introduction

Drevo Miniatures from St.Petersburg-Russia, owned by the sculptor of his own company Igor Kordyukov, produced a nice series of three 1/35 scale resin figures named Flowers of War; the figures on the series represent Russian female warriors of World War II carrying different flowers.

DRM-35002- Cornflower represents a Soviet sniper girl with a flower crown on her head made of cornflowers.

about the figure

Soviet snipers were a part of the military planning and tactics long before the outbreak of the war. The Soviet experience from the first world war highlighted the importance of incorporating sharpshooters or snipers into their battle plans. Marksmanship and sharp shooting skills were emphasized in both the military and in official state run youth and recreation programs. When the rifle 1891/30 was developed it was also decided to develope a sniper variant. Up until that time the official tactics for small units largely ignored the importance of utilizing snipers equipped with special purpose rifles. The Soviet Army did utilize sharpshooters but they were equipped with either standard infantry rifles or sometimes civilian hunting rifles.

At the start of the war, there were two types of Russian snipers--snipers who were part of the Reserves of the Supreme High Command (RVGK) and snipers who were part of standard infantry units. The RVGK snipers were organized into separate brigades--such as the RVGK sniper brigade made up of women. Entire platoons, companies, and even battalions of RVGK snipers were assigned to fronts and armies to support critical sectors.

Red Army snipers hunted in pairs, one spotting and one firing. Both were armed with the Mosin-Nagant 1891/1930 sniper rifle that fires a 7.62x54mm rimmed round. Although the rifle's four-power scope mount also allowed the sniper to use the standard open sights for closer-in shots, both snipers also carried PPSH 7.62mm submachine guns as insurance. The spotter used his scoped rifle to back up the fire and to fire immediately at the target if the firer should miss.

box

The figure comes well packed in standard Drevo Miniatures dark brown and sand colored 70x100x35 mm cardboard box . The front part of the box shows a photo of figure painted by Igor Kordyukov which can serve as a simple painting guide. On the other side of the box; website of the company is noted.

The parts are represented with the casting blocks. The main part-body and other parts of figure like arms and accessories are seperately inserted in small plastic zip-lock bags to avoid unexpected damages during transfer.

parts

The figure is sculpted by Igor Kordyukov and comes in 5 medium grey resin parts. The resin quality is very good and details are very crisp. No air bubbles, excess resin or any casting mistakes on the figure. The junctions between figure parts and casting blocks are well placed and the parts can be easily removed from the blocks with no damage. There will be almost no need for a serious cleanwork.

The main part is Body with head,legs and right hand. The female facial details, hair and Cornflower crown on the head are quite well represented but honestly she doesn’t look very cute as the Guerilla girl figure. She wears Soviet Army one-piece camouflage overall with a big hood part usually called deceptive coverall and named as Maskirovochnyy kombinezon. The overall has the Amoeba pattern which shows big brown blobs on a pale green background. The cloth folds of the overall are well defined. She has under-knee length leather boots. She has a Russian army leather belt with metal buckle and two Mosin Nagant ammo pouches attached on the left side. The upper part shoulder strap of the rifle and right hand holding the strap are sculpted on the figure. Note that the lower part ofthe strap should be made by the modeler.

Other parts are;

Right arm : Posed to carry the rifle. It should be fitted to the shoulder and the hand on the body part.

Left arm : It shows nice cloth folds, left hand is given as a seperate part.

Left hand : Posed to carry the Pilotka cap.

Rifle : >She carries a famous Russian sniper rifle Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 with a PU scope.The details of the rifle are well defined.

conclusion

Nice sculpted and high quality cast figure for the painters who like to paint female warriors of World War II. It can displayed as a single figure or as a part of a vignette or diorama.



Highly recommended