This is interesting: http://www.dragonmodelsusa.com/dmlusa/prodd.asp?pid=ZVE6257 I know Dragon's 1/72 PAK 40 is a better kit, but the figures are a useful addition to Dragon's for a more complete gun crew. And the Zvezda kits are not expensive if you just want to use the figs. These Zvezda figs (styrene) are not bad - not as good as Dragon's, but not bad!

I have one on the way. I've seen photos of the kit sprues. The wheels will need to be replaced as well as the barrel. The wheels are nothing like what the Pak 40 had and the barrel looks like a squeezed 37 75 barrel. I will do a build blog on the kit once I get it.
Cheers
Charlie

The Zvezda figures and probably the PaK 40 are a form of DS plastic. I’ve reviewed both Zvezda figure sets and the Dragon PaK 40 in the past. With the Dragon offering you get five crewmen but only three with the Zvezda. Plus, the Dragon are full hard styrene and you get a choice of barrels for the PaK 40. Here’s the review of the Dragon PaK Dtagon PaK 40 Review The gun's build:
Pak 40 Build

Cheers,
Jan

I've been buying 1/35 Zvezda trucks, motorcycles, mortar teams , a SU-100 ..their stuff is ok, not amazing but fun. I like their trucks.

YOU can find a review here:

http://modelcrafters.net/kit-reviews/zvezda-172-pak-40-with-crew-kit-6257

WHile I like the poses offered by Zvezda in 1/72, I really don't like the plastic that is next to impossible to work with for simple modifications/ scratch buidling... ALso, IMHO I always find the heads & helmets to be huge. They don't work well with other better figs in that scale like Preiser & Dragon...

I haven't had any problems modifying the plastic that
Zvezda uses. Despite the kits drawbacks, I'm still looking forward to the kit. Also remember, Dragon's Pak 40 suffers the problem of all 3 barrels being in the recoil position so, their Pak 40 requires surgery to relocate the barrel to the front of it's cradle. This was especially required if Dragon's Pak 40 was displayed being towed. I wonder if a Freankenbash can be done with the Zvezda Pak 40 and Dragon's Pak 40.
Cheers
Charlie

I know the gun is most likely a piece of crap compared to Dragon's,and is meant for small unit war-gaming, but it's the figures that are useful. I have several sets of Zvezda's 4 - 5 figure figure sets and they are MUCH better than soft plastic equivalents (Airfix, Italeri/Revell, etc.). Zvezda also make soft plastic figure sets and these should not be confused with them. Anyway...just mentioning the fact that there are some useful 1/72 figures for dio's, etc.

I also have several of Zvezda's figure sets and I really like them. I also have some of PLastic Soldier Company figures and Their's (Plastic Soldier Company)really aren't that great even though they are hard plastic. I really don't like figures that have arms molded as part of the torso. Here is to hoping that Zvezda decides to release their 25 pdr.

Cheers
Charlie

Hi, I got mine last night, and they are nice, and made of hard plastic. It is missing any spare shells, as there is only one in the loaders hands.
the same goes for their Zis-3 76mm antitank gun.

Cheers, Beers & Young Deers.

I mine earlier this past week and have already built the Zis-3. The Pak 40 has some issues, mainly the barrel and wheels. The barrel looks like a 75/37 squeeze barrel as it gets really narrow and the muzzle break and the wheels are lacking hub details and the wheels look nothing like the wheels for a Pak 40. Barrel will need to be replaced with a RB Models Pak 40 barrel and the wheels will need to be replaced with wheels from either the Dragon Pak 40 or aftermarket wheels. The kit is very nicely detailed overall and I'm pleased with the kit.
Cheers
Charlie

The Pak 40 in the ESCI German Weapons Set #8350 is the only Pak 40 with the distinction of having the gun molded together with the cradle in the full recoil position. This is not the case with the 72nd scale Dragon, Roden, or Zvezda offerings. The Dragon Pak 40 that Jan ‘tread_geek’ reviewed here on Armorama is testimony of this, one need only to view the provided excellent review scans of the parts trees to see that the barrels and cradle come as separate parts .

In MHO to date the Dragon offering sets the benchmark in quality, detail and scale for the Pak 40 and the provided figures are also in a class of their own. No ‘Freankenbash’ required here! However, I am in agreement with Leo in that the Zvezda gun crew can easily compliment the Dragon gun crew.

Jan’s links provided in an earlier post are not working so I’ve gone ahead and placed the links to his review and 3 page build log here if anyone is interested: Dragon Pak 40 Review and Pak 40 Build

~ Eddy

Please don't misinterpret this as denigrating anything anyone has said in this post, but can someone explain what is meant in the kit description when it says "No glue required"?

I have not built a snap-together kit in at least 40 years, but I remember them well enough to know that they were engineered with simplicity in mind. That being the case, I'm surprised to see a lot of discussion of the kit's details and plastic composition. Have snap-together kits changed that significantly in 40 years, or am I mistaking Zvezda's meaning?

These Zvezda sets are produced specifically for war-gaming, complete with rules and points calculations (however that works). They are made so that the average gamer can take them out of the box, cut the parts off the sprues, and easily assemble without the need of glue (painting will be required). The parts assemble pretty well without glue - just press them together and they fit well. The heavy equipment (artillery, etc) is usually low in detail (being for gaming), but the individual figures are decent enough. Even the mortar's and MG's/crews are relatively well done. And no annoying flash!

Hi Biggles,
I agree that Dragon offers the better Pak 40, but I disagree that the Zvezda Pak 40 is crap:
http://www.onthewaymodels.com/reviews/Zvezda/RHael_Zvezda_6257.htm
HTH
Rob

Preiser make a 3 figure set of SS troops manning the Pak 40, and they're better than the Zvezda figs, and posed more realistically than the Dragon ones. I was a bit abrupt calling the Zvezda gun "a piece of crap", but it's specifically for war gaming and is accordingly detailed. As for snap together - it's exactly that. I recently bought one of Zvezda's latest sets of Luftwaffe ground crew (some of which can be used as Panzer troops) rolling fuel drums, carrying jerry cans, etc, and they are engineered so well that they snap together perfectly, no glue required (if preferred), and barely any visible joint.