If you’re interested in Latin American subjects, or simply fancy something different, Star Decals has released sets for Nicuraguan military vehicles.
It’s easy to stick with the same themes for your modelling, but looking ‘outside of the box’ can often lead to very different build projects. A great case in point is the two new 1/35 items from Star Decals, offering a wealth of schemes for vehicles operated in Nicuragua from 1925 to the 1980s. The first package, La Guardia/Guardia Nacional 1925-1979 (35-C 1340), provides markings for the following machines:
• Ansaldo CV.33, PBB-01, Primero Batalión Blindado, 1970
• Sherman M4A3E8 105mm, PBB 012, Primero Batalión Blindado, July 5, 1979
• Sherman M4A3E8 105mm, PBB 011/PB 013, Primero Batalión Blindado, September 1978
• Staghound Mk.I, GN 32, Primero Batalión Blindado, 1950s
• Staghound Mk.I, PBB 08G, Primero Batalión Blindado, 1970s
• Staghound Mk.I, PBB 021, Primero Batalión Blindado, 1964
• Staghound Mk.I turretless command car, PBB 155, Escuela de Entrenamiento Basico de Infanteria, 1978-79
• Staghound Mk.I, PBB 124, Primero Batalión Blindado, 1979 (note that five other Staghound serials are supplied)
• Dodge M37 truck, CMT/1395, commando unit, 1979
• Dodge M37 truck, CT-61M, Guardia Nacional, 1979
Yet more Staghounds and Soviet-built armour is provided by set 35-C 1341, Sandanista guerrilla and post 1979 revolution army
• Staghound Mk.I, PBB 124/FSLN (Frente Sandanista de Liberación Nacional), 1979
• Staghound Mk.I, PBB 105/PSN (Partido Socialista Nicuraguense), 1979
• Staghound Mk.I, FSLN, Managua, July 19, 1979
• BTR-60PB, 704, Ejército Popular Sandanista, Managua, November 1986
• BRDM-2, 515, Ejército Popular Sandanista, Managua, November 1986 (also vehicles 516 and 517)
All the vehicles are shown via colour profiles, and front/rear views, and red and black FSLN flags can be employed by cutting out the examples printed on the instructions. Many of the decals are white and yellow but appear to have good opacity, although the carrier film is matt, so the decals should be applied over several coats of gloss varnish to prevent silvering. Or, you could trim them with the superb new micro-knife available from Tyrell Models. Each sheet costs $9 direct from Star Decals.
If you need reference material on the wider subject, Helion & Company has published the following books in its Latin America@War series:
• Nicaragua 1961-1990 Volume 1 – The Downfall of the Somosa Dictatorship
• Nicaragua 1961-1990 Volume 2 – The Contra War
