Introduction

Announced a month shy of the actual release this set is actually a first in the scale. When I started to type this text it actually occurred to me I have never seen or heard of a readily available Soviet air force crew set, air or ground, regardless of period, in 1/72 – ever. You are no doubt aware of the Eduard WWII set in 1/48, as well a number of resin figures in 48th and 32nd scale. This kit, designed to complement the Luftwaffe ground grew in the snap-together line, is something completely new.

Contents

In your LHS this set will be set among many similarly boxed infantry and gun kits in the Art of Tactics stall, so the small glossy box might elude you at first. Just like the Luftwaffe set it has the unit flag, several figure bases, but no game card. The 5 figures and their gear are cast in the typical dark green color of all Soviet sets in the wargaming series.
Again, a crowded one-page instruction features construction steps around the perimeter, and figure hands are being added at the last building stage, after the legs are tacked to the base. No painting guide or decals are supplied.

Contents

In your LHS this set will be set among many similarly boxed infantry and gun kits in the Art of Tactics stall, so the small glossy box might elude you at first. Just like the Luftwaffe set it has the unit flag, several figure bases, but no game card. The 5 figures and their gear are cast in the typical dark green color of all Soviet sets in the wargaming series.
Again, a crowded one-page instruction features construction steps around the perimeter, and figure hands are being added at the last building stage, after the legs are tacked to the base. No painting guide or decals are supplied.

Review

While 4 of the guys in the kit are assembled from multiple part – you will notice that the center of one sprue is occupied by a single-part figure. The old man with the bucket in his right hand and his left hand on the hip certainly has his presence felt. Apparently his prototype is the old mechanic from the iconic Soviet movie about fighter pilots – “Only old men go to battle”.
Two of the other guys are on ammo duty. One of them is carrying what appears to be a wooden case of rifle-calibre cartridges. Interestingly his left palm is moulded as a part of the case, but is well-defined and can be easily painted. The second crewman is moving a FAB-50 bomb next to another ammo box.
Two more crewmen are standing next to a standard 60 litre oil drum. One of them is operating a manual pump, the other one is holding a hose.
I find the varying poses a positive feature of this kit, even though there is no figure that is in the standard “wrench in hand” setting. No figure appears to be in a rush or under tension (as opposed to the 2 bomb handling guys in the Luftwaffe set), each has its own facial features and expression. With the exception of the “old man”, who is in a coverall and shoes, soldiers are all wearing standard issue high boots and 2-part uniform. All figures carry the green “pilotka” head cover.
The dark plastic will hide the seams along the mould parting line, which will require cleanup – you can see the seams on the primer figures. There is a sinkhole smack in the middle of the ammo crate one of the guys is carrying – which you will have to fill, as the figure’s had is on this one. Another prominent sinkhole is at the top of the oil drum, so I filed that down until even, and user a piece of wire to recreate the obliterated edge. The remaining accessories appear acceptable.
I only used the supplied bases for support during sanding, filling and priming, as they are too crowded and feature the pre-set locations for everything and a few ejector pin marks.

Finishing

I worked on the Soviet set at the same time as on the Luftwaffe one, so used the same materials during construction and finishing. Basecoat is a mixed of Revell enamels 65 (bronze green) and the yellow-brownish grey 75 – helps lighting it up and giving it a yellowish tint and a bit faded look. The old man’s coverall was base-painted in Revell 56. Boots are gloss black, flesh zones – Revell 35. When enamels dried I covered them on a protective coat of Mr.Color GX Super Clear III before applying oil paints to fade and accent figure details as subtly as I could (burnt umber for the flesh and ochre for the uniforms). The semi-matt coat on top of them blended colors together, so I applied pastel chalks to highlight raised areas, simulate dust and wear to various zones.
The accessories were painted Revell 65, and bases were left on Mr. Surfacer 1200 for the purpose of the review.

Conclusions

Unique set with a special treat (the old man), this Russian ground crew will be an innovative and colourful addition to any VVS diorama. With some careful cleanup, filling and the proper painting, you will be able to produce an interesting scene that would have required a significant sculpting effort until two months ago.
Similarly to the Luftwaffe set you can use most (if not all) of the figures here in any ground vehicle scene, so it gets my rating as “highly recommended”.

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