Tank Model

1/35 Soviet Tank Crew II Summer 1941-42

Kit Number: T-35046

Reviewed by  Bart Cusumano, IPMS# 31882

MSRP: $30.00 Website: www.tank-model.ru My favorite subject in my modeling endeavors is World War II and I almost exclusively stick to Allied subjects. So I was quite eager to review Tank Model's kit # T-35046: Soviet Tank Crew II - Summer 1941-42. I've been seeing Tank's products around and they seldom disappoint - and this set is no exception. The kit comes in a small white box with photos of the finished figures on the front of the box. There are no written instructions, but the assembly is simple and intuitive and the box photo serves as a painting and assembly guide. Parts are molded in a shiny, tannish-gray resin, which are attached to small pour stubs. The resin had sort of a slick feel to it out of the box, but this went away after an alcohol wash down. Even though the parts for each figure are packaged in their own clear poly zip bag, the pour stubs are numbered so that even on the slight chance you might mix up the parts (hmmm, sounds like something I would do) you still know which parts go to which figure. There are eleven separate pieces which yield two full tank crew figures: figure 046A uses 5 parts and 046B, uses 6 parts (he gets a holstered sidearm).

The quality of the sculpting and casting on these figures is superb and they appear accurate in their depiction of the Soviet tanker apparel of the era. The tanker overalls look nice and loose and the hands are depicted nicely with actual separate fingers. The facial expressions are full of character and look real good. The heads are provided bare, with the padded helmets being molded separately. I really am not sure if this is something that is a plus or not (to me it's not), but I guess it gives you the option to use the heads elsewhere or to use them bald. The sculpting and casting quality of the helmets was so nice that I could not imagine not using them.

As for the figures as a whole, the castings are nice and sharp with lots of folds (maybe a tad too many?) and the undercuts are nice and crisp. My only gripe with the sculpting/casting was the presence of 'stress marks' - areas of the overalls that are 'pressed in' on the legs where they would have been pushed up against part of the tank. I really don't care for this since I feel it limits how you can use the figures or where you can put your figures on your tank kit. Besides, I like to build up epoxy putty on the appropriate places and press fit it to where the figure will ultimately go. On the bright side, this appears on the lower legs of the figures, so, if like me, you end up putting these figures into the turret hatches, this problem will not matter.

One thing that really impressed me on these figures was the lack of clean up. Other than removing parts from their pour stubs and trimming them up (a fact of life with resin castings) there were no mold lines, flash - nothing to clean up. Once separated, the parts fit was terrific using super glue and I used a bare minimum of epoxy putty to clean up a small seam line on one arm on each figure. I ended up leaving the pour stub for the main torso part attached, since it not only acted as a plinth for painting, but may come in handy when putting these figures into a turret.

Speaking of painting, these figures were a breeze to paint due to their excellent castings. I used artist oils for the skin and Humbrol enamels for everything else using a glazing technique of sorts that I am trying to work out. I have to say that I really like these figures and would recommend them as far as their quality goes. The only thing that I struggle with is their cost at an MSRP of $30 - for two figures. I know that you get what you pay for, but that's almost as much as I paid for the kit that I will be placing these figures in! But if you have the money and don't mind spending it, I can definitely give these guys a big thumbs-up. Many thanks to Tank Models for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for allowing me the pleasure of doing this review.

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