Introduction

Even though almost every European country was involved in WWII, in the modeling world only mainstream subjects (mostly German) were covered until recently. Smaller countries were simply neglected. The past 2 years seemed to be a golden age of modeling, not only due to the number of kits that appeared on the market and increased quality by several manufacturers, but most importantly releases of kits that one never thought to see in plastic.

In the beginning of this year, Bronco announced the kit of the Hungarian 40/43M Zrinyi assault gun, it was unexpected, surprising and exciting. In September, I received the Bronco kit for a magazine article and I was impressed by the quality and detail level. Bronco models gave other manufacturers an example of how an accurate kit can be created when working in cooperation with Hungarian experts on WWII armor. The final model kit seems almost flawless after comparing the model to the surviving vehicle from the Kubinka museum; however, the shape of inner part of the mantlet looks not absolutely accurate. It is basically too flat (marked red on the image from SBS model website).

Luckily, very quickly the upgrade solution appeared from Hungarian company SBS model. This is their first product in 1/35 scale (they have a number of products in 1/48 and 1/72 for both airplanes and vehicles). Now, let’s look closer at their offering.

The Review

The set contains 2 parts in grey resin; both have excellent detail and require minimum clean-up. The material itself is quite soft, similar to the ones from Black Dog or the Bodi. Please note that these parts are accurate for a late type Zrinyi II (with mesh screens) but to replicate the prototype vehicles and some first production vehicles you have to modify the shape of the top right corner and relocate the bolts (marked with black ovals on the image). Just use Bronco’s original part as an example. Otherwise, it has correct bolt and nuts detail.

Since I got my set after I assembled the hull I had to make some surgery to remove the original parts. But even after that the fit was excellent and I am very happy that the mantlet was out before I started painting.

Conclusion

Excellent product for an accurate model of the Zrinyi II.