Tamiya were amongst the first manufacturers to bring us 1/35 scale figures back in the 70s, and some of those moulds, and others of similar age, are still around, which means that these days they are showing their age and don’t really compare well alongside some of the more recent figure kits on offer from other manufacturers. But Tamiya’s newer figure sets have improved greatly on quality compared to those earlier kits. This set is one of those newer ones and the improvement in quality over time is very noticeable, in fact side by side with an older set you can easily see the full thirty years of moulding evolution between them.

This set comes in the typical Tamiya small open ended box, on two sprues moulded in a greenish grey and are the usual Tamiya quality of finish, no flash, minimal mould seams, and clear sharp detail. Averaging 50mm tall these scale out at 175cmtall or 5’9″. This is a big improvement as one of Tamiya’s earlier “shortcomings” with their figures was that they were too short. These are no giants but they’rean  improvement. Some of the clothing folds and creases is a little understated which seems to be a persistant problem with Tamiya’s figures where they get the main folds but miss any of the smaller folds, falls and creases which they manage to capture in the artwork but not in the plastic.

In this set you get five and two third figures including one female figure, the two thirds being one figure who has nothing below the knees. All are dressed in russian tanker uniforms, two in the M1943 Gymnastiorka tunic and trousers, two in tanker’s coveralls, one in a long leather jacket and one in a shorter leather jacket. All wear the high leather boots. Four of them have the russian tanker’s helmet moulded on while the female figure and the last male figure are both bareheaded and come with separate helmets that are moulded flat to be held in the hand or suspended from the waist belt. The face detail is sharp if somewhat uninspired and they also seem a little small and narrow, but the female face does at least look female, even if not as clearly so as the one on the boxart.

One of the helmeted heads seems a little undersized and the hair on the female figure and bareheaded male figure seems a little light, both being straight and swept back, and interupted by a mould seam that runs ear to ear across the top of the head. Though like woodgraining hair detail is often a difficult area to get perfect. The female figure does however come with a separate plaited pony tail which is a nice touch and is well done.

No personal equipment is included other than six holsters for the Tokarev TT33 pistol, three of which are the earlier leather type with the other three being the later synthetic type.

As is the norm with pretty much all figure sets these days the assembly instructions and painting guide are printed in colour on the reverse of the box and in traditional Tamiya fashion the sides of the box include coloured illustrations of some of the equipment and potential rank insignia.

If you’re in the hunt for a set of Russian tank crew figures who have that “sitting around killing time” look then this is a good set despite the few wee niggles over some of the finer detail as it is still streets ahead of the older Tamiya figures. The addition of the female figure to provide a focal point is also a nice touch.

Click on thumbnails to enlarge images.

1/35 russian tank crew, Tamiya Russian Army Tank Crew At Rest review

If you asked me in the morning to make a list of the ten top things I’d like to do that day I’m pretty sure nowhere on that list would be “Bail out of a burning T-34 in the middle of history’s biggest ever tank battle”. What this kit does for me is to bring home the reality that many men did just that, not just at Kursk but anywhere that a tank saw action.

This comes in the usual Masterbox open ended box on a single dark yellow sprue containing the four figures. The mouldings are pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Masterbox, good detail with a little clean-up of light flash and minor mould seams, and minor filling and sanding required to eliminate the join lines when assembled.

The uniform details are very good, being sharp and clear with good looking folds and creases. The faces have individual looks  and I particularly like the expresion on the figure with the PPsH 41. The hands are all nicely moulded and the tanker helmets come with separate parts for the side flaps which allows them hang with a natural look.

No personal equipment is provided other than a pistol holster for the Tokarev pistol that one figure holds. Also included is a PPsH 41 sub-machine gun for one figure.

Assembly and painting instructions are provided on the reverse of the box giving the paint numbers for Vallejo, Tamiya, Lifecolour, Humbrol and Agama paints.

This is a very good set of figures that acheives well the sense of urgency and tension that you would expect to see in a tank crew abandoning their vehicle in battle. The moulding and the detail is very good and the poses just really help this set to take any diorama of a Russian tank from being just a tank sitting there to really telling a story. 

Click thumbnails to enlarge images.

1/35 russian tank crew, Masterbox, Masterbox "Bail Out" Russian Tank Crew review, wwii russian tank crew

There has never really been a lot of 1/35 scale figure kits representing allied tank crews, though of late we’re starting to see a few more coming ou,t and this kit from Masterbox that came out a couple of years ago represents something we’ve not yet really seen, a russian tank crew not just at rest, but actually doing something other than just sitting there.

The kit comes in the usual Masterbox open ended box with a single dark yellow sprue and consists of four figures. The mouldings are pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Masterbox, good detail with a little clean-up of light flash and minor mould seams, and minor filling and sanding required to eliminate the join lines when assembled. The uniform details are very good, being sharp and clear with good looking folds and creases. The faces have individual looks and differnt hairstyles and the hands are nicely moulded.

Two of the figures are wearing overalls while one tips a bucket of water over the head and into the hands of the other ( so of course you get the bucket ). The trailing parts of the overalls that are removed to the waist are moulded as separate parts to give the best definition. These figures with a little work to modify the identifiable parts could easily be changed to any other nationality as well.

One of the seated figures sews a uniform and comes with a needle moulded in his hand, though it is rather large and would look better replaced with a small section of fuse wire. The uniform jacket he is sewing comes as a separate part and looks very good. He is bareheaded but the kit also includes a russian tankers helmet, moulded to look as if it is laying flat, that can be used beside any of the four.

The other seated figure is cleaning his PPsH 41 and even the bolt and recoil spring are included to sit beside him along with the drum magazine. He is holding a cloth in one hand and wears a soft cap sideways across his head and the long boots.

This is a very nice set of figures that really captures well the look of a crew catching up on things that need doing during a break in the fighting.

Click thumbnails to enlarge images.

1/35 russian tank crew, masterbox russian tankmen review, russian tank crew at rest