Introduction:

NATO in Miniatures have been releasing quite a number of modern figure sets in 1/35 scale... After the first figure kits representing US soldiers from Afghanistan/Iraq, which positioned this company among the best resin figure brands on the market today, modelers started to voice their requests on new figures depicting soldiers from other NATO nations. Most modelers wanted to see Bundeswehr figures, something to add a "human touch" to their AFV vignettes and dioramas.

And here it is... Ammo Loading (Ger004) is a two figure set portraying Bundeswehr tank crew reloading their Leopard tank. Historicus Forma had an exclusive story on these figures when they were still in progress (link) and now we bring you a full review on this set.

Review:

The kit arrived in a firm cardboard box printed in ACU pattern which features nicely painted box art picture. 3 zip-lock bags with kit parts are additionally protected inside foam wrap. The kit contains parts to build 2 figures and ammo accessories… 10 pieces altogether. The parts are molded in grey resin and are completely clean of any casting imperfections: there are no air bubbles and no seam lines... perfect!

The figures represent Bundeswehr tank crew in process of ammo reloading. The first figure consists of 3 pieces: full body with head is a single piece cast while both arms are cast separately. The fit of the parts is great and I had no problems assembling the figure... if you position the arms to the body well, almost no gaps are visible and there is no need for extra putty work. The hands grip the projectile well, too. The pose of this figure looks good, it is well balanced and suggest tension of lifting the heavy 120mm HEAT round. The second figure consist of 4 pieces: full body is cast as a single piece while the head and both arms are cast separately. Again, the fit is great and there were no problems assembling the figure. This figure is depicted crouching on tank hull, prepared to receive the projectile.

Both figures are wearing German Army tank suit overalls. The overalls are made of heavy weight poly-cotton moleskin material and feature: large central two-way zip for opening from top downwards or bottom upwards; six external zip pockets consisting of two on chest, two hip and two lower leg pockets, two internal Velcro pockets behind the chest zip pockets; drawstring waist which can be adjusted with toggles left and right; zip open lower legs for easy drawing over boots; Velcro wrist cuffs; waist Velcro tabs; name tape Velcro on left chest; two epaulettes; flags on left and right sleeves; waist adjustment tabs with Velcro; pen pocket sewn onto front of left chest; and internally mounted drag handle for emergency carry secured behind Velcro opening on back. The overalls are printed in Flecktarn, a 5-color disruptive camouflage pattern. Both figures are wearing beret caps and combat boots. The sculptor did a great job on the uniform with all intricate details well rendered in scale... the folds look natural and give good impression of the material. If you think painting the Flecktarn camouflage pattern could present a problem in this scale, there are several aftermarket companies offering Flecktarn camo decal sets. The heads are sculpted well, with facial details nicely defined. The only thing that I have a slight problem with are the boots which seem to be a bit large.

Conclusion:

This figure kit is what many of us were really looking forward to... an opportunity to add a "human touch" to modern German armor vignettes. The figures are sculpted really well with all the details on the uniform and equipment nicely rendered. The poses are well balanced and look good, too. The good news is that Dmitri Baev, the owner of NATO in Miniatures, plans to continue with this theme... so hopefully we will see new sets of Bundeswehr tank crew figures soon. The figures which are to complement the set reviewed here, loading the ammo into the tank turret, are currently in the pipeline.

Thanks to NATO in Miniatures for this review sample.

References:

http://www.flecktarn.co.uk
http://www.flecktarn.co.uk/flcov1ua.html