Armory

Soviet WWII Tank Crew Evacuating

If there is a simple way to create dynamism in an AFV diorama, then it is to have some battle going on, and what better way than to have some crew members bailing out of their stricken tank. This set offers just that, although you will have to take care that your tank has a four-man crew. (The option of having a fifth crew member remaining in the tank is of course always open.)

All figures are clad in the typical style of the day; one is armed with a submachine gun, another with a pistol; the remainder go unarmed. Poses are dynamic with vivid facial expressions, although I feel that the crew is in no great hurry to get away from their mount.

The figures scale out between 1m70 and 1m80, i.e. your average Caucasian male, although I believe the average tanker in the Caucasus might have been a tad shorter. Moreover, some Russian tankers were actually average Caucasian females.

As with all resin figures, these need a little clean up. There is no mold seem to be found, but a rather prominently placed pour block adorns the backs of our tankers. This invariably means that the back has to be resculpted. OK, it is the easiest area to resculpt, but it's still a task. Apart from that, detail is very sharp and I especially like the folds in the tunics.

Figures procured by author through barter.

Article Last Updated: 13 December 2013