Introduction:

Paracel Miniatures is a small family-run modeling company from Vietnam. After establishing a good foundation for the company by releasing post-apocalyptic miniatures, Paracel started producing 1/35 scale resin figures and accessories covering Vietnam War. This review describes their NVA Tank Stowage (AC0102), an accessory set suitable for… you guessed it, tanks in North Vietnamese Army service.

Review:

The set is packed in a sturdy cardboard box featuring a small box art image. The image displays a tank turret with all the stowage items from this set attached, also stating this set is designed for T54/T55 from Tamiya and Trumpeter. Inside the box is a zip-lock bag with 5 pieces molded in cream resin. The cast is good, and although there is some peculiar discoloration to the resin, I found no evidence of seam lines or air-bubbles under a coat of primer. The tank track segment on one of the pieces was slightly damaged in transport.

The set consists of various tank stowage items in 1/35 scale, cast together as several stowage bundles. All items are designed to portray stowage tied to the turret, with the pieces nicely conveying sense of heavy packs hanging down the turret sides. Other than couple of generic tarps and rolls, most of the stowage is NVA specific featuring standard NVA rucksacks with three small flapped cargo pockets fitted on each side and the back, Ho Chi Minh sandals, NVA canteens and veshmeshok-type sacks closed with tie-strings. One of the pieces depicts a military crossbody haversack, probably of East European origin.

The set does not include any kind of instructions on the placement of the pieces. I attached several photos from manufacturer’s website that could help in positioning the parts. Paracel designed this stowage set for T-54 and Type-59 from Trumpeter, but the company also claims the set can be used with T-55 from Tamiya. Although NVA did not use T-55s during the Vietnam War, this set could probably be utilized for later periods as well (i.e. Cambodian-Vietnamese War) when the T-55 was in service with Vietnam People’s Army. I dry-fitted the parts to Tamiya T-55 turret and found the pieces follow the turret contours nicely with some minor putty work needed. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on the fit to Trumpeter models as I don’t have any of those in my stash.

Conclusion:

Vietnam War is a very interesting subject for modelers, but majority of companies offer US troops and armor, with North Vietnamese subjects poorly represented in 1/35 scale. Paracel Miniatures decided to fill this gap, and with their NVA tank crew and NVA tank stowage they are definitely on the right track…

NVA Tank Stowage is a nicely cast set offering a specific North Vietnamese touch to all the different T-type tanks in 1/35 scale. If you are interested in making a NVA tank in this scale, I would strongly suggest getting this set, as well as Paracels NVA tank crew reviewed here (link).