introduction

This set of four figures in 1:35 scale represents Greek Evzone soldiers from 1940-41. Modern Evzones are well known to many tourists for their ceremonial duties in Athens. In the first half of the twentieth century they were perhaps better known as elite fighting men.

contents

Inside ICM’s odd “full box with extra lid” is a single tan sprue of 67 parts. Moulding is good, with only a little flash to clean up.

review

The Evzone uniform changed very little from the early twentieth century until the Second World War, so the model figures can be easily adapted to several settings within this period, including both world wars and, with not too much extra work, the Balkan Wars in the early twentieth century. The equipment however did change over time, with British and French styles and weapons dominating from about 1916 onwards. Because the figures are moulded separately from the equipment, the modeller can choose whether to provide them with rifles (two in the box, both with fixed bayonets), a light machine gun (one available, based on a French Chaucat design), steel helmets (two, of a distinctly Greek design used only in the 1940s), soft field caps (moulded onto the heads and fitting under the helmets if these are used), with or without ammunition pouches and so on. Strangely, there are no back packs in the box, though as the poses are “action figures” they may not be appropriate anyway. There are more than enough options to equip all four figures but not as many as in some other ICM boxed sets, so don’t buy one of these in the hope of stocking up your spare parts box.

The poses and fit of parts is not as good as in some other ICM kits. There’s nothing that can’t be remedied by a modeller with basic experience but the figures may take a little longer to assemble well than some of the others in this range. Two of the figures have pom-poms on their boots, which seems a little unlikely for front line soldiers, though pom-poms are certainly common in pictures of traditional Greek costume. However, if you choose to remove them from the models you are left needing to re-sculpt the footwear, so it may have been better if the pom-poms had been provided as optional “add-ons” rather than optional “take-offs” . The same is true of the soft headgear, as it would be nice to be able to produce figures for hot weather , when soldiers don’t normally line their helmets with their field caps. Removing the moulded-on caps would be easy but re-sculpting the heads might be beyond many modellers’ skills.

conclusion

In summary, the box provides a simple way to produce reasonable models of up to four figures in distinctive uniforms, which are not easily available elsewhere and can be adapted to a range of contexts. The frustration is that the set could easily have given the modeller a wider choice by including a greater range of equipment and clearer instructions. Better fitting parts might also have made life easier for the modeller.