Dragon form China bring us a new set of soldiers from the late WWII period which is just so undeniably popular with modellers (much to the chagrin of those who it isn’t popular with) anyway their new four figure set is called The New, 4-figure, 1/35th Scale Release is: 6694 - Defence of the Reich, Lets have a look...
Their collection of weapons also reflects the frenetic late-war period.
These are available from March - look for all of their great kits on the Dragon USA Website
The figures carry the new detailed weapons as much hyped as “Gen2” gear, and diverse it is too – an MG44, various rifles, a Panzerfaust with two option firing switch and a paratrooper’s FG 42 gun, along with several grenades and pack equipment the work has been put in here in the tooling alight.
One thing if I may though, the soldiers all look like they were rounded up in a police line-up rather than being from one unit. Maybe we are led to believe that these figures are a cross section of soldiers available at one place but it looks more to me like they are lots of singular figures you could use in different vignettes.
The mix of an SS soldier, a Volkstrum home guard soldier, a paratrooper and an army sniper in a camouflaged smock all look great but don’t really blend as a group. This is meant to represent the ad-hoc state of the defences in Germany in 1945. Troops being pulled from everywhere to defend the Reich. I do however like the set of figures and they look pretty well done in these pictures, very detailed indeed.
By 1944 the tide of war had truly turned and Germany found itself retreating on every front. Its forces, already depleted by five years of gruelling combat, were being pushed further and further back towards the borders of the Third Reich. By 1945, the frontiers of the Fatherland itself were being breached by Allied units in both the east and west. The latest inspirational 1/35 scale figure set from Dragon depicts four German soldiers tasked with defending the country in the 1944-45 period.
The quartet is notable in the variety of uniforms, accoutrements and weapons that they possess. No longer were they wearing the orderly and well-tailored field grey uniforms of the blitzkrieg period. Instead, the soldiers in this set here wear camouflage smocks, a Fallschirmjäger jumpsuit and even one in a special Hitler Jugend (“Hitler Youth”) winter uniform.
Their collection of weapons also reflects the frenetic late-war period.
In evidence there’s an MP 44 assault rifle, Kar 98k rifle, Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle and FG 42 rifle as used by elite paratroopers. The HJ member is also carrying a Panzerfaust 100m, a single-shot anti-tank rocket produced in quantity from September 1944 onwards. These varied figures offer unlimited utility for creators of dioramas and vignettes. Sharply sculpted in realistic poses, these well-researched figures reflect the desperate final months of WWII.
These are available from March - look for all of their great kits on the Dragon USA Website