Dragon Models

1/35 Hunting Partisans Yugoslavia 1943 Four Figure set

Kit Number: 6491

Reviewed by  Andy Renshaw, IPMS# 35806

MSRP: $14.00 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com Dragon continues to release some very interesting sets of figures in good "action" poses. This one continues the "39-45" series with a four figures set representing three Waffen-SS "Prinz Eugen" Division troops and one Italian Bersaglieri, or "marksman" in English. All four poses are great "under fire" poses with two of the figures forming a machine gun team. Box and Contents: The box is Dragons standard figure box with flapped ends and full color artwork on all sides. The box are is very attractive and accurately painted. The back side is your instructions, with 3-D CAD drawings showing the parts locations, and a smaller version of the box art for paint call-outs. Enclosed you get five sprues; one containing all the parts for the figures including equipment and the other four are the weapons. Of the four weapons sprues, one is from Dragon #6087 which has two Mauser Kar98k's (one w/ bayonet), plus a MP34. There is the sprue containing the MG34 and related parts such as the ammo drum and bipod. The sprue labeled for #6105 has the MG34 ammo boxes. Finally you have sprue "WA" which has the various Italian weapons, such as Breda Modello 30 light machine gun, Berretta M938A, and a Carcano Carbine which is a shorter version of the Mannlicher Carcano M1891. Out of all of these weapons, you only use one Kar98k, the MP34, MG34, and the Carcano Carbine. The rest end up in your plastic armory. The Figures: Looking over the figure parts, we have very good molded figures with very fine and defined details. Texture for the helmet cover is good, as is the overall look and folds of the uniforms. As with all plastic figures, there is cleanup needed along all seam lines, but nothing too harsh. The weapons are finely cast and only a slight scrape along the seams are needed. One item that I have started to notice on recent Dragon figures is that they are starting to actually mold "cut outs" where ammo pouches should be fitted. Its still not a perfect fit, and some trimming and test fitting is still needed for the extra equipment, but at least it's a start! Looking over the uniforms, two of the SS troops have the early pattern camouflage smock, so be sure to paint with an early "dot-pattern" camouflage, as it is different than the later style smocks. Speaking of painting, use the paint call outs on the back with caution. I looked up several of the Testors Model Master numbers that the box calls out and I found the colors called for didn't match the right hue or shade needed to accurately paint the uniforms. Some Google image searches on the various uniform items will provide a wealth of pictures to use for reference. An interesting inclusion in this set is the extra sets of legs that allow you to build the MG34 crew on either a sloped (like the box art) or flat surface. Also there is a small "rock" for the lying SS trooper to rest his arm on. The only issue I have is about the boots. Being three of the figures most likely represent Waffen-SS from "Prinz Eugen", who were many times trained as Geibergsjager (Mountain) troops, the footwear should reflect this. All the figures in this set have standard issue boots and it would have been nice for Dragon to mold at least a couple of them, if not all the Germans, with the cleated mountain boots. If I was to do these figures again, I would probably either steal some boots from one of Dragons Geibergsjager figure sets or take some time and add the small cleats from plastic. On a final note, there are some who may look at the box art and think that the combination of Waffen-SS and Italian figures are odd. However during the anti-partisan missions in Yugoslavia, especially larger campaigns, it was very common to use