introduction

During WWII, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS raised a number of mountain infantry units. The divisions were lightly equipped with much of the transport provided by mules. The mountain infantry were equipped with fewer automatic weapons than the regular infantry, with the exception of the MG42, which were common. The MG42 gunners were provided with more ammunition than their infantry counterparts. The mountain infantry participated in many battles, including Operation Weserubung, Operation Silver Fox, Operation Platinum Fox, Operation Arctic Fox, operations in the Caucasus, the Gothic Line, the invasion of Crete and battles in the French Vosges region.

During WWII approximately 350,000 Soviet sailors fought on land. At the beginning of the war, the Soviet navy had only one brigade of marines in the Baltic fleet and began forming and training other battalions. The military situation demanded the deployment of large numbers of marines on land fronts and so they contributed to the defense of Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol, Stalingrad, Novorossiysk, and Kerch. They conducted over 114 landings serving as regular infantry without any amphibious training.

Master Box LTD has released a set of six figures in 1/35 scale which represent three WWII German Mountain Troops and three WWII Soviet Marines about to encounter each other.

contents

The box that the kit comes in is the typical soft cardboard open end box with artwork of the figures by artist A. Kapawyk on the top of the box along with a photograph of a German Iron Cross and a Soviet Order of the Red Star medal. The bottom of the box has a very basic assembly guide in the form of images of the completed figures, an image of the sprues and a photograph of a Soviet Marine holding a German MP40.

There is no separate instruction sheet included in the kit, only the basic assembly guide on the bottom of the box. The basic guide leaves a lot to be desired and I feel that Master Box could have taken the time to produce a more detailed one. There is no painting guide included with this kit.

The kit comes with two tan styrene sprues which contain 85 total pieces and come sealed in clear plastic bags. All of the pieces are attached to the sprue with a minimal amount of contact points. I have seen some kits where it seems like the sprues contain more plastic than the pieces that make up the kit. However that is not the case with this kit which makes for easy removal and less clean up of each piece. When I examined the sprues I didn't find any bent, broken or missing pieces. The individual pieces are not numbered on the sprue, so referencing the bottom of the box is required.

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. I did not find any ejector marks on the individual pieces, and the detailing on the individual pieces is nice and crisp.

the figures

The kit comes with three WWII German Mountain Troops and three WWII Soviet Marines sculpted by A. Gagarin. I assembled all of the figures straight out of the box without doing any work on them to show all of the seam lines, flash and gaps. I felt this would be a good way to show the work required on all of them.

The German with the peaked cap and a Soviet PPSH-41
This figure is made up of twelve total pieces. The detailing on the clothing and face is nice. The figure is carrying a captured Soviet PPSH-41 submachine gun and has a PPSH-41 drum magazine pouch as well. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the submachine gun. The parka is nicely done and I am impressed with the way it looks, however due to the fact that it is made up of four pieces there are gaps where the pieces fit together that need to be filled. The peaked cap is done well and fits on the figures head nicely. I ended up with one piece to the figure that I did not know what it was for. I studied the picture and finally discovered that it's a scarf, a decent instruction sheet would have shown where the part was to be placed. The pose of the figure is nice although it looks like he is almost leaning too far back, but that is just my opinion. 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 with few gaps to be filled.

The German wearing the great coat and carrying the engineer backpack:
The figure is made up of seven total pieces and the detailing on the clothing and face is well done. The figure is carrying a Mauser 98k rifle and is in the action of opening the bolt. This is a nice detail and helps give the figure some character. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the rifle. There are three pieces that need to be added to the bottom of the coat. There are gaps where the coat pieces fit together, but the end result is very nice. The figure is wearing/carrying an engineer's backpack and pouches. 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 with few gaps to be filled.

The German wearing the field cap and holding the Mauser 98k rifle:
The figure is made up of fourteen total pieces. The detailing on the clothing and face is nice. The figure is wearing a sweater and also has his decorations displayed on his tunic; an Iron Cross and what appears to be an Infantry Assault Badge. The collar of the tunic and the sweater are a separate piece that needs to be added but it fits nicely. This figure is carrying a Mauser 98k rifle and if desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the rifle. There are gaps where the body halves fit together, but most of them can be hidden when you attach the gear to the figure. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. For some reason this is the only figure out of the six where I noticed there was more of a gap where the arms attached to the body. The overall fit of the rest of the pieces is good with few gaps to be filled.

The Soviet with the naval cap and the SVT-40 rifle:
This figure is made up of eight total pieces and is armed with a Soviet SVT-40 rifle which you can display with or without the bayonet. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the rifle. He has a Soviet Vesh Myeshok backpack on his back, and is wearing the naval t-shirt as well as the naval cap. The cap, which fits on the head nicely, has the ribbons hanging off of the back. The ribbons attach separately and add a nice touch. The detailing on the clothing and face is well molded and smaller details, such as the red star on the cap and the belt buckle, are a nice touch. 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 with few gaps to be filled. One detail that I had to check was the length of the rifle as it looked too long (without the bayonet). I measured it and did the conversion and it comes out to 37mm which is too long. In proper 1/35 scale it should come out to 34.77mm. That isn’t much of a difference but it is too long, and in my opinion looks too big.

The Soviet with the helmet and the PPSH-41:
The figure is made up of eleven total pieces. There are three pieces of the coat that need to be added to the bottom of the coat. Due to the lack of a decent instruction sheet I had to dry fit the pieces to get them in the right position. There are gaps where the coat pieces fit together, but most of them can be hidden when you attach the gear to the figure. The detailing on the clothing and face is nice and the red star on the belt buckle and on the sleeves of the jacket are a nice touch. You need to attach the drum magazine to the PPSH-41, and if desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the submachine gun. There is very little flash present however the ever-present seam lines will need to be removed. The overall fit of the pieces is good with few gaps to be filled.

The Soviet with the Kubanka hat and holding the German MP-40:
This Soviet figure is made up of eight total pieces, and is carrying a captured German MP-40 submachine gun and has a MP-40 magazine pouch as well. He also has a pistol in a holster and carries a bayonet. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the submachine gun. The detailing on the clothing and face is well depicted once again, and the small details are a nice touch. The Kubanka hat is well done and is a nice representation of the real article. The hat fits on the head fairly decent, however a little clean up is required to make it fit well. There are gaps where the legs fit together as well as where the upper body and the lower body come together. 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 with few gaps to be filled.

Weapons and Gear:
•1 Soviet SVT-40 rifle.
•2 Soviet PPSH-41 submachine guns.
•2 Soviet PPSH-41 ammunition drum magazines.
•1 Soviet pistol in the holster.
•1 German MP-40 submachine gun.
•2 German Mauser 98k rifles. One is shown with an open bolt.
•3 Soviet bayonets.
•2 German entrenching tools.
•2 German canteens.
•2 German Mauser ammunition pouches.
•1 German MP-40 ammunition pouch.
•3 Soviet canteens.
•2 Soviet PPSH-41drum magazine pouches.
•1 Soviet SVT-40 ammunition pouch.

conclusion

It isn't what I would call a perfect set of figures, however it is a nice product and I would have no hesitation to recommend it to others. This set could be used to easily create a simple diorama, or the figures could be separated and used in different projects.

A modeler will just need to be prepared to spend some time dry fitting pieces, removing seam lines and filling gaps. My biggest complaint is the lack of a decent instruction sheet and a detailed painting guide. Other than that I was very impressed with the kit and I feel that anyone who purchases this kit will be pleased with it.

References:

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

•Wikipedia