Introduction

Soviet Driver (1941-1943) WWII is one of four new 1/35 resin kits of Red Army vehicle crewmen released by Armor35 in tribute to soldiers of the Military Transport Service (Voennye Soobshcheniya - VOSO).

basic

Armor35 packages this figure in an attractive small top or bottom opening box. The parts are enclosed in a ziplocked baggie.

Inside is a model driver of gray resin. Sculpted by Anishchenko Dmitriy, he is cast in four parts: the body, lower body, and separate arms. The parts are crisply molded and I did not spot anything that needs cleaning up. Each piece is attached to a pour block although I do not see where cutting them off should mar the part. I am concerned by a hand molded on the left thigh, it may require precise fitting of the torso to the lower body because the left arm is cast with the torso.

The driver appears to wear the M35 Gymnasterka cotton soviet tunic and breeches with reinforced elbows, knees and cuffs, and boots. They made a wool version that appears to be identical. His tunic is gathered by a leather belt with the brass buckle and dark metal retaining bands, and rifle cartridge pouches. He wears a field cap. A starter crank is included.

It appears the figure is modeled for the Zvezda Zil truck although it can probably look good with most any 1/35 vehicle. I posed it with the Tamiya GAZ jeep. The other figure is ARM35112: "Stooping Soviet Driver". It looks like it can even be equipped with weapons or tools for other scenes.

inspection

Facial detail is exceptional: eye lids, mouth, ears, shock of hair from under the cap. He looks like he is frustrated and exerting himself.

Clothing seams are sculpted along the garments. Branch and rank patches are on the collars. A red star is molded on the cap. The few exposed buttons on the M35 are shown.

The areas between the collar and shirt, and the hands and cuffs, are solid with no undercut. This betrays the rest of the excellent sculpting. While a common trade-off with casting and molding, Armor35 usually casts separate hands. However, due to the pose which the figure will be viewed from, I don't think this will be noticeable.

painting guidance and instructions

None, other than the box art. You are on your own to find uniform and insignia detail. Assembly is a no-brainer.

Assembly

Quick and easy. He actually had a tiny bit of flash across an eye that I had to remove. Otherwise, no problem other than a very small area on an arm that left a small gap whwre it fit to the shoulder. I suspect this is because of the way the arm is secured to the pour block, requiring precise trimming, lest too much or too little resin is shaved away.

Painting is easy, probably much easier than I made it. I tried to paint the VOSO winged lightning bolt-filled wheel and rank on the collar patch.

If one does not favor the starter crank, there should be no problem finding weapons or engineer tools - or even cookware - to fill his hand with.

conclusion

Soviet Driver (1941-1943) WWII is sharply cast. It features exceptional facial detail and uniform detail. You can almost hear Pesenka Frontovogo Shofyora (Frontline Truck Driver’s Song) reverberating from the box!

The only aspects of this model that distracts me are the hand on the thigh, and the solid collar to shirt transition. However, due to the pose which the figure will be viewed from, I don't think this will be noticeable. I guess I'm spoiled by other Armor35 figures.

I think this is an interesting pose that can be used for many vehicles and non-transport scenes. I don't know what to say other than this is an exceptional model and recommend it.

We thank Armor35 for providing this model for review. Please tell vendors and retailers that you saw this model here - on Armorama.