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In recent years bust type figures have become more and more popular, and Warriors has released this new 1/9 rendition of an SS Panzer Jaeger. The scope of the model really stretches what I would call a "bust" as it is a complete figure down to the belt-line.
The kit comes nicely packaged in an attractive box with a good color photo of the front of the finished figure. You get ten parts cast in a light cream colored resin plus a large sheet of Hudson & Allen German insignia decals. The decal sheet is numbered 98001, and seems to be a stand alone item included in the kit as well.
Parts breakdown is reasonable; you get two arms, head/torso, two ammo pouches, helmet, two-piece Panzer Faust and a two-piece MP-44.
No painting guide or instructions are provided outside of the box art photo.
Cleanup of the resin parts is generally very easy. The torso required the use of an X-Acto saw, and sanding the bottom smooth took a little care since the casting is curved on the bottom; not flat. There was a minor bit of flash on the back of the figure's neck and collar/hood area, but no other cleanup was required. The arms can be removed from their pour plugs with a sprue cutter, as can the rest of the resin parts. The arms did require some sanding to smooth the contours around the mold seam, but this was minor.
The accessory parts, unfortunately, were somewhat of a disappointment compared to the casting quality of the figure itself. The separate helmet has a mold plug across the top, and the mold halves themselves were not aligned properly resulting in a mismatch of approximately 2 mm. This required a good bit of putty and sanding to correct. It would have been easier to request a replacement part, as the rear scoop of the helmet and the rear bolt detail were also marred badly. The Panzer Faust casting had a similar misalignment across the entire underside, although in this case the off-set was approx .5 mm. Still, on a tube, this is very noticeable. More putty and sanding. The sight for the Panzer Faust was also broken off its pour plug and slightly damaged. The MP-44 also had a serious mold misalignment on the bottom; and several large and many small air bubbles. The worst bubble marks were on the trigger guard and a visible outer edge of the gun. These were fixed with gap filling CA glue and accelerator. The two machinegun ammo pouches look odd in shape and I think they are not proportioned quite right compared to the real thing. Also, they lack a lot of detail and one was slightly broken.
Fit of all components is excellent, with the arms snapping seamlessly in place. I decided to assemble the whole figure except for the helmet and weapons to ensure the most solid bond between the parts. The figure's facial and hand details are very, very good. The level of detail overall is average considering how large of a scale the model is done in. As an example, the helmet chin strap lacks a buckle. The real strap has a buckle that is visible even when the strap is folded across the outer lip of the helmet and tightened, as per the model. Likewise, with no buckle, there is no indication of the strap being in two parts that join. I did not correct this, although it would be easy to do. The ammo pouches should have some large, heavy, visible stitching as well.
I drilled a 3/8" hole into the bottom of the casting for the insertion of a brass rod to mount the figure to a wooden base. The bust itself will sort of stand up on its own, although ground contact is limited to the rifle stock and two points on the ammo pouches.
You have a couple painting options here... winter white as per the box, or the reverse of the uniform, with the camouflage side outward and the white on the inside. This would be a good beginners figure to paint, because even with the complicated SS camouflage the modeler can either paint the uniform white side out, or at least attempt the camouflage pattern in a very large scale compared to 1/35 or even 1/16 figures.
The only decals really needed are the Panzer Faust markings, so you will have a ton of leftover collar patches, shoulder boards, cuff titles, etc. Be careful with the Panzer Faust markings, as three sets are provided for three different types of launchers. Also, do not forget to apply the decal to the launch tube before fitting the tube into the figure's hands.
Overall a very nice model that is really fun to work with. The poor molding on the accessory parts was a let down; although aside from the helmet the corrections were pretty easy. Without having to fix the poor molding here and there the entire bust could be cleaned and assembled in under an hour.
Review sample kindly provided by VLS.
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