Introduction

There are a fair number of Soviet Tank Crew sets on the market in 1/35th scale. Most of the major manufacturers, have several in their lists although a number are undoubtedly showing their age. Why therefore should this set from TANK be anything more than yet another?

First Impressions...

T-35001: Soviet tank crew, Summer 1943-45 is a Three-figure, 1/35th scale, Resin figure set produced by the Russian manufacturer, Tank. The figures come moulded in a darkish, sand-colored resin and require some assembly. The three figures (and their parts) come inside individual snap-lock plastic baggies inside a simple, thin, cardboard box.
Not (usually) being one of those unfortunate people who comment on the packaging at great length, I will make an exception in this case... Unfortunately, if one were to see this box in a LHS (without examining its contents), first impressions would not be terribly positive. The box has a rather dark photo of the three figures which don't really indicate anything out of the ordinary.

Opening the box however, IS worth the effort....

The figures - some detail...

Three (FULL) figures make up this set. All are dressed in the typical one-piece coverall which (with a few detail changes) saw service from the 1930s until the 1970s. Two of the figures wear the standard issue padded-helmet, the third is bare-headed holding his helmet in his hand.

The Poses: This is not an action-packed set which portrays three tankers storming the German lines. Rather, it is a set which sets out to portray three tankers in a more relaxed moment (posing for the Newsreel cameras?) - very much what we are beginning to see from manufacturers such as MiniArt. Two of the figures are standing - one with his arm draped round the turret hatch. The third is designed for leaning out of the front hatch of a tank with his arms crossed.

The Casting: Normally, one expects a minimum amount of clean-up, mould lines, the occasional 'bubble' from the casting process, one of the facts of life in resin or plastic figures in this scale. There aren't any. No seamlines, no bubbles. The word 'crisp' is frecuently over-used. Here the word means sharp and flawless. Undoubtedly, these are some of the best resin mouldings I have EVER seen.

Sculpting: The sculpting is not just good, it is brilliant. Too often, the best sculptors in the world do a marvellous figure which is just too 'subtle' and finely detailed to come out well in the final casting process. With these figures this is NOT the case. Creasing on the coveralls is well done (smooth, not angular) and detail such as belt-buckles, flaps, and pockets are beautifully executed. Two areas which can 'make or break' a figure are IMHO, the most difficult, the faces and the hands. Both of these areas are superbly done along with excellent representations of the Soviet padded helmet. Sticking my neck out again, only one other company (in resin figures) is capable of this level of sculpting - Alpine..

Construction: All the figures require some assembly. Due to time restraints I have only assembled one and done some dry-fitting of the other two. They are NOT the easiest figures to assemble as some careful clean-up of the 'pour-stubs' has to be carried out - nothing complex, just some care is required.

The Subject: These are labelled as 'late-war' figures, however, depending on how you paint them, they are equally appropriate for early/pre-war crews. The latter wore the blue-grey coverall which tend to add a little more color to the otherwise drab Soviet vehicles.

Final Assesment...

This is a superb set with possibilities as limited as your imagination. Not the cheapest figures on the market but CERTAINLY in the top two or three manufacturers. This, set is interestingly enough, amongst TANK's first figure releases, as the usual progression is to improve, I would like to compare them to their later releases...

There are one or two slight 'niggles' - principally with the breakdown of the parts and in particular with the figure with his arm folded round the turret hatch. it's a wonderful figure, but can only be used in one way, and, unless i'm very much mistaken, only with a T26, BT7 or T34. With the positioning of his right arm, it's going to take some modification to use him with a KV (for example).

Yes, RESIN is more expensive, looking at sets like this, the extra cost is more than justified - Superb...

Acknowledgements and further details:

Firstly, my thanks to TANK! for providing us with this review sample.

Secondly, a number of retailers in both Europe and the U.S.A. are carrying the Tank brand in their lists, the four (current) distributors in the U.K. the U.S.A., Korea and Japan, can be seen: HERE!!