introduction

After the 3- figure kit EM-35020 Soviet Guerillas WW II posed in a railroad sabotage, Evolution Miniatures released another figure representing a high-rank guerilla in standing pose.

about the figure

In the early days of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, guerilla warfare broke out on the territories temporarily occupied by the enemy.
At the call of Joseph Stalin – “In occupied regions conditions must be made unbearable for the enemy and all his accomplices. They must be hounded and annihilated at every step, and all their measures frustrated.” , Soviet men and women took up arms and started resistance movement. The movement was coordinated and controlled by the Soviet government and modeled on that of the Red Army. The primary objective of the guerrilla warfare waged by the Soviet partisan units was the disruption of the Eastern Front's German rear, especially road and railroad communications.
The sudden and precipitate attacks of the guerilla detachments caused great casualties to the German army and did extensive damage to its materiel. In two years, the guerillas killed more than 300,000 German troopers, including 30 generals and over 6000 officers. During the same period, they derailed no less than 3,000 enemy trains and wrecked 3,263 railroad and highway bridges. The guerillas wrecked thousands of German tanks and armoured cars, hundreds of planes , artillery guns , bases and munition stores. In addition, the guerillas captured large quantities of all sorts of German material.

box

The figure comes well packed in standard Evolution Miniatures 70x100x35 mm hard cardboard box . The front part of the box shows a photo of the figure painted by Maksim Veretelnikov which can serve as a painting guide. In one side of the box, there is a close up photo for the face of the figure.
The parts are represented with the casting blocks. The body part and weapon parts are seperately inserted in a small plastic zip-lock bags to avoid unexpected damages during transfer.

parts

The figure is sculpted by Sergey Traviansky - Menelay and comes in 3 light grey resin parts. The casting quality is very good and there is almost no need for a cleanwork.

The figure comes as a single piece with some personal gear cast on it. The facial details are well defined and he wears a wool cap named Papakha with a red star in front,which is mostly worn by the Caucausian fighters. Around his neck, he has a scarf to protect his neck from the cold winter of Russia. Cloth folds of scarf are well defined. He wears a Russian officer’s Kitel Tunic, a khaki color, collarless, open front garment with 5 buttons and 2 hidden breast pockets with flap covers. Unlike the typical wool semi-breeches, he has a loosy trousers inserted into his under-knee length kirza or leather boots. Kirza is a type of artificial leather based on the multi-layer textile fabric, modified by membrana-like substances, produced mainly in the Soviet Union and Russia. The surface of kirza imitates the pig leather. The material is mainly used in production of military boots, where it is a cheap and effective replacement for natural leather. He carries a binoculars on his neck , a leather map case on the right and a PPsH-41 drum magazine pouch on the left attached to his brass buckled leather belt. Cloth folds and details of personal gear are well defined. As the outer garment; he wears a captured German M42 mouse grey/white reversible winter parka with hood and waist tie. Cloth folds and straps are well defined.

PPsH-41 ; Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagin - Shpagin machine pistol was a submachine gun as one of the most mass produced weapons of its type in World War II. It was designed by Georgi Shpagin as an inexpensive alternative to the PPD-40. The PPSh operated with simple blowback action, had a box or drum magazine, and fired the 7.62x25mm pistol round. It was made with metal stampings to ease production, and its chrome-lined chamber and bore helped to make the gun very low-maintenance in combat environments. Note that strap of the gun on the right shoulder should be scratched.

Drum magazine of PPsH-41

references

The following books and website can be useful when painting this figure.

Europa Militaria - No:14 – Red Army Uniforms of World War II in color photographs by Anton Shalito, Ilya Savchenko & Andrew Mollo

Osprey Publishing - Men at Arms 216 – The Red Army of the Great Patriotic War 1941-45 by Steven J Zaloga & Ron Volstad

Front of Russia website

conclusion

A nice posing figure sculpted and cast in crisp details. It can be displayed alone or together with other Soviet Guerilla figures of the company.< br>
Highly recommended