This is the second of the British infantry sets for the Zvezda Art of Tactic game range, and of course the machine gun chosen is the reliable and very highly regarded Vickers.

The type shown here is more appropriate for the early war as it has the corrugated barrel, but is a nice model, although sadly it is missing the condenser can and connecting pipe. Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that the artwork shows a shield, and one is included on the sprue (bottom of our picture), but this is an error and should be left off as we have done. As with the gun, so too the men are for the early years of the war. All have the full Mk. VI respirator, the short one-piece spade and the rolled gas cape, but other elements such as the properly done battledress and Mk. II helmets were seen throughout the war. The front of the box claims a period of 1939 to 1943, the back claims 1939 to 1945; The back is closer, although the look of these men would have been rare even by 1943.

As usual there are a lot of pieces to put together, but everything fitted well and needed no gluing. In reality a Vickers would need more than four men, but since most sets have just two or even one crewman, having four figures is a step up. The number 1 is firing the weapon while the number 2 is feeding it. A third man is observing the effect of the fire, while another brings up more ammunition. The poses are great (helped by the multi-part approach) and when placed together as they are intended to be, you get a really nice model. The level of detail is high, and the realism first class, so whether as a game piece or part of a wider model this is a very worthwhile product that will appeal to more than just gamers.