German, Italian, and other nationalities together in a combined arms force. Whether or not they served with the proximity the box art suggests, I have yet to discover, however it's not completely unlikely. Building the Figures Looking over the figures, I decided to concentrate my efforts on the three Waffen-SS figures, and planed ahead to construct a suitable base to display them on. Assembly was straightforward for the most part. All the parts fit very well, and only a very minor amount of filler was needed on the main body parts to blend in the seams between the arms and torso. Since I was planning on making a sloped base, I used the "sloped" pair of legs for the MG34 crew. Speaking of the MG34 crew, I did leave off the assistant gunners right arm (the one holding the bipod) until I was sure of its exact placement. More on that later! The equipment fits moderately well, however I always test fit items like ammo pouches, bread sacks, etc and then will carve away some of the base figure to get a good solid contact to the body. There are only a few equipment items that should be allowed to "hang" away from the body, and this set doesn't contain any, so taking the time to make sure a good snug fit of equipment against the body will make for a more realistic figure. I found the most work was needed on figure "D" fitting the Kar98 ammo pouches around his waist. Once the equipment was place on all three figures, I then turned my attention to the MG34 pair. Because of their intimate interaction, I knew that having the arms, MG34, and hands all aligned properly was going to be critical to the end result to look natural. At this point the gunner (figure B) was assembled except for the MG34, and the assistant gunner (figure C) was fully assembled except for the right arm and bipod. I decided en order to have everything properly aligned, I needed to mount them how I wanted then add the missing elements all together between the two figures. So, with that I started work on the base. Making the Base Maybe because of my background in Art, it has been ingrained in me that a fine piece of work is nothing unless properly displayed. So in the case of our three figures, additional time spent to make a attractive base will be well rewarded in the end. From my experience in model railroading, nothing looks like hard rock than cast plaster. In my arsenal of scenery making materials are some rubber rock molds from Woodland Scenics (Pic1). These are latex molds of actual rock, so they capture the random texture of rock faces and weathered stone. Looking at the figures, I knew it was going to be crucial that they fit well into the scenery, looking as though they were taking advantage of natural cover and their poses were logical to the ground. In order to do this I needed to be able to have a large variety of rock formations to choose from, so I pulled out several of the rock molds, mixed some slightly thick plaster, and filled each mold. When the plaster had hardened, I pulled the resulting castings from the molds (Pic2). Save any chipped, hardened plaster, as this will be later used for talus and small additional rocks. With the castings out, I took the figures and began to "fit" them to areas of the castings trying to find areas of the casting that worked well with that particular figure (Pic3). The MG34 team I "fitted" as one group. The fit doesn't have to be perfect, as soil and additional groundwork can fill in some recesses, but it should look as though the figure fits naturally into the rock. Of course the parts of the casting that fit my machine gun pair was nowhere near or lined up with the area that fit the laying solider. So out with the saw and rough cuts were made to isolate the areas of the casting I wanted to use. These were then trimmed to fit within the wooden base I had chosen, which I found at the craft shop for a mere $2.00 (Pic4 and Pic5).

