Introduction

The Siege of Sevastopol was a campaign fought on the Eastern Front by the Axis powers against the Soviet Union for control of Sevastopol which was an important port in Crimea on the Black Sea. The Crimea Campaign was an eight month long campaign launched by the Axis forces to conquer the Crimea peninsula which would provide a link to the mainland of the Ukraine. Both of these campaigns were bloody and decisive battles fought on the Eastern Front.

Dragon has released Conquerors of Sevastopol Crimea 1941-42, kit number 6702, a set of four figures in 1/35 scale in its '39-'45 series, Gen 2 Gear, which represent four WWII German soldiers in four different uniforms representing four different military units on the Eastern Front in 1940.

THE BOX AND PACKAGING

The box that the kit comes in is the typical soft cardboard open end box with artwork of the figures on the top of the box by the artist Dmytro Zgonnik. The bottom of the box has a very basic assembly guide in the form of photographs of the completed figures and an artwork painting guide. The sprues are sealed within clear plastic bags.

THE INSTRUCTION SHEET

There is no separate instruction sheet included in the kit. There is only the basic assembly guide on the bottom of the box. There are mistakes in the instructions in the form of wrong part numbers when it comes to the equipment numbers.

THE DECALS

There are no decals included in this kit.

THE PAINTING GUIDE

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

- GSI Creos Corp. Aqueous Hobby Colour,
- GSI Creos Corp. Mr. Colour,
- Model Master Color.

THE SPRUES

The kit comes with five grey styrene sprues which contain 139 total pieces. The sprues come sealed in clear plastic bags. All of the pieces are attached to the sprue with a minimal amount of contact points. When I examined the sprues I didn't find any bent, broken or missing pieces, except for figure three’s finger, nor did I find any poorly placed knock out points.

Sprue 6702: 43 total pieces

- All of the pieces for the four figures (6 pieces each)
- 1 cigar (for figure 1)
- 1 cigarette (for figure 2)
- 1 pair of binoculars
- 1 Feldmarschall baton
- 1 glove
- 1 spoon
- 1 German mess kit (lower portion)
- 1 German mess kit (upper portion)
- 1 pair of German Artillery "Scissor" Periscope Binocularswith bipod (8 pieces)
- 2 German side caps
- 1 German gas cape pouch

Sprue G: 60 total pieces

- 4 German bayonets.
- 4 German canteens.
- 4 German gas mask canisters with separate end caps.
- 4 German gas mask cape pouches.
- 4 German rolled shelter halves.
- 4 German bread bags.
- 4 German mess kits.
- 1 German document pouch.
- 2 German STG-44 magazine pouches.
- 3 German pistol holsters.
- 3 German Model 24 stick grenades.
- 4 German helmets.
- 1 pair of German binoculars with separate eye piece cap
- 1 German binocular eye piece cap
- 6 German Mauser ammunition pouches.
- 4 German MP-40 ammunition pouches, two with magazine loading tool pouch
- 1 German P-08 Luger pistol
- 1 German P-38 pistol
- 1 machinegun tool pouch

Sprue W: 30 total pieces

- 3 German MP-40 submachine guns.
- 1 German MP-40 extended stock
- 2 German MP-40 ammunition magazines.
- 4 German Mauser 98k rifles.
- 4 German Mauser ammunition stripper clips.
- 1 German MG-34 machine gun
- 1 German MG-34 machine gun bi-pod
- 1 German MG-34 machine gun ammunition feed tray cover
- 1 German MG-42 machine gun
- 1 German MG-42 machine gun bi-pod
- 1 German MG-42 machine gun ammunition feed tray cover
- 1 German STG-44 assault rifle
- 1 German Gewehr 43rifle
- 2 German STG-44 assault rifle ammunition magazines
- 3 German Gewehr 43 rifle ammunition magazines
- 3 German machine gun saddle drum ammunition magazines

Sprue WA:2 total pieces

- 2 German Gewehr 41 (W) rifles

Sprue 24: 4 total pieces

- 4 German entrenching tools in carriers

THE PARTS

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 push out (knock out) marks on the individual pieces. The detailing on the individual pieces is fairly decent.

THE FIGURES

The kit comes with four WWII German military men in four different uniforms. 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.

Figure 1. Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein

The figure is made up of six pieces for the main body, not counting the gear and weapons. The figure is wearing the correct jacket and cavalry breeches for the time frame represented as well as the M38 field cap. His medals include the Knight’s Cross, Iron Cross 1stClass, Iron Cross 2nd Class and the wound badge. He is also carrying his Feldmarschall baton. The Feldmarschall baton fits into the figures left hand well however the right hand doesn’t close around the baton very well. The figure’s left hand is holding a glove and a cigar which are both separate pieces that come with the set. The figures neck fits into the collar nicely. The soft cap fits well on the head, however there is no eagle insignia on it, and the detailing on the figures face is decent. There are hobnails visible on the boots and their detailing is fair. 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 figure is carrying a Walther PP pistol on his officer’s belt. The detailing on the clothing and other molded items is nicely done such as the collar, left sleeve and shoulder rank and insignia. Items that stand out nicely in my opinion are the eagle insignia on the right chest, the buttons, pockets the folds in the clothing and the seams on the trouser legs and jacket sleeves and the officer’s piping on the trousers.

