Introduction:

In the recent quick and unexpected annexation of Crimea many observers noticed the sudden appearance of a strangely anonymous army that was securing “risky spots” on the peninsula. Its military men looked like elite assault troops, dressed in special uniforms, helmets, protective glasses, knee pads and always holding automatic rifles. Although many people thought of them as Russian troops, their uniform seemed different from the uniform of the Russian army. Besides, it had no insignia, neither military nor political. The troops’ identity was hidden, as was the identity of individual soldiers – their faces were covered with black masks, leaving only the eyes uncovered.

So striking was the presence of this anonymous force on Crimean streets that they were quickly named in Russian slang, “little polite green men”… polite men with machine guns posed for pictures with children and young women, never taking off their masks and smiling with their eyes only.

What we witnessed in Crimea is a curious new political technology — a military occupation that is staged as a non-occupation. These curious troops were designed to fulfill two contradictory things at once – to be anonymous and yet recognized by all, to be polite and yet frightening, to be identified as the Russian Army and yet, be different from the Russian Army. They were designed to be a pure, naked military force – a force without a state, without a face, without identity, without a clearly articulated goal.

(from Alexei Yurchak, Anthropoliteia )

Review:

The striking presence of “Green Men” on Crimean streets quickly spurred interest in the modeling community as well, with several figure companies releasing 1/35 scale miniatures depicting these masked soldiers. Evolution Miniatures produced 5 different sets of “Green Men” figures (EM-35098, EM-35099, EM-35104, EM-35109 and EM-35111) as well as civilian girls (EM-35110), offering those sets as individual releases. Since the figures were originally designed to work together, Evolution Miniatures recently released all these miniatures in a form of 9-figure big set: Modern Russian Soldiers and Girls (BS-6).

The set is packed in two standard Evolution cardboard boxes held together by the large box art sticker. The box art displays all the figures included in the kit and lists Sergey Traviansky, the creative force behind Evolution Miniatures, as both the figure sculptor and painter. The set includes 9 figures (plus a dog), and with 56 parts in total, it really is huge!

Opening the cardboard boxes and inspecting the content of zip-lock bags is a dream come true… The pieces are cast in grey resin and the molding is absolutely perfect with all the details wonderfully delivered in scale. The casting blocks are large but I didn’t encounter any problems while removing the resin pieces. I would suggest some extra care with the weapons though, as it is easy to snap their delicate barrels during the cleaning procedure.

The assembly of the figures is very much straightforward. The resin pieces are designed very intelligently, featuring protrusions and corresponding indentations which enable optimal alignment of the parts. Naturally, I would suggest dry fitting the pieces to check their placement before fixing them with glue. This also helps in finding the best sequence of attaching the pieces; I usually fix the arms to the torso first and, if those are aligned well, the hands with the weapon should fit the arms without any major problems. The fit is really good and most of the pieces leave no gaps between them keeping the putty work to a minimum... a big plus in my book!

The figures represent a team of Russian Special Forces soldiers securing a vital spot on the streets of Crimean city, posing for photos with the local girls. The figures are posed rather casually but with their weapons ready for any sign of hostile activity. Since two of the figures are designed to fit into a 1/35 scale GAZ “Tiger” from Xact Scale Models, this vehicle should also be used for the vignette. Although the Green Men wear similar uniforms and use identical equipment, each figure does have its distinctiveness. Here’s a short description of every individual figure supplied in this set:

Figure 1:

This figure was released in Modern Russian Soldiers 2014, Set 1 (EM-35098). It consists of 6 parts:

- full torso with legs and head,
- right arm,
- left arm with hands,
- weapon,
- knife handle,
- binoculars.

The figure is dressed in EMR camouflage combat uniform which features pixels of black, reddish-brown and foliage green on a pale green background. Over the 6B33 body armor the figure wears 6Sh112 tactical vest with all the double AK ammo magazine pouches, utility and grenade pouches, as well as the buttpack sculpted on the vest. The knife handle is included as a separate piece and should be added to the rightmost double-mag AK pouch, specifically to an adjacent small pouch designed for securing a knife or signal flares. The face of the figure is obscured with a mask and he sports 6B27 composite helmet with 6B34 ballistic goggles in a protective cover. Tactical headset is worn as well, but the boom mic has to be built from scratch using copper wire. The figure is armed with AK-74M, the modernized variant of AK-74.

