Strelets-R

In the mid 1970s, when the modelling business had already flourished throughout the World, it was still in an embryonic stage in the USSR. That is not to say that the considerable number of collectors and gamers in the USSR had to confine themselves to only western-made products. Many products were produced locally, and were of decent quality, but the molds were mainly imported. For ideological reasons the range of these products was rather narrow, being exclusively Soviet war and civil planes, tanks, self-propelled artillery, AFV and transport vehicles. These 1/72 scale models were mainly one-piece metal-cast to facilitate mass production, which reduced their quality. No figures at all were produced in this scale, and collectors had to be content with imported figures, which were in short supply and expensive. The situation changed dramatically after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Many 1/72 scale figures from world-renown companies such as Airfix, Revell, Italeri and others appeared on the market. Zvezda, a Russian producer, also started production. Nevertheless, with all the advantages these companies have, their standard sets contain only between 8 and 15 poses, with a total of 48 - 50 figures per set. A feature that distinguishes Strelets*R from other companies in this area is the greater variety of poses in its sets. In their opinion, this allows collectors and gamers to better recreate battles and improve the realism of games. Their standard infantry set contains at least 45 different poses, and a mixed infantry/cavalry set at least 24 infantry and 6 mounted figures. Since they consider their products as complimentary to the products of the major brands, they are committed to improving their quality until they match the best of the major producers. Strelets*R was founded in 1998 to fill the gaps in the figure market that had previously had to be filled with conversions by collectors themselves. Initially production began in Russia, which is why their first set bears Russian symbols. Later production shifted to the Ukraine, hence the Ukrainian symbol.