D-Day Miniature Studio brings us a set, single figures, and a rickshaw for them to push in their latest scene, set in the Warsaw uprising in 1944. We look at the inspiration & the figures in our preview...
"Schneller, Schneller!" WSS Soldiers w/ Cycle Rickshaw from the Warsaw Uprising by D-Day Miniature Studio
The setting: The Warsaw Uprising, 1944.
These German soldiers are seen in action during the time of the combat of the Warsaw Uprising. Although there are many pictures of the Poles resisting the German army and SS soldiers who were sent to eliminate this uprising against their rule in 1944, these figures are of German SS men.
Members of the SS-Sonderregiment Dirlewanger fighting in Warsaw, pictured in the window of a townhouse at Focha Street, August 1944. These soldiers committed horrible crimes during this operation.
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From August to October 1944, Poles unsuccessfully tried to oust the German army and seize control of the city before it was occupied by the advancing Soviet army. The uprising’s failure allowed the pro-Soviet Polish administration, rather than the Polish government-in-exile in London, to gain control of Poland.
Warsaw, August-October 1944. Soldiers of the Polish Home Army. Note the use of German uniforms, SS Panzerjacke, and camo smocks commonly called the "Panterka."
As the Red Army approached Warsaw (July 29–30, 1944), Soviet authorities, promising aid, encouraged the Polish underground there to stage an uprising against the Germans. However, the Polish underground, known as the Home Army, was anxious because the Soviet Union had already assumed direct control of eastern Poland and had sponsored the formation of the Polish Committee of National Liberation to administer the remainder of Soviet-occupied Polish territory. Hoping to gain control of Warsaw before the Red Army could “liberate” it, the Home Army followed the Soviet suggestion to revolt.
The famous photo of the barricade erected on Napoleon Square. In the background: a captured Hetzer tank destroyer, 3rd of August, 1944.
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Commanded by General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, the Warsaw corps of 50,000 troops attacked the relatively weak German force on August 1 and within three days gained control of most of the city. The Germans sent in reinforcements, however, and forced the Poles into a defensive position, bombarding them with air and artillery attacks for the next 63 days.
The Prudential high-rise hit by a 2-tonne mortar shell, 1944, Warsaw. Photo: Sylwester Braun
Meanwhile, the Red Army, which had been detained during the first days of the insurrection by a German assault (or some say stalled on orders from above), occupied a position at Praga, a suburb across the Vistula River from Warsaw, and remained idle. In addition, the Soviet government refused to allow the western Allies to use Soviet air bases to airlift supplies to the beleaguered Poles.
Warsaw, August-October 1944. Soldiers of the "Pięść" Battalion. Notice the German uniform equipment these men are wearing with Polish national colours attached.
Without Allied support, the Home Army split into small, disconnected units and was forced to surrender when its supplies gave out (October 2). Bór-Komorowski and his forces were taken prisoner, and the Germans then systematically deported the remainder of the city’s population and destroyed a lot of the city itself.
By allowing the Germans to suppress the Warsaw Uprising, the Soviet authorities also allowed them to eliminate the main body of the military organisation that supported the Polish government-in-exile in London. Consequently, when the Soviet army occupied all of Poland, there was little effective organised resistance to its establishing Soviet political domination over the country and imposing the communist-led Provisional Government of Poland (Jan. 1, 1945).
The subject:
These figures mirror the soldiers in the photos below. Shown pushing a rickshaw-style pushbike full of gear and ammunition during the fighting in Warsaw, 1944. The photos originated from the Bundesarchiv.
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The Figures:
Sold as singles, two pairs, a three-set, and a set of five figures, these new 1/35th scale figures from D-Day Miniatures look pretty good from the painted-up versions we have seen. Here they are now...
Waffen SS NCO 1944-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35269
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
A resin figurine that reproduces a very almost atypical SS Unteroffizier, seen with the trimmings we can imagine of this type. The knee-high leather boots and cavalry breeches, denoting him as a longer-term-serving soldier, with his camouflage tunic and webbing. The stick grenade and Mp-40 are in his gloved hand. He certainly looks the type, and the peaked officer's cap adds the final touch.
Waffen SS MG34 Gunner, Walking, 1943-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35270
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
Waffen SS NCO & MG34 Gunner 1944-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35271
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
Two resin figure included
Price: €35 Euro
A box with two resin figures included. The machine gunner and Waffen SS NCO that we have looked at. These are sold together at a slightly cheaper price.
Waffen SS Soldier Pushing #1, 1944-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35272
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
Another hand-sculpted resin figurine, this one is of an SS man pushing the bike/rickshaw/cart forward. He really is leaning into it, and his hands are clutching the rail on the bike.
Waffen SS Soldier Pushing #2, 1944-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35273
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
This is a second man who is pushing the makeshift rickshaw. The smart thing that the sculptor has done with these three soldiers is to have them each wearing slightly different gear. This soldier has a camo smock over his field grey tunic and regular uniform pants. This guy is pushing the seat of the bike.
Waffen SS Soldier Pushing #3, 1944-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35274
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
The last of the pushers is seen again, in slightly different gear from his two comrades, with knee-high leather boots and a steel M44 helmet. He is hand-sculpted again, and here, his body language is that of a person leaning into the bar that he is holding to push.
Cycle Rickshaw - Cargo Version
by D-Day Miniature Studio
Kit No. 35275
1/35th scale
3D Designer: Kacper Gaber
Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €25 Euro
This is a 3D-printed kit of a bicycle/rickshaw with a little box on the front for carrying gear. Easy to construct, with very thin wired wheels, this kit looks ready to roll straight out of the box. IT can be filled with something you have in mind of maybe.....
8CM Granatwerfer 34 Stowage Set
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35276
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
This resin set contains several parts that are meant to be folded for transport 8CM Granatwerfer 34. The 8 cm Granatwerfer 34 (8 cm GrW 34) was the standard German infantry mortar throughout World War II, and here it is covered with all sorts of stowage gear, including helmets, rifles, webbing, and a canvas. This set is designed to fit neatly into the bike/rickshaw that we have just looked at.
"Schneller, Schneller!" WSS Soldiers w/ Cycle Rickshaw
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35277
1/35th scale
3D Designer: Kacper Gaber
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
Includes 5 resin figures & a rickshaw.
Price: €125 Euro
If you would like your own copies of these figures, you can order them via the D-Day Miniature Studio website.