Get the message? A Brand new Hornisse/ Nashorn crew & Dispatch rider on the way from Stalingrad!

We know that Dragon put the "cart before the horse" when it omitted the dispatch rider from it's "Poland 1944 boxing of the Nashorn, but now Stalingrad brings the news that they have made a full set to really capture this well-known scene in their latest release. We take a look at the horse, rider and TD crew in our new item preview...

Get the message? A Brand new Hornisse/ Nashorn crew & Dispatch rider on the way from Stalingrad!

Stalingrad Miniatures has a new set of 1/35th scale figures available on the market, this mix of a horse and his dispatch rider master meeting up with the crew of a German Nashorn/ Hornisse Self-Propelled 88mm L/71 Pak 43/1 Tank Destroyer has been attempted before - but by the looks of the message WE are getting this is now more than a one-horse race!

The picture below was the inspiration of this set of figures from Alexander Zelenkov. the scene sees the crew of the gun in winter-weight reversible clothing - sheltering inside I would think, as the despatch rider hands down (or up) the news to the commander.

Although the Nashorn/ Hornisse was fairly popular with its crews and the infantry and tanks that they supported - the top of the hull was open to the elements - and in Russia, the extremes of continental heat and worse - the cold, made this vehicle better than lugging a gun around the battle, but not quite as comfortable as riding around in a sealed up vehicle.

A German illustration that explains why the Hornisse SPG was created.

Now - we know that dragon has depicted this scene on one of their model boxes, but they forgot or did not have the sense to think "good idea there" and include the figures and horse in the one kit "Dragon 6166 1/35 SD.KFZ. 164 NASHORN "Poland 1944" kit" - which unfortunately left out the horse, rider & TD crew.

NO horse and rider in this kit!

Let's see if Stalingrad put this right with their new release...

New figures from Stalingrad now are available:

# 3181 – German officer and mounted dispatch rider

# 3182 – German AFV crew

# 3183 – German AFV crew

# 3180 – Nashorn crew and mounted dispatch rider (Big Set)

 German officer and mounted dispatch rider

2 figures & horse included 

# 3183

1/35th scale

Light grey resin figures

Sculpted & boxart by Alexander Zelenkov

 This set of two men is accompanied by a horse the dispatch rider sits upon. You can see by the mock-up box art (cleverly done here by Stalingrad) that he is passing up orders or a letter to the tank crewman/commander. We have seen this already in the wartime photograph, and indeed it does make a scene all in itself.

There was still a place for German cavalry and dispatch riders in WWII. Even though the Panzers and the mechanized forces get all the glory, horsemanship and the reliability of these animals that served so well was still a valuable factor - especially in pulling equipment and in liaison duties. 

The horse itself was designed by Dmitriy Karamnov of "Chronos Miniatures" fame. He is well versed in figure and horse sculpting which you can see plenty of on their website. You can see the horse here in unpainted resin with its master and the letter recipient at about the right height that one would be leaning down to receive something from while he is perched up in his AFV.

Here below you can see horse and rider and the early amazon prime day adopter recipient with his message - seriously though, it was probably a fairly important letter for the rider to not even get off his horse to hand it to the gun crewman. 

The sinuous and musculature of the horse are captured here very well, as is the body language of the men leaning in to each other as they hand over and receive the message. The clothing of the men is loose and draped while showing the illusion of thickness which these reversible winter tunics certainly were. The camouflage uniforms could be painted in either white or camo depending on the time of year and soldier. M43 overseas cloth caps, the gear on the back of the horse and the Kar 98 rifle draped over the rider's should are amongst a few details that really top this small set of two figures and one horse off very nicely.

 German AFV crew

2 figures included

# 3182

1/35th scale

Light grey resin figures

Sculpted & boxart by Alexander Zelenkov 

These next two figures are sold as a pair. They are sold like this as they are riding the Nashorn quite close to each other, and so make a natural combination if you like the look of them. Again, skillfully shown off in position in the gun in Stalingrad's art shown below

 The two figures are again sculpted in light grey resin, and here they are completed but not painted, showing the true look of a soldier in WWII - skinny and young! you know these are not modelled on re-creators huh!

Here you can see two soldiers painted up. Both in the tight-fitting pants and Panzerwrap, and both sporting the soft cloth peaked M43 cap on their heads to keep them warm. The standing soldier wears the reversible parka that proved so effective ant not only keeping the German soldiers warm but in the two sides of the jacket being camo and winter white, gave the wearer a degree of camouflage no matter the conditions on the another side of the tank's armour plate.

The second figure in this set on the right ( sitting down)  wears similar clothing to our first crewman, He is not in the jacket of the standing crewmember. He is sitting down, with his left leg raised on something inside the tank as he slightly reclines. The scarf inside his "Panzerjacke" keeps him warm enough, and as seen here int he painted figures - you can make that scarf any colour you want to add that little extra to the colour palette.

 These men are seen looking on to about the same point if you place them as shown in the boxart of the kit - or they could well be looking somewhere else completely - it is up to you on what you want out of this diorama, a small pair in a set - or the big group all together. Stalingrad gives us the option.

German AFV crew

2 figures included

# 3183

1/35th scale

Light grey resin figures

Sculpted & boxart by Alexander Zelenkov

These two bad-asses look pretty cool while they are leaning back - surveying the scene while perched outside the gun. Here below you can see them and the inquisitive looks on their faces. 

 There really is something in their expressions as they are quite focused on the scene as you can see by their poised body language. Skillfully done but quite subtle by the sculptor.

Painted up, here below you can see the sitting soldier twisting to one side with his reversible parka following the line of movement and twisting, his hood half coming off as he leans to the side which is quite observant of the sculptor again.

 Tou can see the twist as the sitting man turns here. With his comrade who is leaning on his elbow on the tank looks almost with a not so pleasant air of apprehension on his face - "could this be bad news?" only they know...

The pinched in, elasticised waist of the standing figure's jacket is plain to see here, while the re-enforced knees on his pants which fall bloused over his short boots is quite evident here in this painted up example. The pair does indeed suit each other's body language, and they suit being sold as a pair.

Nashorn crew and mounted dispatch rider (Big Set)

6 figures & 1 horse included

# 3180

1/35th scale

Light grey resin figures

Sculpted & boxart by Alexander Zelenkov

This horseman dispatch rider and Tank Destroyer crew are certainly a lot of resin. By the time you add the large horse and his rider up there is a lot to take in here - but I think the sum of these very nice looking parts make this the new "best" scene that depicts this well-known picture. 

Here are the soldiers all painted up and placed so you can see them best in the one shot - the full banana if you will. 

From what we can see here Alexander has done a marvellous job, and we think this set will sell well.

These figures in pairs and the whole set are available right now - check these out and all of Alexander's other works at the  Stalingrad Website: