Introduction

Master Box LTD has released German Motorcyclists, World War II era, kit number MB35178, a set of four figures in 1/35th scale. The figures were sculpted by sculptor A. Gagarin. The figure set does not come with a motorcycle as shown on the box. The motorcycle is shown as a reference guide for figure placement only.

Contents

The box that the kit comes in is the typical soft card open end box with artwork of the figures on the top of the box by the artist I. Varavin and an image of the German motorcycle tactical symbol. The bottom of the box has a very basic assembly guide in the form of photographs of the completed figures, photographs of the figures sprue and a basic painting guide. The photographs of the figures have numbers that correspond with numbers on the photographs of the sprues for proper part identification and placement. The sprues are sealed within a re-sealable clear plastic bag.

Instructions

There is no separate instruction sheet included in the kit. There is only the basic assembly guide on the bottom of the box. The instructions are not the best as they do not show multiple views of the assembled figures. I feel that additional views of each finished figure would make for ease in assembly and help do away with the dry fit and guess type of assembly. It should be noted that a portion of the assembly guide for Figure 1 is covered up by the painting guide. There are no instructions for the weapons that need to be assembled. If any of the weapons other that what are shown on the finished figures is to be used it is recommended to find the instructions on-line. The modeler can search for Master Box LTD German Infantry Weapons, WW II Era MB35115. As with other Master Box LTD sets the instructions are shown on the back of the box.

Painting

Included on the bottom of the box is a very basic painting guide. There are two brands of paint referenced. They are:
Vallejo
Lifecolor

To paint the figures as shown, the necessary colors are:
Vallejo
863 – Gunmetal Grey
866 – Grey Green
870 – Medium Sea Grey
888 – Olive Grey
904 – Dark Blue Grey
950 - Flat Black
955 – Flat Flesh
985 – Hull Red

Lifecolor
LC 26 – Matt Gun Metal
UA 051 – Black Green
UA 046 – Neutral Grey
UA 092 – Dark Earth
UA 108 - Dark Seagrey
LC 02 - Matt Black
LC 41 – Flesh
LC 17 – Matt Brown

Sprues

The kit comes with two grey styrene sprues which contain 157 total pieces. The sprues come sealed in a clear re-sealable plastic bag. All of the pieces are attached to the sprue with a minimal amount of contact points. When I examined the sprues I did find a few bent and broken pieces on the weapons sprue. Please refer to the detailed list of items found on that sprue where I note the damaged items. There were no missing pieces nor did I find any poorly placed knock out points.
Figure sprue:
45 total pieces
This sprue contains all of the body parts and coat pieces to build the four figures. Also included on this sprue are two sets of goggles.
Weapons and equipment sprue: This sprue is the Master Box LTD set - German Infantry Weapons, WW II Era MB35115.
112 total pieces
3 German P-08 Luger pistols – 1 with a bent barrel
2 German P-38 pistols
5 German pistol holsters
2 German MP-38 submachine guns – one has a bent barrel.
4 German MP-38 ammunition magazines
6 German Mauser 98k rifles
1 with ZF 41 rifle scope
1 with ZF 42 rifle scope
12 German Mauser ammunition pouches.
1 German MG-34 machine gun
2 German MG-34 machine gun bi-pods – 1 opened – 1 closed
1 German MG-34 machine gun ammunition feed tray cover
1 German MG-42 machine gun
1 German MG-42 machine gun bi-pods – 1 opened – 1 closed
1 German MG-42 machine gun ammunition feed tray cover
1 German MG-42 machine gun bolt
4 German ammunition cans
2 German ammunition can lids
2 German machine gun drum ammunition magazines
2 belts of MG34 ammunition – 2 short belts – one broken in the middle
2 German STG-44 assault rifles
2 German Gewehr 43 rifles
1 with ZF 4 rifle scope
1 PPSH 41 МP 717 (r) Soviet version submachine gun
2 PPSH 41 МP 717 (r) Soviet version submachine gun stick magazines
1 PPSH 41 MP 41 (r) German modification submachine gun
2 PPSH 41 MP 41 (r) German modification submachine gun drum magazines
2 German Bergmann submachine guns
2 German Bergmann Submachine gun sick magazines
3 German stick grenades.
3 German egg grenades
1 pair of German binoculars
6 German helmets
6 German canteens
2 German canteens with drinking cup removed
6 German gas mask canisters
8 German mess kits.
5 German fixed head entrenching tools
5 German folding head entrenching tools

