Introduction

ICM are on a roll at the moment in their figure releases for the 100th anniversary of the Great War. Recently released is another 4 figure set of World War 1 Infantry this time a set of Russian Infantry.

The early 1900’s were a period of major transition for the Russians. They started the war under the old order of Tsar Nicholas II and ended the war under a communist regime that proved to be even more brutal and deadly that the old order.

Looking at the box art for the figures and not being an expert on Russian forces I believe these to be infantry of the Imperial Russian Army so let’s have a look at what you get.

The Set

The set comes packed in a sturdy cardboard box with colour art work of the advancing troops on the front along with the manufacturer and product details. Inside the box are three sprues of buff coloured plastic, one containing the four figures and their basic equipment and two sprues containing identical parts for weapons and equipment. Also in the box are two A4 sheets of build instructions, one for the figures and one for the weapons and equipment sets.

As with the Austro-Hungarian set I reviewed already the casting and detail of the parts and equipment is really terrific, fine sharp detail parts with only some fine seems to deal with.

There are four figures in the set and Officer with a revolver and 3 Infantrymen.

The Officer
Consisting of 8 parts, the officer is dressed appropriately in a tunic, trousers and boots, the figure is made up of the standard parts one would expect, separate legs, arms, upper torso, head and cap (2 parts). Additional equipment comes on the weapons and equipment sprue in the form of a sword, pistol holster and binoculars case. The figure is shown walking forward with the pistol in his right hand and this is moulded in the right hand and is also very well done.

The upper torso shows the leather belt and shoulder straps and the lower left leg has the attachments for the sword.. Nice belt and buckle detail is present and the left shoulder strap has a whistle in a small pouch. The tunic has the right number of buttons as do the cuffs of the uniform. The head has the face of a mature man and is nicely done. You get the choice of a cap or adding a helmet form the equipment set. There are nice natural folds and creases in the uniform and this figure should build and paint up well.

The Infantryman

Figure 1
Three infantrymen come with the set, The first of these I looked at was the soldier about to throw a grenade. Consisting of 14 parts; head, upper torso, separate legs and arms and separate hands, a backpack and side haversack and a rolled blanket in two parts. Again rifle and bayonet will come from the weapons set as will the ammo pouches. All of the parts are very finely moulded and there is excellent detail on the figure, haversacks and bedroll, which has an additional item attached to it and secured by rope. The right had comes with the grenade in place and the head shows a mature individual with a moustache. Again the detail is very good.

Figure 2
The second of the figures I looked at was the advancing soldier with the rifle across his body. Again consisting of 14 parts in the same format as soldier 1 with the exception, that the right hand is connected to the arm. The face is that of a clean shaven soldier, again there is a choice of headgear and overall detail looks excellent.

Figure 3
The final figure is that of an advancing infantryman with his rifle trust forward. This time consisting of 13 parts but again with excellent attention to detail. This is the only figure which I think should be wearing the backpack as the straps are present around the shoulders. The head is nicely detailed; choice of head gear applies here too, as does the equipping of the soldier with rifle, pouches and bayonet need to come from the equipment sprue. On the torso the upper part of the right arms is moulded to the figure whilst the lower section is a separate piece and in this case both hands are moulded onto the arms.

All of the soldiers are in tunic order with long boots., the level of detail on all three is spot on.

Weapons and Equipment Set

Two sprues of identical equipment and weapons are provided so you are on a major plus from the start here. There are 32 different items on the sprue (64 in total), from Mosin bayonets to bayonets in scabbards, Mosin Rifles with and without bayonets, Mosin carbines, pouches, a Winchester rifle, Madsen Machine gun, Nagant revolvers and holster, Bebut dagger in and out of scabbard, officers sabre in and out of scabbard and a Dragoons sabre in a scabbard, mess tins, shovels, canteen, shovels in a case, gas mask, grenades, binoculars case, binoculars. Adrian helmet Russian Pattern and Solberg helmets.

All of these items are beautifully done with no excessive flash.

Fit and Posture

I built the basics on two of the figures, the officer and one of the advancing infantrymen. There are some seams to tidy up, but the fit of the main parts is excellent. The equipment is equally impressive and you have an excellent choice of weapons and equipment to equip the troops with should you want to.

For advancing walking infantry they look good, with good body proportions and excellent detail. It's some time since I built any plastic injection figures OOB but these are a real pleasure to work with. Heel to shoulder the officer stands 42mm well within acceptable limits for 1/35th scale.

Conclusion

Another cracking set of figures from ICM, excellent detail, with a great range of equipment and additional items to choose from. With such fine detail these should paint up really well and there is a sufficient range of equipment for you to individualise you builds.

As a stand alone display or incorporated into a bigger diorama these should look excellent.