Trumpeter 1/35 WWII Soviet Red Army At Rest Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Trumpeter continues to turn out some interesting figure sets to help bring their detailed armor offerings to life. This set in particular caught my eye as I enjoy modeling Soviet armor from World War II through current times. Like DML, Trumpeter was turning out a variety of German Wehrmacht figures, but recently Trumpeter has pushed out into Soviet figures.

This set has four comrades taking a break from the routine of combat. One is posed leaning on the open hatch of his tank while two others are listening intently around a campfire. The fourth figure is a Soviet soldier playing the accordion.

In addition to the four figures, a nice array of background diorama offerings are provided in styrene including buckets, tin cups, canteens, water bags, and magazine (ammo) pouches. The accordion and the campfire are also provided.

The set also includes a set of tanker's helmets molded in black vinyl. I'm not quite sure how these will fit on the styrene heads, but it is a novel approach.

As you can see in the photos, the kit is presented on four larger parts trees and two small trees, all molded in light gray styrene, plus the black vinyl helmets.

In addition to the other details included in the set, a nice set of weapons are also included including PPsh-41 and M1891/30 rifles. The one weapons not mentioned in the instuctions is even more fascinating - thanks to Peter Low for the ID, the long rifle is the 14.5mm PTRS 1941 anti-tank rifle. You can learn more about this unique weapon here.

Soviet crew figures are starting to roll out onto the market from a variety of sources. With the nice array of Soviet armor coming from Trumpeter and DML, it is good to see some options to crewing up a diorama or vignette.