Another Work In Progress in the Masterbox style of having figures from opposing forces together in the one set. This one takes on a new niche by having a Polish cavalryman being captured by German infantrymen after being unhorsed.
I don’t know much about Polish Cavalrymen so can’t comment there but I must admit that the German figures don’t really capture “Poland 1939″ for me. Maybe MB is going for a generic look so they work elsewhere but my understanding is that part of the whole blitzkrieg concept was that the troops travelled light with their equipment following on trucks which mean that although the Y-harness was intorduced a few months earlier photos of German troops in fall wiess ( and even fall gelb ) see them with no Y-Straps, sleeves rolled up and just weapons, a breadbag and a gasmask container which then still had the gas cape bag mounted on the front.
I also always think of the German troops in Poland as all having the leather band and crossover strap on their helmets for camo attachment, even though that wasn’t across the board. It’s just to me when I think Germans in Poland that’s what I see, rolled up sleeves, minimal equipment, and leather webbing on their helmets. Hopefully as this is a WIP Masterbox will consider giving these more of a true “early war” look.
Hah, whoops, I meant MP-34. Completely wrong on that, I’m afraid.
Yeah, take away the horse (or at least move it further away), and it’s more realistic.
I’m also really hoping there’s some more Polish campaign stuff coming (though I just spent $35 buying resin Polish helmets). It shouldn’t be hard, the uniforms, weapons, and equipment were often licence builds of German gear (+US BARs and M1917 machine guns).
I’ve been working on making my own Polish ’39 infantrymen, and while it’s good to see Masterbox making this kit (the first non-Polish-manufacturer, non-resin one), I hope that they’re going to put more work into it.
The Polish lancer looks to be modelled well, though he is missing a carbine (Polish cavalry operated as mounted infantry and recon after the Polish-Soviet war).
The German is holding an MP-40 – rather than a MP-38.
Overall, the scene is quite unnatural – did the lancer just fall off his horse? I’d rather see a set with two or three lancers instead.
I need your optomitrist, I tried to see if I could tell if it was an MP40 or an MP38 but couldn’t see enough detail to say for certain. My guess ( guess only ) is that the Pole is supposed to be wounded and being rounded up post action. Whatever the intent I hope it means we’ll see some Polish troops sometime, it would be nice to be able to do a few fall weiss dioramas.