Review

As I examined the individual pieces I found what I would consider to be a normal to minimal amount of flash however there are seam lines present. The detailing on the individual pieces is nice.

Figures
The kit comes with four WWII German soldiers. The figures are shown on the instructions armed with the Mauser 98k rifles and the MP-38 submachine gun; however, with the variety of weapons provided on the weapons sprue, many variations are possible for arming the figures. All four figures are sculpted to carry the gas mask canister on their chest which is correct for motorcycle troops. I assembled all of the figures straight out of the box without doing any work on them (other than removing the small bit of styrene where I removed the piece from the sprue) to show all of the seam lines, flash, gaps and how the equipment fits on the figures. I feel this is a good way to show the work required on all of them. This has become my standard for figure reviews and it has met with praise and appreciation from my fellow modelers.

Figure 1. Figure with Kar98 Mauser and his hands on the motorcycle handlebars. Variant 1
The figure is made up of 11 pieces for the main body; with the gear and weapon the figure contains a total of 16 pieces. The detailing on the clothing is nice. The figure is wearing the appropriate uniform for the time frame with the M35 helmet and rubber raincoat. The bottom of the figures raincoat comes in four separate pieces which helps create a realistic 3-D look. The figure comes with a separate collar piece with molded on goggles. The figure is carrying the metal canister for the M1938 gasmask. He carries two Kar98 Mauser triple ammunition pouches on his belt. The figure is armed with a German Mauser Kar98 rifle which he is carrying slung across his back. There is an indentation on the figures back for placement of the rifle to give a realistic look. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the Kar98 as there is only a partial molded sling in place. The Mauser Kar98 rifle is a nice representation of the actual item. The figure is wearing a toque on his head and the neck fits into the collar nicely. The helmet fits well on the head, for which there is a molded chin strap, and the detailing on the figures face is decent. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. The overall fit of the pieces is good and there are very few gaps that will need to be filled which is nice. The detailing on the clothing and other molded items is nicely done.

Figure 2. Figure with MP-38 submachine gun shown pushing on the motorcycles sidecar. Variant 1
The figure is made up of 12 pieces for the main body; with the gear and weapon the figure contains a total of 17 pieces. The detailing on the clothing is nice. The figure is wearing the appropriate uniform for the time frame with the M35 helmet and rubber raincoat. The bottom of the figures raincoat comes in four separate pieces which helps create a realistic 3-D look. The figure is carrying the metal canister for the M1938 gasmask which attaches to the molded strap. The figure is carrying a German MP-38 submachine gun. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the MP-38. The MP-38 is a nice representation of the actual item. In addition to the MP-38 the figure also has a holster for a German P-08 Luger pistol. The detailing on the figures face is nice. The figure is wearing a toque on his head and the neck fits into the collar nicely. The helmet fits well on the head, for which there is a molded chin strap, and also comes with goggles to be added to the helmet. There is no molded strap going around the helmet for the goggles. I managed to break the googles when I went to clean them up before I glued them to the helmet. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. The overall fit of the pieces is good and there are very few gaps that will need to be filled which is nice. The detailing on the clothing and other molded items is nicely done.

