introduction

ET Model has just released a series of different Bastion barriers in PE, three different sizes to be exact. All 3 are similar in materials and assembly steps, so this review will cover them all.

The HESCO bastion is both a modern gabion used for flood control and military fortification and the name of the British company that developed it in the late 1980s. It is made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy duty fabric liner, and used as a temporary to semi-permanent dike or barrier against blasts or small-arms. It has seen considerable use in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, the brand name for the barrier is 'Concertainer', with 'HESCO Bastion' being the British company that produces it, though the barrier itself is quite generally referred to as a HESCO Bastion, or simply "Hesco".

Originally designed for use on beaches and marshes for erosion and flood control, the HESCO Bastion quickly became a popular security device in the 1990. Hesco barriers continue to be used for their original purpose.

Filled with sand, 60 centimeters (24 inches) of barrier thickness will stop rifle bullets, shell fragments and other shrapnel. Approximately 1.2 meters (four feet) of thickness provides protection against most car bombs. It takes 1.5 meters (five feet) of thickness to prevent penetration by a rocket-propelled grenade round. In addition, HESCO bastions are even more effective than sandbags against water, which will not compromise the competence of the latter.

To date, only resin Bastion barriers were present on the market from different suppliers, quite expensive due to the quantity of resins and also very similar in terms of final top cover due to mold cost.

ET Model tackles the problem of prize and customization by releasing these different sets of bastion barrier.

the sets

Containing PE frets and light brown paper, 4 similar Bastions can be constructed per kit.
From my knowledge, this is the finest PE job I ever seen. The mesh is really well represented. The heavy duty fabric is represented with light brown paper. To obtain a better rendition I recommend using tissue paper (one layer) soaked with PVA glue and applied directly inside the cube. For filling, and due to the weight issue, I will also recommend to fill up the bastion with PS foam and glue sand, rocks and debris on a the upper layer. Try to differentiate each of the barriers by using different rubble and add some foot marks on top of them.

Each corner of the cubes have coil wire to assemble each barrier together. ET Model provides some PE bars to do this job, unfortunately these are square shaped and should be round. It will be better to use small copper wire to do the job.

I would like to also draw your attention to the fact that these kits can be a good source of PE to reproduce QinetiQ mesh as RPG protective slat as seen on various NATO vehicles.

conclusion

These kits are a really great release from ET Model and can be used for diorama purposes, and to improve the look of different vehicles.