Friday, May 23

Review: D-Day doles out some TLC to the troops this month with their 1/35th German soldier and nurse set...

D-Day Miniature Studio has  been busy at work recently – with not only German and British troops in 35th scale but now a nurse and here patient in this – the latest set (and individual) release, let’s have a look in our review…

Review:
D-Day Miniature Studio German DRK Nurse & Wounded SS NCO
German DRK Nurse
No: 35016
1/35th scale
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
4 parts in grey resin
Price: 12 Euro

Wounded SS NCO
No: 35017
1/35th scale
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
4 parts in grey resin
Price: 12 Euro

German DRK Nurse & Wounded SS NCO
No: 35018
1/35th scale
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
8 parts in grey resin
Price: 24 Euro

Available directly from D-Day Miniature's website and their Distributors worldwide

D-day Miniature studios have a few nice releases under their belt. Pavel Krasicki is both their sculptor and their painter for the figure box art. He has picked a few interesting and not so typical subjects for his first few releases in 35th scale. Canadian/British dispatch riders, a Hungarian soldier with an SS man and some "Tommy" infantry have been the first releases. Now we go behind the front lines to see a touching relationship between two Germans during WWII 
The medical Korps were just as important as the front line infantry soldiers in WWII – in fact, it was often the technical advances in medicine, the care from doctors and the personal touch from the nurses that got the soldiers back into the line where they might not have in previous wars. German nurses were just as appreciated as the other nation's soldiers - we have not seen many females - let alone nurses in the scale modelling figure market. Until now that is... 
It is the relationship of the wounded soldier and the German nurse that features in D-D-Day studio’s latest single releases in 35th scale that is also being sold as a set.
The nurse on the left and the wounded soldier on the right -This is what you get inside the box of the pair.
What's inside:
The resin of both of these figures are made from grey-ish green resin which is well cast. no bobbles are visible on the outside of the figures and the detail of both is visible and clean. In fact the more you look at both of these figures the more detail is visible. Both of the single figures are made from four parts each. If you get the pair in a single box there are eight parts - both figures in a zip-loc bag. So you know the single figures come in a zip-loc bag inside the box of the same type with just the one figure's box art.

So pretty basic stuff so far - they do not look too complicated - let's have a look at them both individually before we look at them as a pair. Ladies first!


German DRK Nurse
No: 35016
1/35th scale
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
4 parts in grey resin
Price: 12 Euro


The German Red Cross (German: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz), or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany and it sent it’s doctors, nurses and support staff to the front to look after not just German but all nation’s wounded during the second world war.
This saviour in fieldgrau comes in four parts of resin. A full torso on a block with two arms on a separate casting block and her head on another.  let's look at all of her and then put her together to show you a little more of what she is like.

The head of this figure features a skinny but hard face with arched eyebrows and a pointed nose and chin. Her hair and ears are covered by her nurse's hair bonnet - plenty of wrinkles feature on the top of her bonnet which will dry brush up just nicely
The nurse's bonnet is seen here in a recreated  - and some hard faces are there just for reference as well!
The torso features the nurse's uniform under an apron which of course protected it. The apron is tied up at the front loosely and the sagging pockets on each side also feature on a wrinkled looking apron and uniform. The wrinkled front is because this nurse is showing a bit of leg – albeit in her stockings. On her feet, she wears thick-soled comfortable shoes with laces that you can see.
Over the wrinkled outfit sits the nurse's red cross pack. Prominent on the back is the large thick cross while the bag is secured closed by a thin leather strap on the middle. This bad rests on her back and actually is held in her hands.
The real nurse's pack from that time (and contents)
The arms of the nurse are both provided on the casting block and are an easy job to remove with a sharp scalpel. The joints are provided with a nub that fits in very nicely to the holes provided on the torso. They both fit perfectly in the sockets and help with location. fit before you glue but mine worked pretty fine.
Here she is all put together – in this pose that sees her looking on at a wounded SS man while holding a cigarette – not very healthy some would say! 
The neck is looking slightly to the side as she converses with the soldier - it needs a bit of a clean up to fit in my case but the gap is avoided with her head turned as it is designed to do. 
The right arm swings up to join up with the strap of the medical bag and the straps can be seen in the nurse's hand. This effect is very well done and it looks all connected once put together.


Wounded SS NCO
No: 35017
1/35th scale
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
4 parts in grey resin
Price: 12 Euro

This wounded NCO is heavily bandaged on his waist and head and his tunic is simply draped over his shoulders while his camouflaged pants are wrinkly and his straps for his webbing falling down around his waist after he has been bandaged up.

He comes in four parts like his lady friend in grey resin. The torso on a stand and the one right hand clenched separately on a pouring block along with the figure's head and something...it is a cigarette of course! Like the other figure, the resin is well cast and nicely detailed. Let's have a look closer at the parts starting with the head and working our way down.

The head of this soldier has a pointy but rounded nose with thick eyebrows which match the thickness of his hair underneath a bandage on his head. This bandage sits underneath his soft peaked M43 service cap. The head is attached to the casting block on the soft part of the top of the hat.


The hand of the figure is on this casting block as well. his figures are held at a position that he can hold the cigarette which is on the left-hand side of this casting block in the picture. To be honest - I lost my ciggie as soon as I cut it off - but I simply used a bit of wire as at my age, some things are best not bothered looking for in on the floor all night!


The neck joint fits neatly into the torso like magic and the bare chest features some German dog tags which hide the seam for this joint. An old trick but one that works flawlessly here.

No gap after the neck fits straight in there...

This SS man looks like he holds the rank of an SS Hauptscharführer - or first sergeant  because of the two thin bars on his left collar insignia – but then again it could be any German NCO. He also has the Iron cross and Panzer Assault badge on his chest and the German Cross Award on his right breast pocket.

His jacket is open over his torso and you can see some rather large nipples in there!
You can see just how knocked about this soldier is - apart from the bandage under his hat covering her his head the soldier is bandaged all around the waist - he cannot even wear his service tunic as it is draped over his shoulders. I would suggest that this is a summer scene...

And here he is all complete...
You can see the details here the closer you look - all of his badges and the national German symbol on his shoulder. The bracer straps are slung off his pants which sit very baggy over his knees. His pants are gathered by galoshes at his short late war boots and the pleats and slack on the back of his jacket is laid aside very realistically. You can see the cigarette in his hand there.



German DRK Nurse & Wounded SS NCO
No: 35018
1/35th scale
Sculpted & boxart Pawel Krasicki
8 parts in grey resin
Price: 12 Euro

These figures are sold as singles or in a set, as you see here –constructed and unpainted in grey resin
This pair shares a cigarette or two as they have a word in the rear somewhere out of the hospital (I hope) Has no one has told them both that smoking is bad for their health?
Like I said earlier in my comments about these figures is how I would sum this setup - The sculpting is a little unconventional in that the figures have their own unique look (this is down to the sculptor's hand). There is more and more fine detail the closer you look.

This is a great set and it adds two more very nice figures (and an untypical choice) to the D-Dy Miniature studio's canon.

Adam Norenberg

For more info on these and their other kits please visit www.ddayminiaturestudio.com

Here they both are all made up and painted by Pawel Krasicki from the D-Day site

German DRK Nurse
No: 35016
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
Price: 12 Euro
Wounded SS NCO
No: 35017
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
Price: 12 Euro
German DRK Nurse & Wounded SS NCO
No: 35018
Sculpted & boxart: Pawel Krasicki
Price: 12 Euro