A look at the newly available Luftwaffe Artillery Crew from Tamiya. This is the first time this set of figures has been released as a stand alone item.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

These look like they were sculpted by amateurs.

They're not amateurs, they're Tamiya!

tamiya just don't get it yet.

The proportions on the assembled figure look odd. Tamiya's old figures (like those from the original "88" kit in 1972) were sculpted to the proportions of a contemporary Japanese rather than European male, so they scale out to 5'5" or 5'6" tall, not impossible for one guy, but unusual for a whole gun crew. Looks like they were compensating for height on this guy, but didn't quite know how to do it. His legs seem enormously long, compared to the rest of him.
On the plus side, the newest Tamiya figures are being sculpted using scanned images of clothed, live models in period costume, so the results are really excellent. Their recent Japanese officer set is very impressive.

Hey Gerald, et al,

I think maybe part of the issue regarding leg length may be angle of my camera. That said, even straight on the proportions do seem just a bit off. The figure I stuck together (wouldn't really call it 'built'!) measures out at 5'11" from the soles of the boot to the top of the helmet, so a bit on the short side. I didn't give this set a percent grade, but if I did it would have been mid 70s or so.

Cheers,
Rick

The sprueshot seem to indicate that the propotions isn't that bad though. But what with the pointing? The German Army was not involved in a 5 year long game of "I spy with my little eye"...

This must certainly be the case with Tamiya's British WWl infantry set. Still a little small compared with ICM's set, but interestingly, the rifles are of similar length, but Tamiya's helmets are slightly smaller. Nevertheless, these Tamiya figs would mix well with ICM's and those from MB to make one large action scene...just need more late WWl Germans.

Weren't Europeans of that era smaller on average than today's?

Well, Hitler and Himmler certainly were!

Yes, but 5'8" or 5'9" was quite common--5'5" was still kind of short. Author James Jones once noted that in a World War Two American outfit, a six-foot tall man would always be nicknamed "Stretch" for his unusual size. The 1950's began the era of vitamin-fortified everything, and the Baby Boomers were generally taller than their parents.
For the generation that matured in the 1930's, not only were diets generally vitamin-poor during the winter months, but the deprivation of the Great Depression era meant that diets for millions of people were starchy and vitamin-poor year-round.

I looked at the figures and thought that they all were a bit short, more like juvenile HJ members rather than front-line soldiers. Still, a huge improvement over the originals and they're dressed for tropical climes, I remember that some wore shorts(?) which makes them very useful for any sothern scene.