Introduction

Those of us who have a strong interest in Soviet Armor and figures, are now beginning to see a larger number than ever, of conversion sets, figures, vehicles and updates. One of the 'prime movers' in this process, has been the Spanish-based company Mig Productions who have now established themselves as one of the premier manufacturers in the 'After-Market' sector. Many of the company's recent releases, have, interestingly enough, come from a single project - Miguel Jimenez's award-winning 'Stalingrad' diorama, which encouraged him to sculpt and produce a number of accessories which featured in this work. This particular figure is just one component...

The figure - basics.

MP35-118: Soviet tanker at Work (Vol.1) is a 1/35th scale, resin figure, sculpted in the act of using a 'pull-thru' on an AFV gun.barrel. The figure consists of four parts with a length of copper wire to simulate the tool. The figure is cast in the typical 'Mig' resin, which is hard and light cream in color.The parts are inside a jiffy.bag which comes inside a pretty solid box with a full-color photo of the painted figure. The figure comes VERY well-protected with foam 'chips'.

The figure - in depth.

As usual, i'll be looking at the figure in seperate areas and then finish with a (brief) look at its assembly. Regarding the photos, at the side are images of the 'basic' components of the (unassembled) figure, at the bottom, images of the built figure...

Subject: The figure portrays a 'typical' Soviet Tanker wearing a quilted jacket, standard trousers and Russian knee-length boots. On his head is the typical (padded) Soviet tanker's helmet.

Torso/legs This is a one-piece casting with good definition in the 'depths' of the quilted jacket and subtly-done creasing in the folds of the trousers. The jacket overlaps the trousers giving a nice 'bloused' effect with the open collar well-defined and sharp. There a re two mould 'plugs' on the bottom of the boots, which clean up easily although I re-scribed to get the definition between heels and soles. Belt and buckle are also well done with the latter being well-defined.

Arms These come with the moulding plugs attached horizontally. Clean-up is relatively painless and quick though. Again the creasing is well done with nice, smooth edges. The hands are excellent with good definition betwwen the fingers. The hands are moulded semi-clenched and will require some (minimum) drilling out to have the figure holding the cleaning rod.

Head: The figure is wearing a padded tanker's helmet with the distinctive, rectangular pads on either side. There are one or two areas which could be improved on, mainly in adding the extended flaps on either side. The shape also seems a little 'too' round. From what I have seen of these helmets, they tended to taper towards the rear, overhanging the neck slightly to give more adequate protection. The helmet on this figure LOOKS right however, it is an item which would be worth consideration... The face is nicely sculped with good definition and (a nice touch here), a lock of the tanker's hair falling over his forehead.

Assembly:

The figure goes together easily with only a little clean-up required. Care (and a razor saw!) is recommended when removing the moulding lugs. These are found in three areas - the arms, bottom of the feet and the bottom of the neck. They are quite thin and a few passes with the saw will revove them easily. To clean up I used my X-Acto and wet and dry paper. There is also some (paper-thin) flash which the knife cuts easily. I found only two (minor) mould-lines which were simply scraped off. Some care is necessary also, in NOT damaging the subtle creasing. It also helps to ensue that the arms are the shoulders are perfectly flat before attaching them. I will probably give the joins between the arms and the shoulders a wipe of filler as there is a slight gap..

Conclusions:

This is a figure which will (inevitably) form part of a diorama. As this is 'Volume 1', I have little doubt that more are in the planning phase, so we can hopefully see several more. It's not one of these figures which will (or is designed to) 'stand-alone' - this is clearly a figure to be used with others. It's a very well done piece indeed with a high-quality of both sculpting and casting. It is perhaps a little big compared to some other 1/35th scale figures, a difference which will go unnoticed with others in a diorama..It's also a figure which a great deal of thought has gone into - particularly at the sculpting stage. As to 'flexibility', the uses of this figure are limited to ones imagination. With some 'tweaking' and minor conversion or changing of the arms, it could be part of a crew re-arming or even a crew member cleaning mud or snow off of a tank's suspension. Good potential and at the price, extremely accessible - well worth getting...

Acknowledgements:

My thanks to Miguel 'Mig' Jimenez of Mig Productions for this and the other review samples which he has so generously supplied to Armorama...