introduction

Alexander Zelenkov never ceases to amaze me with his talent and sculpting abilities. This figure from Stalingrad, Alexander’s front for marketing his range of figures, is of a young German POW. Part of a larger series of POW figures, this figure captures the differences between youth and adulthood, not only physically but through expression as well.

In the Box

The figure comes in a light cardstock box with a full color photo of the item fully painted. Within the box is a small bag containing the resin parts. This particular kit contains only two parts, both cast in crisp grey resin. The body is cast mostly complete, and only needs the addition of the head which is cast separate.

Detail on the figure is outstanding, with an excellent face sculpt that really captures a youthful look. The pose is very natural, and the uniform has all the needed details, and even looks a bit “oversize” for the teenager. His gaze, as well as the casual hands-in-pockets stride, artfully exhibits the look of naivety the youth has, with no idea of what lies ahead for him.

Assembly:
After removing the head from the resin pour plug, the parts were cleaned up using small files and some sandpaper. There was only minimal flash and no seams to deal with, so cleanup went fairly fast. Assembly was done with superglue, and was extremely quick being there are only two parts. I left the body of the figure on the pour plug to facilitate handling during painting. Once painting is done, it will only take a few swipes with the razor saw to remove him from the casting block.

A WIP thread on painting this figure has been started:
Young German POW on HF

Conclusions

This is another winner from Stalingrad, who has quickly become one of my favorite resin figure producers. I have yet to see anything subpar come from Alexander, with all of the figures being extremely well done and a joy to paint. The fact that he sculpts them in sets with the figures interacting, means that they lend themselves to dioramas and small vignettes easily. This is the first of the POW figures that I have been able to obtain, and hope to find the rest for a future diorama. Many thanks to Stalingrad for the review sample, and we look forward to many more exciting releases in the future!