introduction

Another high quality World War II German bust from Young Miniatures of Korea.

YM – 1814 represents a German SS Fallschirmjager , Battalion 500 in Drvar, 1944.

box

The figure comes in a black color heavy cardboard box inserted in a transparent sleeve. The front cover of the box shows the photo of bust painted by Sang eon Lee that can serve as a painting guide.

Parts are well protected between thick slabs of polyfoam and small parts secured in plastic zip-lock bag.

parts

The bust is sculpted by Laurent Borget and made up of 5 resin pieces. The parts are very clean and show no mistakes like air bubbles or excess resin as in all Young Miniatures 1/10 resin busts. Cutting and cleaning of the casting blocks will the only necessary process before priming.

Parts are ;

Upper torso : He wears a FJ jump smock - Fallschirmkittel over his standard Luftwaffe jacket. The SS collar insignia,buttons and cloth folds of the jacket and jump smock are extremely good represented. The boxart shows the jumpsmock painted in Splinter B camo pattern but it can be painted different according to the choice of painter. The Y-straps - Trageriemen, straps of the gasmask case are well defined. He carries handgrenade or utility cases with zippers on both armpits hanged with a strap on his neck. The right case is sculpted in open position showing the buttoms of two hand grenades.

Head : Sculpted in very nice facial details. Chin straps of the FJ helmet and buckles of the strap are very well defined.

Helmet : He wears a German paratrooper jump helmet - Fallschirmhelme which is originally cut-down Wehrmacht steel helmet- Stalhelme with the brims removed. This was done partly to prevent the air flow of the initial descent from an aircraft lifting the helmet and half-strangling the men, and partly to eliminate the risk of the relatively sharp edges from possibly severing a shroud line. These helmets were originally painted in Luftwaffe blue-grey and featured the national tricolor and air force eagle on either side. Battle experience caused them to be repainted in green or dull yellow and insignia disappeared. Note that extra care is needed not to harm the backside of the helmet when removing casting block.

Canvas Gasmask case : Since the early days of war, German paratroopers were issued with a soft canvas carrying bag for their gasmask cases instead of rigid cylindiric metal one, which could have caused injury during a drop. The cloth folds of the bag, buttons on the top and straps at the bottom are all well defined.

Hand grenade : The bottom part of a M1924 stick grenade is given to be assembled into the bag on the right armpit.

Pedestal : Resin cylinderical part is supplied in the kit to mount the figure to a wooden figure base.

casting & details

As in all Young Miniatures resin busts, the quality of this one is very high. Especially facial details, fur textile and submachine gun details are very crisp and clean.

painting

The box shows a photo of the bust that can be used as a painting reference. Unfortunately, there is no other painting guide included in the kit but Young Miniatures website offers many nice photos of the painted bust. Please visit SS Fallschirmjager Photos .

References

The following books can be useful when painting this figure;

Osprey Men At Arms - 139 - German Airborne Troops 1939-45 by Bruce Quarrie & Mike Chappell

Osprey Warrior - 038 - Fallschirmjager German Paratrooper 1935-45 by Bruce Quarrie & Velimir Vuksic

Squadron Signal - Combat Troops In Action - Fallschmirjagers

Conclusion

For World War II bust painters, and especially for the ones that appreciate German SS subjects, this bust is definitely a must with superb sculpt of Laurent Borget and high quality casting with nice details.



Highly Recommended