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MiniArt: GERMAN TANK CREW. KHARKOV 1943
varanusk
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 10:59 AM UTC


MiniArt informs about their new set of German Tank Crew from Kharkov in 1943.

Read the Full News Story

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 11:19 AM UTC
but but but but but!!??
None of them are pointing!!??
bill_c
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 11:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text

but but but but but!!??
None of them are pointing!!??


They got tired and cold and had to stop pointing, haha.

I guess we should expect Dennis to come on and complain about how this isn't an Allied tank crew.
SgtRam
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 11:55 AM UTC

Quoted Text

but but but but but!!??
None of them are pointing!!??



The guy sitting with the big gloves on is pointing, but we can't see because of the gloves.
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 02:05 PM UTC
Nice to see more variety in winter gear in styrene Germans. Guys like this have been in resin but not in plastic.

Miniart offers similar sets for British and US tankers. But it would be nice to see more western front allied infantry bundled up-- just saying but then might as well ask for a new American Civil War set in plastic like Masterbox just produced.

But then I was actually looking for a German armor crew in winter gear in plastic that weren't the typical snow suit guys.
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 03:55 PM UTC
This set, the riders and the new Border PZ IV G will go great together.
M4A1Sherman
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 11:44 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

but but but but but!!??
None of them are pointing!!??


They got tired and cold and had to stop pointing, haha.

I guess we should expect Dennis to come on and complain about how this isn't an Allied tank crew.



SURPRISE, BILL!!!

I'm NOT going to go into another "US/ALLIED" Tank Crew diatribe!!!

Yes, these new figures are VERY NICE INDEED, as far as PLASTIC figures are concerned. The new TAMIYA M551 also has some very nice figures included. I really like the MASTER BOX plastic figures, as well!
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 12:09 AM UTC
Bill play nice as well please.
M4A1Sherman
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 12:09 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Nice to see more variety in winter gear in styrene Germans. Guys like this have been in resin but not in plastic.

Miniart offers similar sets for British and US tankers. But it would be nice to see more western front allied infantry bundled up-- just saying but then might as well ask for a new American Civil War set in plastic like Masterbox just produced.

But then I was actually looking for a German armor crew in winter gear in plastic that weren't the typical snow suit guys.



Hi, Steve!

AGREE on all points!

Just an additional comment, and NO, I'm not trying to "HIJACK" this thread:

MASTER BOX has a very nice 1/35 seven-figure set called, "Move, move, move!!! US Soldiers, Operation Overlord period, 1944", No MB35130- They're not in "Winter garb" as you mentioned, but they are entirely appropriate for an "Omaha" or "Utah" Beach dio, especially when united with the ITALERI LCVP... With a little bit of extra work, these little guys can have their arms, legs, heads, weaponry and accouterments interchanged for a little bit more variety, although I think that the water-cooled M1917 .30 cal MG and two-figure crew are a little bit out of place for a D-Day "Omaha"/"Utah" Beach dio.

Though I'm not a very big WWII Eastern Front fan myself, I'm sure that these new figure sets will find happy homes...
M4A1Sherman
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 12:12 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Bill play nice as well please.



Thank You, Darren!
CMOT
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 12:14 AM UTC
German tank crew figures and winter figures are my two favourite combinations of late, but this figure set does not appeal other than the figure with the MP40. The annoying part is I don't know what it is that is not drawing me to them and No it is not because nobody is pointing Robin!
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 12:48 AM UTC

Quoted Text

German tank crew figures and winter figures are my two favourite combinations of late, but this figure set does not appeal other than the figure with the MP40. The annoying part is I don't know what it is that is not drawing me to them and No it is not because nobody is pointing Robin!



Maybe the poses don't match with the rest?
The sitting guy, radio operator, looks like he has given up and is only waiting for the next meal.
The officer (??) with the binoculars has an odd pose, the upper body is about to use the binoculars while the lower body seems to be going somewhere else.
The MP40 guy holds the gun as if he is alert and ready for action while the rest of the body seems to be more or less in an 'at ease' position. The face seems to be staring all the way back to his "Heimat" thinking "I wanna go home".
The one with his hands in his pockets ... he just seems lost, thinking where am I and what's happening or maybe "Just look at them all, playing at being soldiers while wanting to go home to mommy". Would the word 'disdainful' fit this guy?.
Maybe the MP40 and the binocular guys could swap body parts, walking with MP40 helmet on head vs standing, looking far away, ready to use binoculars.