Figure 2:

This figure is the second figure in Modern Russian Soldiers 2014, Set 1 (EM-35098). It consists of only 4 parts:

- full torso with legs and head,
- right arm,
- left arm,
- weapon with hands.

The figure is also dressed in EMR camouflage combat uniform and wears 6Sh112 tactical vest over the 6B33 body armor. The 6Sh112 is currently in use by the Russian Army: made of light and resistant materials, it features Russian UMBTS system, which is 100% MOLLE compatible. The vest can be customized by the user and the 6Sh112 on this figure has all the gear already sculpted on the vest: ammo magazine pouches, utility and grenade pouches, and buttpack. Again, the face of the figure is masked and he sports 6B27 composite helmet with 6B34 ballistic goggles inside a protective cover. The figure is armed with VSS Vintorez, a suppressed sniper rifle issued primarily to Spetsnaz units for undercover operations.

Figure 3:

The figure was released individually as Modern Russian Soldiers 2014, Set 2 (EM-35099). It is the most complex figure of the set and consists of 14 parts:

- full torso with legs,
- head,
- right arm,
- left arm,
- pouches (5x),
- weapon and weapon parts (4x),
- dog.

This figure is depicted petting the stray dog. The dog is sculpted really well, with the fur texture nicely depicted. The figure wears EMR camouflage combat uniform and 6B33 body armor. Over the body armor the figure sports SMERSH SPOSN webbing with 2 PKM 100 pouches, 2 large PKM ammo pouches and a buttpack, all cast separately. Although building the figure might seem difficult at first, the assembly was actually very much straightforward. The pouches fit their designated places on the figure torso really well and the arms are then fixed without any issues. The figure is armed with PKP Pecheneg, a modernized PK machine gun, currently in use by Russian Army Spetsnaz.

Figure 4:

This figure is available separately as Modern Russian Soldiers, Set 3 (EM-35104). It consists of 7 parts:

- full torso with legs,
- head,
- right arm,
- left arm,
- weapon with hands,
- knife handle,
- buttpack.

The figure wears Gorka suit, mainly used by Russian specialist troops. The name Gorka actually means Mountain and the official designation of these types of uniforms is Mountain-Windproof Suit. It is a two-piece suit made from thick canvas material, additionally reinforced on shoulders, hands and legs for extra protection in key areas. All Gorkas feature a hood which can be adjusted to a fine fit around the head. The suit is rarely camouflaged, usually in a variety of brown and olive colors. Over the 6B33 body armor, the figure sports 6Sh112 tactical vest. Most of the pouches are cast on the vest, with the exception of the large buttpack which is supplied separately. The knife handle is also included as a separate piece; the knife is usually tucked behind a large double-mag AK ammo pouch and the small part should be placed accordingly to the leftmost ammo pouch. The figure is wearing a face mask and his headgear is 6B27 composite helmet with goggles in a protective cover. The figure is armed with AK-74M.

Figure 5:

This figure comes from Crew of Russian Armored Car “Tiger” (EM-35109). It consists of 5 parts:

- full torso with legs and head,
- right arm,
- left arm,
- knife handle,
- weapon.

The figure is designed to fit into turret ring of 1/35 scale Russian HMV GAZ-233014 "Tiger" from Xact Scale Model (XS-35002), but I’m sure it could be easily used with Meng’s offering as well. Again, the figure wears EMR camouflage combat uniform and 6Sh112 tactical vest over the 6B33 body armor. The pouches are cast on the vest, with the knife handle supplied separately. This piece should be attached to the leftmost AK ammo pouch as described previously. The face of the figure is masked and he sports 6B27 composite helmet with 6B34 ballistic goggles. Tactical headset can be seen under the helmet, but the boom mic needs to be built from scratch using thin copper wire. The AK-74M is supplied as well.

