice product all round.