The full version 9K38 'Igla' surface-to-air missile came into service with the Soviet Army in the early 1980s, so is very suitable for the 'end of the cold war' era at which this set is aimed. Zvezda have chosen to use the proper Soviet name for the Russian title of this set, and to use both the US DoD designation 'SA-18' and the NATO 'Grouse' for the English one. Whatever you call it, it was widely used by many countries, sometimes in anger. The model here has been very nicely sculpted with plenty of detail, and everything looks perfect. This is helped by all these figures coming in several parts, so there is no excess plastic or flat poses, although it does mean some effort is required to put everything together. These are typical Zvezda however in that everything fits very snugly without the need for glue, although occasionally things can be a bit too snug and hard to fully press home.
The men all wear standard fatigues and the 6B5 body armour, so are completely authentic for the period. Again detail is very good and the sculpting superb, although a couple suffer a little from the fact that the main body has been moulded side-on to the mould, so the middle of the chest and back are a bit vague in detail where the mould cannot reach. Overall however the look is great, and there is certainly no flash or other imperfections.
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