Introduction

Rado Miniatures from Poland, owned by talented sculptor Radek Pituch, started to business with two static posed World War II German soldiers and both figures were previously reviewed here in Battlefront Normandy, 12. SS-Pz.Div. “HJ”, Summer 1944. Company lately released two new German figures but this time in dynamic poses.

RDM35006 - Under Fire, 5.SS-Pz.Div.Wiking, Poland 1944 includes two soldiers of Wiking Division with standard uniforms and gear, trying to fire a cover or moving to a new location under fire. Note that figures are also sold seperately.

As a brief note; this division was formed in December, 1940. Initially, it was called Germania but the title of the unit was changed to Wiking in January, 1941. It was recruited from foreign volunteers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Belgium under the command of German officers. During World War II, the division served mainly on the Eastern Front and surrendered in May 1945 to the American forces in Austria.

Review

Kit comes in clear acetate box labeled with a color photo of the painted figures in front and a warning sticker on the back. Both figures are inserted into seperate zip-lock bags and small parts are double secured with smaller ones.

Figures are sculpted in 1/35 scale and cast very clean in medium gray resin with sharp details.. No mistakes, deformations or visible seamlines on the figures. No need for a cleanwork, just remove casting blocks, prime and paint. I liked the kit number is shown on all sprues.

FIGURE 1 - RDM35004

Sculpted on a moving forward pose; SS-Schütze comes in 7 parts;

Body with left arm; He wears standard Germany Army uniform of M36 Field tunic, M36 Field trousers, ankle high leather Boots and canvas Gaiters with leather straps. Over his tunic, he has a reversible SS Camo Smock painted in Plane Tree camouflage on the boxart. Besides nicely done wrinkles and cloth folds, all details of the uniform like collar of tunic with SS and rank collar tabs, elastic cuffs, foliage strips on upper sleeve and torso of smock, laces of the boots, side straps of gaiters are very well defined. His webbing and some parts of field gear are cast on the figure in crisp details. He carries a black leather Belt and leather Y-Straps. There
are Kar.98 Triple Ammo Pouchs on both sides, Model 24 Stick Grenade known as potato masher inserted under belt buckle and Breadbag on the right hip. Buttonholes and buckles of Y-strap, pouchs and breadbag are well defined. Two holes on the breadbag seem to make the assembly of Mess tin and field bottle easier and correct fit.

Head; Sculpted in nice facial features, he wears a M42 Steel Helmet with vent holes and flared out edges details. Chinstrap should be scratched from a metal foil.

Left foot

M31 Mess Tin

M31 Canteen

Right arm is posed to load his rifle. Baggy look of sleeve, elastic cuff on wrist, foliage strips on shoulder and hand pushing magazine clip into the rifle are well represented.

Rifle ; He carries a Mauser Kar98K and left hand is cast on the forestock. Magazine clip on the bolt is a nice touch.

FIGURE 2 - RDM35005

Posed as running Unterscharführer; figure comes in 9 parts;

Body; He also wears the standard uniform of tunic, gaiters and boots but trousers are painted as M44 Pea Dot Camo Trousers on the boxart. Details of the tunic like pockets, buttons, shoulder boards and collar tabs, belt with metal buckle and Y-straps are nicely sculpted. Canvas MP40 triple ammo pouch on both sides and breadbag on right hip are cast on the figure. Three pockets with fold over top flaps, leather straps- one untied, loops and studs are well defined.

Head; Faces of both figures show a Nordic look which fit well to Wiking Division soldiers. He has a helmet with camo cover - painted 2nd pattern Oakleaf Spring pattern on boxart. Panels and foliage straps are reprresented.

Left foot; hobnails on the sole are visible.

M31 Mess Tin

M31 Canteen

Right arm holds his helmet to prevent it from falling off the head.

Left arm with SS sleeve eagle is posed to carry his weapon.

Machine gun; He carries a MP40 submachine gun and left hand is cast on it. Details of the gun is quite well.

Folding stock; It’s my bad. I damaged this piece when taking photos. But I can say this piece is improved. It is not as tiny as the one in RDM001 kit.

conclusion

Rado Miniatures keeps his high level on this second multi figure kit. Poses are natural, uniforms and gear are adequate for the period. Sculpting is great in nice details, casting is flawless with no mistakes, parts fit is perfect. The poses of figures fit well to each other, so they can be displayed alone or together in many different scenes. They can be used as painted in different camo patterns for different periods of war.