In prowling the aisles at the '94 Cold Wars and Historicon conventions, we came across a number of new products for the World War II gamer. While almost every type of vehicle is available in the micro-armor scale, the pickings are much slimmer for those of us who game in 15 and 20 mm. Most of us are forced to use a mixture of 1/76 and 1/72 for 20 mm, and a variety of other scales for 15 mm. However, with the advent of reasonably priced resins, 20 mm vehicles are much more readily available. In 15 mm, Chuck Cook at Quality Castings continues to expand his line, adding vehicles, cavalry, and supporting items such as pillboxes.

One of Quality Castings' latest additions is the British Quad. Used throughout the war to tow equipment and weapons, the Quad is a ba sic component of a motorized unit. The vehicle is nicely detailed. The grill work on the engine can be seen and felt. The doors have hinges and handles. The windows are deeply recessed so they can be shad owed. Construction requires only the gluing of the under structure, front bumper, and four wheels. Two stubs at the back and one at the front guarantee that the understructure goes on properly, and the bumper attachment seemed obvious. The model had very little flash, but did require a bit of trimming. Most of Quality Castings' models have a little flash, but it is easily identified and trimmed. Quality Castings' models paint up nicely and look good together on the table top. Quality Castings offers a wide assortment of vehicles, infantry, and guns, including Japanese and late war Russians. Quality Castings' address is PO Box 11714, Alexandria, VA 22312.

Homefront Hobbies has expanded its offerings from plastic models and the resale of collections to include a line of resin-cast vehicles. Currently available are late war Russians and 1940 French vehicles. Our favorite set of vehicles is their ISU 122 and ISU 152 assault guns. The scale is 1/76. These are a little small if used against true 1/72 vehicles, but perfect against 1/76 and many of the smaller 1/72 scales. Russians loved assault guns and used them in great numbers. Among the most successful were the SU 152 and ISU series. For convenience, we use the ISU 152 as the SU 152, called the Conquering Beast, and no one notices the difference. The models only require the gluing of the treads and the barrel. While the detail may not be as great as that of plastic models, the resin vehicles do not seem to lack any significant detail and for game purposes are perfect. Another factor is that the resins, so far, seem to hold up well-better than our plastic models. The models have some flash; however, trimming the resin is very easy and quick. They paint up quickly and easily, especially using a black undercoat and a dry-brush topcoat. Pick out some of the details and the treads and the model is done. The address for Homefront Hobbies is 1738 E. Third Street # 175, Williamsport, PA 17701.

A true find at Historicon was a Russian Sturmovik IL-2 in 15mm scale, manufactured by SCHMID. This is the first model of a Stur movik that we have found. The IL-2 Type 3M ground attack aircraft was a flying tank. It carried bombs, rockets, cannons, and machine guns. When possible, the aircraft operated in groups of nine or more planes. They circled the battlefield, with one of their number con stantly diving on the enemy while the others circled looking for targets or gaining altitude after their attack run. The model is very clean with no discernible flash. The plane comes whole and needs only the rear wheel, antenna, and rear gun to be attached. The model was a little sticky from the manufacturing process, but we washed it in hot soapy water to clean it before painting. SCHMID also makes 15mm German and American gliders, a Ju-87 D-1 dive bomber, and G-1 ground attack aircraft. For 20 mm, SCHMID manufactures a German glider and the Ju-87 D-1 and G-1. In 11mm and 9mm, they have the Ju-87 D-1 dive bomber. The address for SCHMID is PO Box 384, Sewell, NJ 08080-0384.

One trend we have noticed is that some manufacturers of metal figures have increased their prices, in some cases by 33%, due to use of lead-free metals in their figures. A friend of ours conducted an informal little experiment. He cast the same figure using one pound of the old lead mixture and one pound of the new lead-free mixture. The lead-free mixture was about a dollar more per pound. However, he got almost twice as many figures from the new mixture. Since it contains no lead, the mixture is less dense and the same weight of metal yields a larger volume. We wonder why some of the new figures are costing us more when the Manufacturers' unit cost seems to actually be less. Perhaps someone can enlighten us all.