A new release from Masterbox as of March 2010 this kit follows their recent trend of combining figures representing opposing forces into one kit. In the past these have been the middle kit of a “set” of three ( Eastern Front series and Bloody Atoll series ) but this one, so far at least, is a stand-alone set, portraying three Germans about to encounter three Russians in an urban setting.
The set contains two sprues, the main one with six figures and a smaller one with the weapons and equipment which hopefully signals a move towards including generic weapon sets into kits ( which usually means spares – I like spares ).
The figure sprue consists of three Russian Marines and three German Mountain troops, each made up of an officer and two enlisted men. All are very well moulded coming with separate parts to the greatcoat skirt and the coat on the german officer so that they hang free from the bodies as the should. Unusually all six figures wear different headgear which makes for an interesting look to the group, as well as this the two helmeted figures come with full heads and hollow helmets rather than the usual half head. Again, nice move there Masterbox, thumbs up for that small touch. There is also a backpack and side bag for one german and a large satchel for one of the russians.
The weapon sprue contains all the personal equipment such as entrenching tool with bayonette, water bottles and ammo pouches. Being mountain troops there are no gas mask containers, bread bags or mess tins for the germans. The weapons included are an MP40, two PPsh 41 SMGs, a Tokarev SVT-40 and two Kar98K rifles, one with the bolt in the open position as the figure holding it is shown recocking it.
Assembly instructions and painting guide is provided on the reverse of the box, along with a reference photo of a Russian Marine, and is very straight forward and easy to follow.
There are some really nice touches in this kit and I like it a lot. I know that there won’t be that much call for people wanting three of each at the same time but think of this as two kits of three sold together because each set works equally well on its own.
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