¹⁄35

Passing Through '42

Figures and Vehicles

The Supply Wagon and a few of the soldiers located in the left rear of the column came from a large "ready diorama" kit produced by the Russian firm, ICM. The small ammo tender is another nice kit from DML, and while the horses were a bit on the small side, the overall value and detail were excellent.

On the other hand, the ICM figures which came with the kit (actually now licensed from Zvezda of Russia by Revell Monogram and several other firms) are plain, full of sinkholes and numerous other flaws. The detail of the faces and hands particularly required quite a bit of work, as did the fit and mold seam cleanup. While the poses were nice, and there were a good many tools and weapons included, I rate the figures as marginal. I spent a great deal of time sanding, filling, scraping and adding detail to these figures, and in the end only used a few of them in this diorama.

Compare them with the six wonderful walking figures from Dragon/DML located on the bridge and the lower section of the road, and you will see a drastic difference in the level of detail and execution. Dragon/DML's 6xxx series of 1:35 figures come quite close to matching the level of detail and quality of resin pieces that are far more expensive. For this reason, I used the ICM figures only in a small remote area, and placed the DML figures in the more prominent central and front areas of the line.

I did add in a few figures from a different set of Revell-Monograms new 1:35 scale figures. While these figures from the 'Resting Soldiers' series (seated officer, and several of the sitting soldiers) are far nicer than the ICM pieces, they required a bit more work than the DML figures. You get the picture... I'm a HUGE fan of the DML series!

The only resin figures used in the scene are the soldier leading the horse, and the officer standing near the windmill with his hands on his hips.