Introduction:

Cross of Iron is a war movie directed by Sam Peckinpah, featuring James Coburn, Maximillian Schell, James Mason and David Warner. Although filmed in 1977, it is still regarded as one of the best WW2 movies ever made. The movie features a squad of German soldiers on the Eastern Front led by a battle-hardened sergeant fighting to survive Soviet attacks and dogmatic commanders in a chaotic and lethal environment. Its appeal also comes from providing a sympathetic portrayal of another side of the war not commonly displayed in Hollywood films.

(adapted from IMDB)

Review:

Oniria Miniatures is a figure company specialized in producing high-quality small scale miniatures. Oniria recently introduced a new figure range to their portfolio called 7th Art. The idea behind 7th Art is to bring famous scenes from movie classics to life in form of miniature vignettes. The latest release in this range is Where the Iron Crosses grow, a 1/48 scale vignette recreating final moments from Cross of Iron.

The kit is packed in a hard cardboard box, with the zip-lock bag containing the pieces additionally protected using bubble wrap. The boxart picture on the front shows the assembled model painted by Angel Aparicio, the man behind Oniria Miniatures himself. Angel works wonders in small scales and several of his masterpieces are featured on Historicus Forma, so be sure to check them out after reading this review (link).

The kit is cast in white metal with the scenery part cast in resin. The parts are molded really well; there are some minor seam lines to clean, but other than that the cast looks really good. The barrel of MP40 is slightly bent and needs to be straightened out carefully. The kit comprises of 9 metal parts for assembling 3 full figures:

Sgt. Steiner (James Coburn) - full body with arms, head, weapon with hands,

Capt. Stransky (Max Schell) - full body, head, left arm, weapon with hands,

German casualty - full body & groundwork, head.

As stated previously, “Where the Iron Crosses grow” is inspired by the WW2 movie featuring James Coburn and Maximillian Schell. I saw the Cross of Iron several times already but after receiving this kit for review I had a good excuse to watch it again. The vignette depicts the final action scene from the movie and I have to say the sculptor, Antonio Meseguer, did a really good job. First of all, the portrait of James Coburn (Sgt. Steiner) is nicely done, especially taking into account the miniature scale of the piece. Steiner wears a field cap and reversible winter parka, and carries his PPSH-41. The figure of Max Schell (Capt. Stransky) has more neutral facial features, but it does somewhat resemble the actor. Stransky is in a greatcoat, firing his MP40 (hopefully he learned how to reload it). The proportions and anatomy of these figures feel good with the poses realistically rendered. I attached several photos of assembled vignette to this review just to show how well the action is portrayed.

Conclusion:

Modelers have a soft spot for recreating scenes from their favorite war movies in scale. If you liked Cross of Iron and have seen the movie umpteen times like I did, this vignette produced by Oniria Miniatures is something you don't want to miss. Perfectly sculpted and nicely cast, this piece shows Sgt. Steiner and Capt. Stransky in a final scene of this epic WW2 movie. You can almost hear the words...

Capt. Stransky: I will show you how a true Prussian officer fights.

Sgt. Steiner: Then I will show you, where the Iron Crosses grow.

Well done Oniria Miniatures!