Figure 6:

This figure is a second figure from Crew of Russian Armored Car “Tiger” (EM-35109) set. It consists of 5 parts:

- full torso with legs and head,
- right arm,
- left hand,
- helmet,
- weapon.

This figure is a driver of Russian HMV GAZ-233014 "Tiger". It fits the 1/35 scale model from Xact Scale (XS-35002), but I think it would not require any major modifications to be used on Meng’s model as well. Once again, the figure wears EMR camouflage uniform and 6Sh112 tactical vest over the 6B33 body armor, with all the various pouches cast on the vest. This figure is not masked, but does sport a face mask rolled as a cap on his head. The 6B27 helmet with goggles is supplied as a separate piece, as well as the AK-74M.

Figure 7:

This figure was released individually as Modern Russian Soldiers 2014, Set 4 (EM-35111) set. It consists of 6 parts:

- full torso with legs, arms and head,
- hood brim,
- radio antenna,
- knife handle,
- helmet,
- weapon.

The last of the Green Men miniatures in this set is posed in a powerful posture with his hands behind his back. The figure wears Gorka uniform and 6B33 body armor. My sample had Gorka hood brim already cast on the figure so I didn’t need to fix the brim piece supplied separately. Over the body armor the figure sports what I believe is Grad-2 tactical vest which features symmetrical configuration of the pouches with 2 double-mag AK pouches, signal flare/knife pouch and 2 grenade pouches on each side. All these pouches are cast on the vest with the exception of knife handle which needs to be fixed in the left-side knife pouch. The antenna is supplied as a separate piece and should be attached to the handheld radio. The figure wears a face mask and is armed with AK-74M.

Figure 8:

Last two figures in this set represent civilian girls posing for photos with soldiers. Both are available as Girls (EM-35110). The first figure consists of 6 parts:

- full torso with legs and head,
- left arm with camera,
- right arm,
- bag (3 pieces).

The figure’s pose is nicely balanced and very realistic; looking at the camera screen and taking photos of her friend. The figure is wearing jeans and a short winter jacket. The slim quilted jacket features fur hood, elastic waist, front zip closure and two front zip pockets. The shoulder bag is supplied in three pieces: two adjustable straps and bag. The bag is rather simple and features a front flap.

Figure 9:

This figure is the second figure in Girls (EM-35110), and the last figure in this set. It consists of 3 parts:

- full torso with legs, hands and head,
- left arm,
- right arm.

Depicted as posing for the camera with hands on her hips, this figure is wearing jeans and a knee-long parka. The parka features fur collar, front zip and button closure, two side flap pockets and a belt defining the waist.

Conclusion:

I was very interested in Green Men figures from Evolution ever since the first set appeared on the market. Knowing several more sets were in the pipeline, I patiently waited for all the figures from this series to be released together in the Big Set… and the wait was well worth it.

The Modern Russian Soldiers and Girls (BS-6) includes 9 figures in a single 1/35 scale kit, providing modelers all the figure components for making a scene we often witnessed on TV reports covering the Crimean crisis in 2014: heavily armed Green Men posing for pictures with the local girls. Since the set includes figures designed to fit Russian HMV GAZ-233014 "Tiger" from Xact Scale Model (XS-35002), this vehicle could be used in the vignette as well. Armorama recently published the work of Sergey Traviansky, the man behind Evolution Miniatures himself, utilizing his own figures and Xact kit to create an impressive Green Men scene: link.

The figures are posed really well, with the body language clearly conveying their purpose on Crimean streets… these guys are not to be messed with. The figure sculpts are among the finest I have seen from Evolution Miniatures, with the uniforms and equipment which have obviously been extensively studied by the sculptor, offering unbelievable details amazingly delivered in scale. The resin cast is perfect and the pieces fit without any major problems. Altogether, this is one of the best sets from Evolution so far and definitely one of the prized possessions in my stash.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I’m in the process of building the Xact’s “Tiger” kit and will be running a blog on making a vignette with the figures from this set. Stay tuned to Armorama.