We make up the rest of the latest "Big Set" from Stalingrad with Soviet soldiers from the eastern cold this month…

Stalingrad Miniatures has just announced they have released the rest of their big set of single figures of soldiers of Soviet war machine in the cold winter on the Eastern front. These warmly dressed warrior look set to take on the elements as well as the Germans.

New 2014 figures from Stalingrad

Russian Soldiers, Winter 1941-43

“Big Set”

This set of ten figures is made up of all new soviet soldiers and some that were released earlier this year – obviously the rest were not ready so we have brought you these new ones and the older ones in the set all together so you can see them all as individuals and together.

  

Russian Soldier,

1941-43

 S-3055

This soviet infantryman is already warm enough from his warm Ushanka hat, his long coat and thick boots, but he is seen ere warming himself by the fire. The sculptor Alexander has provided a photo of one of the inspirations of the sculpt.

 …And here he is unpainted - he is seen here sitting on the wooden box that comes supplied with the figure as well. Notice his smiling face and his clothing – which is sagging and drooped with age and a lot a wear and not much of a chance to wash them! 

Even the boots and hat looks worn while the split in his rear of the coat and satchel are very convincing as well. 

Russian Soldier,

1941-43

 S-3056

This cheerful soldier is seen cradling his PPsh-41 sub-machine gun – you can see from the picture below here he is amongst a few of his smiling comrades. He looks very young in this pictures but in the sculpt he could be slightly older. There are really some very different faces here in this picture and I think that the sculptor Alex does a great job at making them look so unique.

 …And here he is unpainted. His thick gloves, thick felt boots which often covered anything else the soldier had on his feet. He has an all over suit on in white which helped hide him pretty well from his enemies in the harsh eastern winter. This sits very nice and baggy around his waist, shoulders and gathers at the boot is a quite wrinkly fashion. All of these elements together make him a great looking sculpt.

  

Russian Soldiers,

(2 in one box)

1941-43

S-3057 

These two likely characters come together in the same box – they represent two Soviet soldiers at rest and having a laugh and a cigarette. Both of them wear greatcoats and the older chap with the moustache is pulling a typically very thick cigarette from his pack whilst his comrade gesticulates what seems to be quite a funny story which I would suspect has all of the other figures here smiling as well.

The two pictures that depict the inspiration for these sculpts are shown here. The older man with the "ciggie" packet is seen in only partial but enough detail for the sculptor to get enough detail out of him to create this figure.

The great story teller is seen here in this picture with a man smoking with a ciggie or a cigar in his mouth just like the other picture. He has a very amusing look on his face as he makes merry with his comrade.

Both of these guys are seen in thick coats while one wears thick felt boots as the other has thick leather boots. The first figure of the older man carries a simple satchel and a rifle slung over his shoulder.

The gesticulation man is seen carrying a lot more. His thick gloves are tied to his neck as is his water bottle on his chest. He carries a full pack on his back as well as a smaller square satchel on his hip. Both of these figures wear a warm Ushanka hat on their heads to keep “General Winter” at bay.

 

Here are the figures we looked at earlier this year that add to the set....

# 3051 - Russian Officers, 1939-43

These Russian officers are seen discussing plans on a map. They are sold as a set of two, and we will look at them each in turn.

Some pictures of the inspiration of these figures..

The taller officer wears a large great coat which dominates his whole torso. He has braces over the coat on which hang both his map pack and the case for his binoculars. He also has a pistol for self-defence in its holster on the right hip. 

To protect his feet he wears the thick padded valenki and the ushanka covers his head from the cold.

The smaller officer also has the same footwear and headwear as his comrade. The ushanka has the ear flaps hanging down keeping him warm.

He also has a great big padded coat with fur lining that almost dwarfs him as it sits very wide at his lower body. He is seen peering at the map while his bigger mate is telling him “what’s what”

# 3052 - Russian Tanker, 1939-45

A little like his comrades in this set – this figure is also sculpted by Alexander Zelenkov. He is seen with his hands at his side – almost to attention but almost looking straight on at what’s in front of him. Like his comrades he wears the padded telegroica pants and jacket and felt Valenki boots.

This tanker wears a padded tanker’s soft helmet with a fur lined inside that conceals most of his face when all done up. He also has a pistol for self-defence on his rear right hip in a holster.

Inspiration for this sculpt...

# 3053 - Russian Soldier, 1940-45

This cheery looking young soldier is seen at a time of rest ready for some hot “chi” or maybe some vodka for his cup?

The inspiration…

The figure

He is seen in his fur lined Ushanka hat, his padded telegroica jacket and pants as well as his thick outer boots called Valenki, these kept the Russian soldier’s feet from suffering the cold effects and were usually worn for walking on dry snow when the weather is frosty. The Germans often nicked these off their enemies once captured or even dead bodies. He is seen here sitting on a resin box supplied with the set.

# 3054 - Russian Soldier and Orphan, 1941-45

 

This Russian infantryman is dressed ready for winter – his ushanka on his head, the large fur lined coat and padded thick pants and boots – he is giving comfort and food to a little маленькая девочка (little girl) who is wrapped up in a soldier’s blanket. The feeding looks like it might be under some protest – maybe she doesn't’t like rations much?

The pictures of the sculpt and the wartime images it was inspired by..

The two sit on top of a resin wooden box as the feeding takes place – of note on the little girl is her traditional headscarf and on the soldier his shoulder slung PPsh 41 “Pe-Pe-Sha” stamped steel machine gun and his wrinkled forage bag on his waist. His furry gloves and collar of his jacket look great as well.

Russian Soldiers, Winter 1941-43

“Big Set”

Set includes 10 figures

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This big set of ten Russians includes all of the soldiers in this set and the infant as well – we have actually reviewed this child and her benefactor a little while ago and absolutely loved it!

 In fact the whole set with the almost stereotypical cheery Slavic faces and happy demeanours really fits in with soviet soldiers at rest in a large group.

These kits are avialable to purchase on line right now - More info and all of their other excellent kits can see on the Stalingrad web-site www.stalingrad.diorama.ru