Hard to come up with an idea for a diorama using these figures, maybe as singles but I find it hard to imagine them as a group in one action scene.
/ Robin
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 02:46 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

German tank crew figures and winter figures are my two favourite combinations of late, but this figure set does not appeal other than the figure with the MP40. The annoying part is I don't know what it is that is not drawing me to them and No it is not because nobody is pointing Robin!



Maybe the poses don't match with the rest?
The sitting guy, radio operator, looks like he has given up and is only waiting for the next meal.
The officer (??) with the binoculars has an odd pose, the upper body is about to use the binoculars while the lower body seems to be going somewhere else.
The MP40 guy holds the gun as if he is alert and ready for action while the rest of the body seems to be more or less in an 'at ease' position. The face seems to be staring all the way back to his "Heimat" thinking "I wanna go home".
The one with his hands in his pockets ... he just seems lost, thinking where am I and what's happening or maybe "Just look at them all, playing at being soldiers while wanting to go home to mommy". Would the word 'disdainful' fit this guy?.
Maybe the MP40 and the binocular guys could swap body parts, walking with MP40 helmet on head vs standing, looking far away, ready to use binoculars.

Hard to come up with an idea for a diorama using these figures, maybe as singles but I find it hard to imagine them as a group in one action scene.
/ Robin



Hi, Darren, Robin and everyone else!

Please don't think that I'm trying to start an argument with you about your impressions of these figures' body-positions or their poses- I'm just going to try to show another side or two to what you're saying. Though these body-parts may not be very interchangeable as you say, in my own eyes, I can see that these figures are PROBABLY properly posed, so let's go through the line-up:

First, let's remember that we are going by the illustration on front side of the box, and NOT exactly what we're getting INSIDE the box. Artists' impressions can widely differ to what the molding machine actually produces...

OK, the "sitting guy-radio operator" COULD very well have "given up and actually IS waiting for his next meal"- This is the Russian Front, (actually Ukraine) and by Winter of 1943, things weren't looking so great for the Germans AT ALL... Judging ONLY from the box-top's illustration, I think the artist has captured the "mood" of the Eastern Front in Winter quite nicely.

The "Officer(?)" with the "odd pose" who looks like he is in "mid-step", could be construed as heading somewhere, but he COULD be starting to turn to the right because he might have heard something or seen something out of the corner of his eye. Generally, the head and the upper part of the body will react towards a "distraction" or a sound, or an image BEFORE the lower body will react to it. As I see it in my own eyes, this "Officer" is reacting to something, and may have to make a split-second life-or-death decision. Maybe... Or, someone "off camera" may have called to him. Who knows? Anyway, I like this guy, and wish that we could have"other figures" in these kinds of poses. GUESS what I DIDN'T say, Bill!

The guy with the MP-40- Could it possibly be that the artist has this guy staring in the "opposite direction" from the "Officer" only to have made room for him in the box illustration? He MIGHT have taken up more room if he were facing the other way, or it just may have "taken away" from the "all of a sudden"-factor in his pose..? Let's look at the figure himself; yes, he seems to be standing "at ease", but like the "Officer", SOMETHING MAY have gotten his attention, which is why he has his MP-40 nearly ready "to do some business"..? Why is he standing "at ease", yet looking like he may have to spring into action any second? My thought is, is that he's "standing guard", which is more-or-less SOP for ANY kind of a Combat Unit in a Combat Zone. He's kind of "relaxed" but ready for any eventuality should one arise... Or, as Robin pointed out, this guy COULD be staring off into the distance, wishing that he could be back at his "Heimat"... Could it be that MINIART WANTS to get modelers thinking about all of the different possibilities for using these guys? They don't necessarily need to be placed in really close proximity to each other, and COULD very well be used as "singles", or in a vignette as the modeler may decide...

Let's not forget, this is wartime, these guys are cold, probably hungry, more than likely tired or exhausted AND VERY LIKELY, HOMESICK. Who wouldn't want to be "cuddled-up" with "Mommy", instead? Possible, yes?

The "guy with his hands in his pockets"- Sure, everything that Robin said about THIS figure COULD very well fit. Is he actually "disdainful" of the "other guys", or is he just disgusted with his own "predicament"..? Again, I can't stress enough that we are only OBSERVING WHAT THE ARTIST PAINTED, and forming our OWN IMPRESSIONS out of what the artist painted. We're not really forming ANY real conclusions about the figures, themselves. THAT, my Friends, can only be done to some extent while we are in the process of turning these little bits and pieces on the sprues into actual figures, and THEN, painting their faces. Some of us may very well be able to convey the pathos and emotions of these guys the way the artist did, and others, maybe not so much.

I like this particular set, and I just might get one for myself. Why? Because it's DIFFERENT from the usual run of "action-posed" figures. And in my own eyes, that's a GOOD thing...

