For many years modellers of British and Commonwealth armour have been calling for both tankers and vehicle crews, a plea that often fell on deaf ears until very recently when MiniArt took up the call. This figure depicts a crewman in a standing position, hands on hips with legs slightly apart. The figure consists of 9 parts; arms, separate hands, legs, upper body, head complete with beret/goggles, with a pistol holster and small ammo pouch I hope I was some help. A couple of years ago I painted the two Alpine British Tankers and I was happy with the way the colors came out. This product is available in two scales, 1:35 and 1:24 and was painstakingly designed from scratch as a digital model.

This figure depicts a crewman in the process of mounting a tank via the front glacial plate. The example I’ve see him used on was a Sherman. The figure consists of 9 parts; arms, legs, upper body, head and beret with pistol holster and pouch. To complete the figure is a separate head, very nicely done with the face of quite a stern looking fellow, along with a tankers beret. The figures depict armoured crewmen from 1944 onwards. All are clothed in the light denim tank suit that was issued 2 per man to every armoured vehicle crewman, including crews of the Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery, so there is a lot of scope for usage here.This set contains 56 parts moulded in light grey plastic. Depicted on the box top is a nice colour image of the 5 painted figures signed A Kapawyk (Andrey Karaschuk) 2008 whom I assume sculpted the figures, but that is a guess on my part. On the bottom is a very clear colour building and painting guide. Painting suggestions cover 8 of the more well know paint manufacturers paints which is a nice touch. The box measures 10” by 6 1/2” approx which is quite large and seems the standard size used by MiniArt for their figures. The figures are contained on 2 sprues that come sealed in a clear plastic bag. Also in the box is a small paper insert depicting the sprue parts and numbers corresponding to the build instructions on the reverse of the box. Around the waist the figure wears a 37 pattern belt with a RAC Corps Mk I pistol holster. This is the style with the long thigh strap and the leg tie down and open topped pistol holster. The strap and a pistol lanyard are moulded to the right leg, as is the tie down. The holster and pistol handle come as a separate item and are quite well depicted, a small ammo pouch rounds this out. MiniArt are to be congratulated for the effort put into these figures, the Mk I pistol holsters, whilst looking somewhat cool, weren’t really all that common by 1944, and I would have preferred the Mk II shortened version or the flapped holster instead. Around the waist the figure wears a 37 pattern belt with a RAC Corps Mk II pistol holster. This is the style with the holster flap.

On the 19th of February 1943, the II SS Panzer Corps and two panzer armies under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein launched their counterstrike on the Eastern Front, aimed to recapture Kharkov and Belgorod. With extensive air support from Luftflotte 4, in two weeks the German Army defeated the Red Army south of Kharkov and was able to directly engage the city on the 11th of March. After four days of house-to-house fighting, Kharkov was recaptured by the 1st SS Panzer Division on March the 15th. This series of battles is known as the Third Battle of Kharkov, which cost the Red Army over 80,000 casualties. Bevin Alexander, a military historian, called the Third Battle of Kharkov "the last great victory of German arms in the Eastern Front". illustrations contain over 300 AFV, aircraft, ship, car, SF and figure models and dioramas by Marijn Van Gils, one of the world’s best modellers. One kayak was damaged while being deployed from the submarine, and it and its crew therefore could not take part in the mission. Only two of the 10 men who launched from the submarine survived the raid: Hasler, and his number two in the kayak, Bill Sparks. Of the other eight, six were executed by the Germans and two died from hypothermia. To complete the figure is a separate head, tankers helmet and goggles. The head has quite good facial features, the addition of a tankers helmet and goggles a nice touch, as are the earphones. This figure depicts a crewman in a standing position, head slightly bowed holding a map board in his left hand and a radio handset in his right. The figure consists of 14 parts; arms, separate right hand, legs, upper body, head, tankers helmet, goggles, map board, pistol holster and small ammo pouch and separate earphones.This figure depicts a crewman in a sitting position leaning forward slightly, right hand on hip and the left holding a radio handset. The legs are designed to hang inside the cupola of a tank. The figure consists of 13 parts; arms, separate left hand, legs, upper body, head, tankers helmet, goggles, map board, pistol holster and small ammo pouch and separate earphones. Early in the war, British Tank crews were issued Khaki Denim overalls to fit over and protect their battle dress it was only in the last years of the war were the tank crews issued a special type of tank suit for the winter of 1944 (Pixie Suit). The color of the tank suit was a lighter sandy khaki shade of that of the battle dress. You could add some buff to the mix of Panzer Aces 317 and that would lighten the shade of the suit a bit. Experiment until you are satisfied.

To complete the figure is a separate head complete with beret and goggles. The face and beret are well done, and this chap sports a moustache, the box art showing him with Officers brown boots. There are some differences between the Box Art and the Figures. Figure A is shown with his sleeves slightly rolled up, but the figure actually has full length sleeves. Three of the crew have the early style Mk I pistol holster with the long thigh strap. Although still used by some individuals, this style had by 1944 given way to the shortened thigh strap of the Mk II holster. This kit contains models of five figures: Miniart 1:35 - German Tank Crew ( Kharkov 1943 ) - Plastic Model Kit plus Weapons and Equipment - Includes Resin Heads Staying behind the theatre of operations during WWII, the Feldgendarmerie closely worked with the Geheime Feldpolizei (Secret Field Police) and SS in the rear. Their duties were to monitor traffic and population control, fight with partisans as well as arrest and execute rebellions. According to some historians, the Feldgendarmerie soldiers were also involved in war crimes and Jewish purges in occupied territories.Around the waist the figure wears a 37 pattern belt with a RAC Corps Mk I pistol holster. This is the style with the long thigh strap and the leg tie down and open toped pistol holster. The strap and a pistol lanyard are moulded to the right leg, as is the tie down. The holster and pistol handle come as a separate item are quite well depicted, and to accompany that you also get a small ammo pouch. To complete the figure is a separate head, tankers helmet and goggles. The head has quite good facial features, the addition of a tankers helmet and goggles a nice touch, and the map board gives a very good representation of this bit of kit.