Zvezda are a Russian manufacturer who aren’t the best known of 1/35 scale plastic kit manufacturers but they have quite a few interesting subjects in their line-up and this kit of four Russian Cossacks on horseback is one of the more unusual and interesting kits. Dragon also make a couple of Cossack sets but theirs are German or Don Cossacks where this set represents the more usual Cossacks fighting on the side of Russia.
This kit depicts four Cossacks, all on horseback and comes in a medium sized tray and lid style box on two large sized, and four smaller sized light grey sprues. The two large sprues hold the horses and the four smaller ones each hold one of the riders. Each sprue is a double up so there are two different horses and two different figures which are each duplicated to give you the four figures and four horse. The sprues come unbagged and lose in the box which is one of Zvezda’s failings as this can result in pices coming lose or being broken.
The quality of the mouldings is good with just the slightest bit of flash, and the usual mould seams that come on every injection moulded plastic kit. The sharpness of the detail is on a par with the older Dragon kits, being adequate but just a little soft, and a little understated in some areas, particularly the folds and creases in the clothing being a bit heavy, and needing sharper definition where the coat skirts fall across the legs. Unlike the older Dragon kits though the faces are very well done with nicely moulded facial hair, sharp detail and good expressions.
The horses come as two halves with searate heads, ears, and tails. As mentioned they are on duplicate spriues but they have been designed so that the halves can be mixed and matched to give you four individual poses. They are provided with bases to be attached to which is a handy feature even if you intend to eventually mount them to a diorama base. The bridles and harnesses are moulded on, as are the saddle blankets and saddles, though they do look quite good. Bags and bedrolls are provided to attach to the rear of them though you will need to attach your own straps for the bags, and likewise you will need to add your own stirrup straps to attach the very nicely made, very delicate stirrups.
The figures each come a sabre and scabbard, with one hand moulded to the sabre. Two also have the Cossack dagger, and all four have separate scarves designed to be positioned up as if flowing to show the figure is at speed, though they can be modelled less dramatically with a little modification. The faces are very well done with suitably aggressive expressions, and two include beards and moustaches moulded on, which do look very good. Two of the figures include a holstered pistol and a pair of binoculars, while the other two come with a Mosin Naggant M27 Cavalry Rifle which has a separate part for the bolt mechanism. The moulding around the barrel on the M27s is a little heavy with the barrel and cleaning rod merging into one oversized looking barrel so this is best thinned down with a small piece of stretched sprue added as a new cleaning rod end.
A large printed assembly instruction sheet is provided which also includes a guide to painting the Cossack uniforms and equipment, as well as different rank insignias.
Other than possibly the need for better definition in some of the clothing folds this is a very nice set. Although the horses and figures being doubled may seem a negative the way they have been designed to be able to be mixed and matched, coupled with the relatively low price of this kit makes up for this. This is an unusual subject and Zvezda are to be commended for filling this niche with a very worthwhile kit that builds up well straight from the box, and also offers huge potential for building upon.
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