history

Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer. He is chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World War. He also served in the First World War and the Russian Civil War, and was a prisoner of war twice.

Pamela Churchill Harriman, born Pamela Beryl Digby, (March 20, 1920 - 5 February 1997) was the daughter of an English Lord. At age 19 she met Randolph Churchill, son of British World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and married him three weeks later. Pamela impressed her father-in-law and therefore was given a significant role in promoting good relations between Britain and the US during the war.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century, he served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 as well as being an officer in the British Army.

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, (17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty" was a British army officer. During World War II he commanded the 8th Army in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. He was involved in the D-Day invasion in Normandy and commanded the 21st Army Group. He was the principal field commander in the failure at Arnhem and the Allied Rhine crossing. On 4 May 1945 he took the German surrender at Luneburg Heath in northern Germany.

the kit

Riich.Models has released “Road To Victory” (WWII British Leader Set), kit number RV35023, a set of four figures in 1/35 scale which represent four WWII British military personnel in four different uniforms.

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 artist Andrey Karaschuk. The bottom of the box has a very basic assembly guide in the form of artwork of the completed figures and an artwork painting guide. The sprue is sealed within a clear plastic bag.

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.

decals

There is one small sheet of decals provided which are to be used on all four figures and they come in the form of rank insignia, medals, ribbon awards and beret badges. The decals come in a small separate zip-close plastic bag with a small piece of protective tissue paper. I am very impressed with this sheet of decals as they will definitely help detail these figures and give them that little “something” that will make them stand out. The other thing I like about them is that they will make it easy for the novice figure modeller, like myself, to add excellent detailing to their figures with very little difficulty. There is a decal placement guide on the bottom of the box.

painting guide

Included on the bottom of the box is a very basic painting guide. There are four brands of paint referenced. They are: Hobby Color, Mr. Hobby, Humbrol andTamiya. The suggested colours listed for the completion of these figures are: Flesh, White, Copper, Khaki, Leather Brown, Olive Green and Black.

sprues

The kit comes with one grey styrene sprue which contains 28 total pieces. The styrene is a little soft when compared to other manufactures. The sprue is sealed in a clear plastic bag. All of the pieces are attached to the sprue with a minimal amount of contact points however the contact points are a little thick in my opinion. When I examined the sprues I didn't find any bent, broken or missing pieces.

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.

figures

The kit comes with four WWII British military personnel 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. Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery
The figure is made up of eight total pieces, and is depicted wearing a uniform typical for Montgomery in the form of a jacket, trousers, shirt with necktie, beret and shoes. The figure’s neck fits into the collar nicely. The beret fits poorly on the head and there is a gap that needs to be filled or the beret needs some trimming to fit correctly. The beret has the well-known badges on it, and the detailing on the figure’s face, hair and ears is decent. Both of the figure’s arms are behind his back and the right hand fits into the left hand well and looks realistic in appearance. There is a moulded binoculars strap on the figures chest which ties in with the binoculars once they are attached. There is a locator hole in the figure’s torso for attaching the binoculars. To me the locator hole is a good thing, and at the same time, a bad thing. It helps in attaching the binoculars however if the modeller decides to not use the binoculars there is a hole that will need to be filled and detailed. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. The seam lines on the trousers can represent press lines once they are reduced. 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 is nice and there are folds and creases which give it a realistic look. Items that stand out nicely in my opinion are the ribbons on the left chest, the badges on the beret, the buttons, the pockets, and the necktie.

Figure 2. Pamela Churchill (Winston’s Daughter-in-law)
The figure is made up of seven total pieces, wearing a fatigue uniform in the form of bloused trousers, shirt and boots however there is no headgear. The figure’s neck fits into the collar nicely and the detailing on the figure’s face and hair is fair. The left arm does not have a hand attached which at first caused me concern until I studied closer and saw that the arm is to fit on the left hip and it appears that the hand is in the left trouser pocket. The pocket is moulded to represent a hand being in it. Without trying to sound inappropriate I feel that I should mention that the upper torso is moulded anatomically correct for a female figure. The figure comes with a bag that is attached to the left side of the torso. There are locator holes on the left side of the torso as well as on the left leg for placing the bag. The bag does not fit perfectly and will need some trimming to fit into the locator holes properly. There is a moulded shoulder strap in place on the left side of the torso. The strap does tie in with the bag however it appears to be too thick on the back and would need to be trimmed down for a thinner appearance. 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 buttons, pockets, the folds in the clothing and the seams on the trouser legs.

Figure 3. Sir Winston Churchill
The figure is made up of seven total pieces. The detailing on the clothing and face, hair and ears are done well as is moulded cigar in the left corner of the figure’s mouth. The figure is wearing a dress jacket and trousers, with cap, shoes, shirt and necktie. The figure’s neck fits into the collar very well and the cap fits on the head fairly well with a small amount of gap to fill. Items that stand out nicely in my opinion are the cigar in the figure’s mouth, the buttons, pockets, the folds in the clothing, the ribbons and shoulder boards and the shirt cuffs visible below the cuffs on the jacket sleeves. I also really like the expression on the figure’s face. One fault I have with this figure is that there is nothing in the shape of a guide for attaching the legs to the torso and there are no locator holes. The modeller will have to dry fit to obtain the right look and placement. It is a minor thing but I thought it should be mentioned. 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. Lt. General Brian Horrocks, Commander, XXX Corps
The figure is made up of six total pieces and the detailing on the clothing is well done. The figure is wearing a basic uniform in the form of trousers, jacket with shoulder boards, shirt and necktie, shoes and a beret without a badge. The shoes do have a tread pattern visible. The detailing on the figure’s face and hair is nice and the neck fits into the collar well. The beret fits poorly on the head and there is a gap that needs to be filled or the beret needs some trimming to fit correctly. The left and right arms come moulded as one piece and are attached so that the arms are behind the figure’s back. The detailing on the arms is fair however there is a lack of detail on the hands. The arms moulded as one piece also creates gaps on the shoulders. Riich.Models would have been better off to make the figure’s arms the same way they made the arms for the Montgomery figure. The legs and the torso fit together poorly and there is a considerable gap that will need to be dealt with, especially in the front. Items that stand out nicely in my opinion are the shirt and necktie, the tread pattern on the shoes, and the folds in the clothing. There is very little flash present however there are seam lines which will need to be removed. The overall fit of the pieces is fair with gaps to fill.

CONCLUSION

For Riich.Models first figure set I feel that this is a decent set of figures. You get figures with four different styles of uniforms which are nicely detailed. The detailing is nice in some areas and sparse in others. I feel that both equal out for the end result. I like the poses of all four figures. These four figures could easily be used together, or shown separately, in a diorama or vignette. They could all be shown with various staff vehicles such as MiniArt’s British Staff Car with Crew, kit number 35050, Minitaur Models Humber FWD Staff Car, kit number 48104, or even the old Airfix kit Monty’s Humber, kit number 05501-3, even though it is 1/32 scale.

A modeler will just need to be prepared to spend some time removing seam lines and filling gaps. Other than my few complaints I like 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 and I look forward to their future figure set releases.

References:

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

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