Figure 3. Figure with Kar98 Mauser and pushing on the back of the motorcycle. Variant 1
The figure is made up of 10 pieces for the main body; with the gear and weapon the figure contains a total of 15 pieces. The detailing on the clothing is nice. The figure is wearing the appropriate uniform for the time frame with the M35 helmet and rubber raincoat. The bottom of the figures raincoat comes in four separate pieces which helps create a realistic 3-D look. There are mistakes with the instructions for the assembly of the coat. The mistakes are in the form of part numbers 26 and 27 being shown in the wrong placement on the figure. The numbers are reversed as to what they should actually be. The figure is carrying the metal canister for the M1938 gasmask which attaches to the molded strap. He carries two Kar98 Mauser triple ammunition pouches on his belt. The figure is armed with a German Mauser Kar98 rifle which he is carrying slung across his back. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the Kar98 as there is only a partial molded sling in place. There is an indentation on the figures back for placement of the rifle to give a realistic look. The Mauser Kar98 rifle is a nice representation of the actual item. The detailing on the figures face is nice. The figure is wearing a toque on his head and the neck fits into the collar nicely. The helmet fits well on the head, for which there is a molded chin strap. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. The overall fit of the pieces is good and there are very few gaps that will need to be filled which is nice.

Figure 4. Figure with Kar98 Mauser mounting the motorcycle. This is the figured to be used alone for a different scene. Variant 2
The figure is made up of 10 pieces for the main body; with the gear and weapon the figure contains a total of 16 pieces. The detailing on the clothing is nice. The figure is wearing the appropriate uniform for the time frame with the M35 helmet and rubber raincoat. The bottom of the figures raincoat comes in four separate pieces which helps create a realistic 3-D look. There are mistakes with the instructions for the assembly of the coat. The mistakes are in the form of part numbers 18 and 21 being shown in the wrong placement on the figure. The numbers are reversed as to what they should actually be. The figure is carrying the metal canister for the M1938 gasmask which attaches to the molded strap. He carries two Kar98 Mauser triple ammunition pouches on his belt. The figure is armed with a German Mauser Kar98 rifle which he is carrying slung across his back. There is an indentation on the figures back for placement of the rifle to give a realistic look. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the Kar98 as there is only a partial molded sling in place. The Mauser Kar98 rifle is a nice representation of the actual item. The detailing on the figures face is nice. The figure is wearing a toque on his head and the neck fits into the collar nicely. The helmet fits well on the head, for which there is a molded chin strap. There is no molded strap going around the helmet for the goggles. I managed to break the googles when I removed them from the sprue. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. The overall fit of the pieces is good and there are very few gaps that will need to be filled which is nice.

Conclusion

All in all this is a decent set of figures. Master Box Ltd continues to release the vignette in a box type of figure sets which makes for an easy idea for a diorama/vignette scene for the modeler. You get four figures which are nicely detailed which provide the modeler with two options for using them in a diorama or vignette setting. I was impressed with the detailing and the poses of all four figures. A modeler will just need to be prepared to spend some time removing seam lines and filling the few gaps. With the variety of weapons provided on the weapons sprue, many variations are possible for arming the figures. Other than my few complaints I was very impressed with the kit and I feel that anyone who purchases this set of figures will be pleased with them. I would have no hesitation to recommend this set of figures to others.

Thank you Dragon USA for the review sample. Please mention that you saw their product reviewed here when placing your order.

References

World War 2 Combat Uniforms and Insignia
Squadron/Signal Publications, #6013
Published in 1977
Martin Windrow with color illustrations by Gerry Embleton

World The Military Book Club Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of WWII
Saturn Books Ltd.
Ian V. Hogg

Guns of the Reich
Firearms of the German Forces, 1939-1945
George Markham
Arms and Armour Press

German Automatic Weapons of World War II
Live Firing Classic Military Weapons in Colour Photographs
Robert Bruce
Windrow & Greene

The German Sniper 1914-1945
Peter R. Senich
Paladin Press

German Infantry in Action
Combat Troops Number 2
Captions - Norman Harms
Uniform Illustration - Ron Volstadt
Squadron/Signal Publications


View the figure set on the Master Box LTD web site:
http://www.mbltd.info/35178.htm