Figure 2. Kavallerie-Unteroffizier.8.Kavallerie-Division, 11.Armee, XXX.Korps

The figure is made up of six pieces for the main body, not counting the gear and weapons. The figure is wearing the M36 field blouse, riding breeches with leather reinforcements, long shaft leather riding boots and the M35 helmet. The figure is carrying M1938 gas mask in its metal canister with the gas cape attached to the strap. He carries the M1931 canteen, M1931 mess kit a M1931 bread bag, one MP38/40 magazine pouch and a P08 pistol holster. He also has on an enlisted man’s leather belt with the “Y” equipment strap.The figure is carrying a German MP-40 submachine gun with the shoulder stock extended. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for the submachine gun. The submachine gun is a nice representation of the actual item. The MP-40 fits into the figures right hand well with little gap. The figures left hand is holding a cigarette which comes with the set. The cigarette fits in between the fingers nicely. The figures neck fits into the collar nicely and the helmet fits on the head well. The detailing on the figures face is niceand there is a molded helmet chin strap on the head however it is not very well defined. There are hobnails visible on the boots and their detailing is fair. 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. Items that stand out nicely are the eagle insignia on the right chest, the buttons, pockets the folds in the clothing and the seams on the trouser legs and jacket sleeves. One nice feature of this figure is the cavalry spurs (Kavallerie Sporen). They require a little clean up but are a nice feature.

Figure 3. Kanonier, 458.Schwere Artllerie-Batterie, 11.Armee, Sevastopol, HeeresgruppeSüd

The figure is made up of six pieces for the main body, not counting the gear and weapons. The detailing on the clothing and face is nice. The figure is wearing the M35 helmet, and M40 wool tunic and M40 trousers. The figure is carrying M1938 gas mask in its metal canister with the gas cape attached to the strap. He also has on an enlisted man’s leather belt with rifle ammunition pouches, M1931 canteen, M1931 mess kit and M1931 bread bag as well as a S84/98 bayonet. The figure is holding an open mess kit in his left hand and a spoon in the right hand. The mess kit fits in the left hand fair but there is a gap. With a little trimming and bending it should fit better. The spoon fits in the right hand good however there is supposed to be a finger that goes over the top of the spoon. The finger is missing from the set I received. It could be easily replaced with a small piece of stretched sprue. I don’t know if all of the sets have this problem or just the one I received. The figures neck doesn’t fit into the collar very well and will need some trimming to make it fit. The helmet fits on the head well and there is a molded chin strap on the figures head which is nicely done. There are hobnails visible on the boots and a molded strap for the gas mask canister. The detailing on them is decent.Items that stand out nicely in my opinion are the eagle insignia on the right chest, the buttons, pockets the folds in the clothing and the seams on the trouser legs and jacket sleeves. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed and the overall fit of the pieces is good with minimal gaps to be filled.

Figure 4. Infantryman, 16.Infanterie-Regiment, 22.Infanterie-Diivision, LIV.Korps

The figure is made up of six pieces for the main body, not counting the gear and weapons. The detailing on the clothing is nice. The figure is wearing the M36 field blouse, M40 trousers and M39 short shaft leather boots and a scarf around his neck. The figure is carrying M1938 gas mask in its metal canister with the gas cape attached to the strap. He also has anM1931 canteen, M1931 mess kit and M1931 bread bag as well as a S84/98 bayonet. He also has on an enlisted man’s leather belt with the “Y” equipment strap and has his M35 helmet hung from his belt as well as his entrenching tool. He is armed with a Gewehr 41 (W) rifle. If desired the modeler will need to scratch build a sling for it. The rifle rests on the ground with the end of the barrel is supposed to fit in the figures right hand which also holds his removed soft cap. However when I assembled the figure I noticed that the hand is in the wrong position. The hand faces palm up instead of palm down as is shown in the assembly instructions. In order to make it work as shown on the box the hand will need to be cut off and turned so that the palm is down. I went ahead and placed the soft cap and the rifle barrel in the figures left hand but they do not fit that way very well. The detailing on the figures face and hair is nice and the neck fits into the collar great. There are hobnails visible on the boots and a molded strap for the gas mask canister and their detailing is fair. Items that stand out nicely in my opinion are the eagle insignia on the right chest, the buttons, pockets the folds in the clothing and the seams on the trouser legs and jacket sleeves. 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 fill.

"Figure" 5. 6X30 Sf.14Z Scherefernrohr “Scissor” periscope binoculars with bipod.

The binoculars are made up of eight total pieces. The overall detailing is nice but basic. The lenses are drilled out so that makes for a more realistic look. The fit of all of the pieces is nice and the assembly is very straight forward. In addition to the assembly guide on the back of the box there are close up detailed pictures on the side of the box showing exact positioning of the smaller pieces. All in all it is a nice representation of the real item.

EXTRA PIECES

The kit comes with several extra pieces from sprues G, W, 2, 24 and6702that can be added to the spare parts bin.

CONCLUSION

All in all this is a decent set of figures. You get figures with four different styles of uniforms which are nicely detailed. I was impressed with the detailing and the poses of all four figures. Another positive note is that you do get some extra items for the spare parts bin. A modeler will just need to be prepared to spend some time removing seam lines and filling the few gaps. The modeler will need to cut off and place the right hand of figure 4 in the right position. And in my case I will need to add a finger to the right hand of figure 3. 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.

Thanks to Dragon-Models Limited for the review sample. Be sure to mention that you read the review here when ordering.

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 Infantry in Action
Squadron/Signal Publications
Combat Troops Number 2
Created by Uwe Feist
Captions by Norman Harms
Uniform Illustration by Ron Volstadt

The Siege of Sevastopol and the Crimea Campaign 1941-42
Concord Publications Company #6538
Hans Seidler

WWII Time-Life Books History of the Second World War
By the Editors of Time-Life Books
Foreword by Eric Sevareid
Prentice Hall Press