Zvezda 1/35 Soviet Medical Personnel WWII
By Don Barry
Kit #3618 Soviet Medical Personnel WWII 1943-45
MSRP - $16.95
In days gone by, the mention of figures from Zvezda conjured visions of flash-surrounded figures with virtually no surface detail, vaguely resembling humans. If these figures are an indication of future releases, those days are gone, stories to be used to frighten young modelers before bedtime. This is a 5 figure set, consisting of 2 stretcher bearers with a casualty on the stretcher, and a female nurse caring for another wounded soldier. There are 45 parts total, contained on one sprue of light tan fairly soft plastic. A one-half page, two-sided instruction sheet is included, showing alternate pieces, a painting guide, and parts map. The parts are totally flash free, and have an exceptionally smooth surface finish. Russian Ppsh sub-machine guns are crisply molded, with separate drum magazines, as well detailed as modern Dragon or Tamiya releases. The mold seams are so fine as to be hard to find on most pieces. Separate hands are included for some figures, with separate fingers on some. Some, such as the stretcher bearers, have their hands cast as part of the handles, or weapons, thus insuring a firm grasp. Slings for weapons or medical bags are cast on the figures, with the bags or weapons having the ends cast onto them. These mate PERFECTLY, without exception. One figure has his ubiquitous Russian blanket roll cast in two pieces, front and back. At the bottom, the joint is buried in where the blanket is gathered and tied. The top mates over his shoulder, forming a near perfect joint. Half a dozen swipes with a fine sanding pad and the joint was gone. Bare heads are provided as an alternative for the bearers, and exhibit nice hair detail. All facial expressions are different, with the wounded having a distinctly slack-jawed look. The sprue attachment joints are small, in unobtrusive locations, and easily cleaned up. Builders will appreciate the way the stretcher/arms attach to the figures, resulting in a very convincing pose. The nurse cradling the head of the second (or first) casualty is quite compelling in its execution. Although this is a first look review, I had the time to build and prime this set, spending about 3 hours total, less than usual for a set this size.
This is a reasonably priced, well designed and excellently produced figure set, filling an untapped niche. I highly recommend this set, the diorama possibilities abound. Thank you to Dragon USA for providing my review sample.