Now there are some obvious gaps, not to worry. The next step was to make some contour boards for the finished edge of the base. This I made from some thick Evergreen sheet, rough cutting to the basic contour and forming a square box (Pic6). Notice the Taymia plastic putty on the corners to completely blend the joints; no need to sacrifice craftsmanship on the base! The box was then glued to the wood base using epoxy glue. The rough cut plaster castings were then trimmed to fit within my contour boards, or "walls", and glued in using Epoxy. Once the glue is dry, use masking tape to cover the wood portions of the base as the next step can get messy. Mix some additional plaster in a small cup and then pour and work it into all the resulting gaps between the castings so that there are no longer any gaps. Don't be too concerned about perfection, just make sure that there is plenty of plaster to fill the voids. The plaster will set fairly fast, so you will be forced to work quickly. The end result will look like what is in Pic7.

Once the plaster has hardened, take a razor knife and carve down the contour boards to match the profile of the rock castings. Then use a old blade to chip and carve the areas that were filled in to blend in the filled gaps into the surrounding original castings. There is no science to this, just chip and carve until it starts to look like one contiguous section of ground. On my particular base, I ended up carving out a little more of the original casting around the laying figure to help fit him to the ground, and blend the adjacent casting. Keep your chips and carvings small and avoid large flat cuts. Results are shown in Pic8. Fitting the Figures With some ground now established I could now return to completing the figures themselves. I drilled holes in one heel of each of the MG34 pair and inserted a small length of brass rod (Pic9). I was then able use the MG34, arm, and bipod to align the two gluing each item and double checking that both figures were erect (not leaning), and the pose looked natural. I ended up gluing the two figures together as some of the equipment touched the other figure. This may make painting a little more difficult, but I was more concerned about overall alignment. A final check that the figures all looked good positioned on the base, and painting could commence! Painting the Figures I always start my figures with the face, mainly as this is how I learned from Shep Paine's fine books. I undercoated all flesh areas with Model Master Sand. Once dry I paint the face using oil paints. I prefer this method as I have plenty of working time and blend and shadow tones as needed. Once each face was complete I allowed the oils to dry fully for a few days. As I noted in the beginning of the review, use with caution the callouts for the paint on the back of the box. About the only "correct" ones I found was the Dark Green trousers, and wood or leather items. For instance, the SS camo pattern according to the instructions would be made up of "Pale Green", "Euro Dark Green", and "Camouflage Grey". No way does this reflect the orange brown, brown, and gray pattern used. I went online and did a couple of Google image searches and discovered several good pictures of the early pattern Waffen-SS reversible smocks, which is what is represented in the kit. Using these photos as reference, I painted with colors that "looked correct". Model Master German Uniform Grey was used for the gray tunic, and Model Master "Dark Green" used on all the trousers. Equipment was painted using a very dark gray for the portions called out as "black" and used browns and leather colors as needed for other items using the box art as a guide. (Pics 11-14)

Once the main patterns and colors were down, I used diluted enamels and a fine brush to build up shadows and highlights. I start with the shadows first, using a very dark brown or gray. I just make a small puddle of paint and some mineral spirits, diluting the paint as I go. This allows me to control the opacity of the color on the fly, and adjust for deep recesses or just a slight shadow. I do the same for highlights using a light sand color. Note that I don't use black or white, as both have too stark a contrast. Sometimes depending on the effect I may very lightly drybrush using a light sand oil paint, but even that is blended to avoid stark contrasts. A thin line of very dark brown was run along all on-body equipment to pull the items away from the uniform. Equipment was weathered and accented using the same technique as above, as well as washes of dark colors as needed. Results can be seen in Pic15. Back to the Base…Groundwork With the figures nearly complete, it was time to wrap up work on the base and ground work. I mixed up a small batch of Celluclay and filled in some of the depressions and such that was not needed. Some of this should be natural area in the rock that would collect soil. I also sprinkled in some of the leftover bits of plaster to replicate talus and stones. I pressed the figures in to be sure they were going to look "planted" into the groundwork. I did not leave them in the wet Celluclay, but removed them leaving an impression. (Pic16) To start painting, first I painted the entire base a gloss black, using Krylon spray paint. (Pic17) This will be the finished color of the base itself, plus act as a preshade for the groundwork color. After that dried for a few days, I masked off the sides with low tack tape to prepare to color the rock and ground. I used several shades of gray and tan in colors that look like natural rock. I don't remember exactly what I used, however observation of real nature is key. Don't guess! A simple Google image search or photo search on Google Maps in the area you are modeling will give you all the correct colors you need. Then you just have to match them with what you see. I airbrushed the colors, allowing them to dry for a couple of days. I next used some cheap craft paint thinned with a mix of rubbing alcohol and water to flow a wash over the rocks darkening the recesses. After this had fully dried, a light drybrush using light gray and tan popped out the highlights and details. (Pic 18) At this point I went ahead and mounted the figures permanently.

With the figures mounted, I added some additional texture with soil, ground foam (from Woodland Scenics), and static grass. I also cut up random patches of a Noch grass mat, gluing them in areas that grasses would grow on a wind swept slope, mainly crevasses and behind rocks, and also where soil and water would hold. Again, observation of nature is key! I finished up with some application of pigments and weathering powders to blend everything in, including the figures concentrating on the footwear and lower portions of the body. Final details were added, such as straps for the weapons using tape, and some highlighting on the weapons using a graphite pencil. (Pic19) Conclusion: Overall this was a very enjoyable build. The figure set is fantastic and I really do like how Dragons sculptors are pressing the envelope by offering figures in a more "in action" pose as well as a non-level surface. This makes a level of visual interest which very few out of the box sets can offer. Highly recommended, and thanks to Dragon for the review sample!