RobinNilsson
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 03:01 AM UTC


Bravo1102
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 03:04 AM UTC
Actual tank crew even in wartime spend a lot time just standing around and waiting. At least two could be posed in hatches
That's the obvious reason for the officer's pose. He's in a hatch. The radio man is standing radio watch and probably sitting in a hatch.
The leaning guy could be another tank commander or the officer's gunner and hurrying up and waiting. And the guy with the submachine gun could be coming off guard duty or a runner telling the officer that chow is on the way.

That's military life. Hurry up and wait and think about home or indeed nothing at all because there is finally a quiet moment.
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 03:18 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Actual tank crew even in wartime spend a lot time just standing around and waiting. At least two could be posed in hatches
That's the obvious reason for the officer's pose. He's in a hatch. The radio man is standing radio watch and probably sitting in a hatch.
The leaning guy could be another tank commander or the officer's gunner and hurrying up and waiting. And the guy with the submachine gun could be coming off guard duty or a runner telling the officer that chow is on the way.

That's military life. Hurry up and wait and think about home or indeed nothing at all because there is finally a quiet moment.



Point taken
That makes a vignette, but not really a diorama.
It tells four different stories, but not really a single drama where the four actors are participating together.
Conveying the story tying these figures together needs some text: Tank waiting in position with driver or loader on guard carrying the MP40. The other of the loader or driver is "idling". Commander and radio operator in the tank, radio operator is "idling" (no equipment on his ears and a de-focused look).
The guard calls the commanders attention to something in the distance.

I am familiar with the notion of "hurry up and wait", if it isn't too cold there could even be time for a little nap

Oh well, I never bother with figures anyway

/ Robin
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 03:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Actual tank crew even in wartime spend a lot time just standing around and waiting. At least two could be posed in hatches
That's the obvious reason for the officer's pose. He's in a hatch. The radio man is standing radio watch and probably sitting in a hatch.
The leaning guy could be another tank commander or the officer's gunner and hurrying up and waiting. And the guy with the submachine gun could be coming off guard duty or a runner telling the officer that chow is on the way.

That's military life. Hurry up and wait and think about home or indeed nothing at all because there is finally a quiet moment.



Point taken
That makes a vignette, but not really a diorama.
It tells four different stories, but not really a single drama where the four actors are participating together.
Conveying the story tying these figures together needs some text: Tank waiting in position with driver or loader on guard carrying the MP40. The other of the loader or driver is "idling". Commander and radio operator in the tank, radio operator is "idling" (no equipment on his ears and a de-focused look).
The guard calls the commanders attention to something in the distance.

I am familiar with the notion of "hurry up and wait", if it isn't too cold there could even be time for a little nap

Oh well, I never bother with figures anyway

/ Robin



See? That's what I'm talking about; different impressions from different people...

Robin! Why not, with the figures? It could open up a whole new world for you!
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 06:16 AM UTC

Quoted Text

.

Robin! Why not, with the figures? It could open up a whole new world for you!



My life isn't long enough for that
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 04:27 PM UTC
It looks like they are sculpted quite nicely. As for the positions, the radio operator is obviously supposed to be inside the tank. The commander isn't about to "take a step" I don't think, but perhaps is standing inside with one leg leaning on something. The guy with the MP40 is maybe standing at a "casual but cautious" stance outside the tank. The forlorn guy standing has maybe disembarked to decipher a road sign or question a civilian like the child from the Miniart line? Might make a nice vignette, maybe even for a Kharkov factory produced beutepanzer T34. Just takes some imagination.
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Posted: Sunday, March 03, 2019 - 01:26 AM UTC
Actually, despite labelling this set as Kharkov 1943, I'm not sure that their clothing is typical of SS men at that time. The Kharkov battles usually show the first photographic evidence of the SS only fur lined pull over parka and padded trousers. Tank crews had a one piece reversible winter overall, as shown in photos of Panzermeyer so attired. These men are all wearing parts of the Wehrmacht reversible mouse grey padded winter clothing, which although seen in some photos was not on general issue to the SS until winter 1943-4, in camo replacing their parkas. The two figures wearing the sheepskin lined jackets are OK, but are still wearing the trousers of the mouse grey clothing.
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Posted: Sunday, March 03, 2019 - 03:31 AM UTC
I thought that I'd interrupt your collective serious rant to point out that the German crewman in the center probably should be told that he can't text worth a damn with those gloves on. (snicker).
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Sunday, March 03, 2019 - 05:00 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I thought that I'd interrupt your collective serious rant to point out that the German crewman in the center probably should be told that he can't text worth a damn with those gloves on. (snicker).


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