Vac-U-Cast

1/285 Armored Train

Reviewed by Bill Rutherford


This line of resin train cars comprises nine items at present, including a generic European flatcar, two boxcars (one with a brakeman's shed), an infantry gondola with concrete sides, a boxcar with a quad AA mount, a troop carrier, and an armored command car. There's also an armored Soviet locomotive, but as I've not seen this one, I'll limit my comments to the others.

Each car comes in two pieces - a superstructure and a chassis and all are well-detailed, with neat panel lines, axle springs, etc. I have no plans for any of them but they all match well against photos appearing in various armored train books. You need to supply your own AA gun for the AA car, but other than that, they all appear complete. The samples all had a bit of flash and displayed some pitting that you'll need to fill before painting - this is common to resin miniatures. A small dab of gap-filling cyanoacrylate glue applied to each pit, and carved down about 15 minutes after application will do the trick.

One car and a couple of chassis were a bit warped - also common to resin miniatures. Immersion in very hot water will allow you to gently straighten out the offending part with no harm. All in all, they are quite nice. Costing between $2 and $3 apiece, a train will run you between $15 and $20 (the locomotive, from the catalog, is $5.50). Well recommended to you Eastern Front gamers. Available from your FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store) or, failing that, directly from Vac-Cast Plastics, Inc., at PO Box 6310, Colorado Springs, CO 80934-6310. At the very least, write for their catalog, as it contains a number of reasonably priced bunkers and barricades in both l/76th and 1/285th scales, as well as a wide range of AFV conversions in the former scale.

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