With the start of the civil war and the loss of much of the army, the Spanish government and other republican forces scrambled for any war material they could find. One result was many projects to turn existing agricultural and civilian vehicles into armoured fighting vehicles. One such was this peculiar vehicle, built in Barcelona in 1936. Looking like nothing so much as a hippopotamus on six wheels, many of these designs fared badly in actual combat.

All the figures in this set have seen the light of day before. Two of the figures were previously to be found in MIR's Russian Berlin 1945 set and the third was in the set of French Resistance WWII. Therefore our previous comments on those two sets apply here also, although at least the figures could fit into a Spanish Civil War scenario (although the prone Russian is pushing it rather).

The armoured car is simplicity itself - just one piece plus the two sets of wheels. Judging by the various photographs of this strange beast it is reasonably accurate too, although the little door at the rear would be a challenge to anyone taller than a midget (which may also have been the case on the real thing). From the box art it is clear that the sculptor has not duplicated the curve of the bonnet very well, making it much nearer square than it actually was. However, how many people will ever know? This is one vehicle whose unusual lines make a one-piece model like this practical, and the result is not too bad.

The set comes with a nice collection of 1/72 scale paper posters and flags appropriate for the civil war. The figures in this set are pretty much useless, but the car would certainly make an eye-catching addition to any Civil War model collection.