Introduction:

Most of today’s high-quality resin figures are produced in Russia. With the companies like Evolution Miniatures, Bravo-6, Stalingrad, Minisoldiers, ANT Miniatures, Soga Miniatures and many others, Russia is leading the way in manufacturing resin miniatures.

Assault Models is a brand new resin figure company…you guessed it, from Russia. Pavel Ilyin, the owner of the company and a gifted figure painter, commissioned the first 1/35 scale miniatures from Dmitri Shevtsov. Dmitri’s sculpting talent is well-known among figure enthusiasts and his creations recently released under Assault Models label are two really unique miniatures representing USMC snipers during sustainment training in Djibouti in 2012.

Review:

Sniper, US Marine Corps, Djibouti 2012 (AM35001) is the first figure release from Assault Models. The figure kit is packed in a nicely designed plastic box, with the parts safely secured in a zip-lock bag. The front of the box features a boxart image which shows assembled and painted model.

The kit consists of 5 pieces:

- full body with right arm,
- left arm,
- head,
- weapon and
- bipod.

Cast in grey resin, the pieces are perfectly molded... no air-bubbles or seam lines. The bipod was damaged in transport, but I managed to find the broken bit within the zip-lock bag and glued it back on. The pieces feature an impressive amount of details very nicely executed in scale. As with all figures sculpted by Dmitri Shevtsov, the fit of the parts is extremely good and I had no problems assembling this figure. Positioning the left arm to the torso is easy and the right hand, cast with the weapon thus ensuring the tight grip, fits perfectly to the right arm. With such a great fit of the pieces, there is almost no need for any additional putty work... a big plus for me.

The figure represents USMC Sniper, a Marine highly skilled in fieldcraft and marksmanship who delivers long range precision fire on select targets from concealed positions in support of combat operations. The figure wears winter overwhites, an oversized and lightweight camouflage system designed to be donned over whatever uniform and equipment the sniper is wearing. The overwhites are a 2-piece set: the knee-length parka has snap front, draw string waist and bottom, elastic cuffs, pass through pockets with flaps on either side to allow access to equipment worn underneath, and large oversized hood with drawstring, while the trousers feature elastic waist and ankle, and zipper down the outside of each leg for fast donning. Although originally intended for snow and ice environments, the overwhites can be dyed for other settings as well. The figure is armed with M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System (SASS). Manufactured by Knight’s Armament Company, the rifle is chambered for the 7.62mm NATO round. The M110 supplied in this kit features Leupold 3.5-10x variable power daytime optics and Harris swivel bipod. The weapon sling is sculpted on the figure, so position the weapon accordingly.

The sculptor did a really good job on this figure. The anatomy of the figure is perfect and the facial details are nicely defined. The pose is relaxed and well balanced. As far as my references show, all the details on the overwhites are accurate and sculpted to the highest standard, with the folds wonderfully executed in scale. The weapon is a product of 3D rapid prototyping and is a real gem.

This figure has a pair in US Marine Corps Sniper #2 (link), with the two figures available together in a set (AM35A02) which could make a really cool USMC Sniper vignette.

Conclusion:

This is the first figure from Assault Models and I have to say I’m very impressed by their effort. It’s not just the sculptor made an absolutely wonderful figure, but also the box art, resin cast and fit of the pieces… everything about this figure kit feels very professional. The choice of subject is also very interesting: although based on USMC Sniper from Camp Lemonier in Djibouti (picture attached), the figure can also be presented as an Arctic or urban warfare soldier… definitely an attractive subject.

My thanks to Pavel from Assault Models for this review sample.