You may, or may not recall, as I cycle through wargaming periods quicker ,than a drugged up Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France!! I purchased some very nice East German NVA figures in 28mm, from a company called UnderFire Miniatures, and did a little review.
http://nigelh-viewfromtheduckpond.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/like-thin-shelled-chocolate-easter-egg.html
Now as you all know, I am easily distracted from a project, and this time I can blame the TV, I did go through a "War and Peace"crisis, as the BBC aired their latest Sunday evening drama, but a few hours wrestling with them horrible Perry figures, and it passed, then along comes More 4, with its Walter Presents nonsense, and he declares that "Deutschland 83" was worth showing, and I decided to give it a look, the rest as they say, is history........
I dug around in my boxes of shame, and rediscovered the NVA packs, then I went online, and made the mistake of having a quick glance at the UnderFire Miniatures website.
Well now, they have added to the range, in the shape of two more NVA packs, and the start of some Bundeswehr opponents for them. So I had to order them, as it seemed impolite not to.
A little parcel duly arrived, and here is a Villageidiot style review of the contents.
Bundeswehr 1 pack
The pack contains, as its obviously clear from the picture, four rifle armed infantry, now these lads are firmly rooted in the 1980s, as clearly depicted by the uniforms, and equipment, so no Flecktarn to paint (Hurrah).
Sculpted by Tony Boustead, the same person responsible for the previously released NVA models.
The models are well cast, with a little mould line clean up required, but nothing too taxing. Once again, these lads are on the tall side, and measure up at around 34mm to the top of their heads, the figures are slim build, none of your chunky lads here.
This is no problem, as they match perfectly with the previously released NVA models, and as the only company producing figures for this period now, you don't have to match them with other figures.
Scale wise, yes as you already know, I am a scale nazi, they probably scale out at about 1/50th
I popped one onto my scale mat, and he works out at about 5ft 7" in 1/48th.
Onto the equipment, and the models appear to have all the correct bits n pieces, the webbing looks right, the G3 magazine pouches are spot on, and they have the kidney pouch respirators, on the rear there is the entrenching tool, small pouch,and a water bottle.
The G3 assault rifle is beautifully detailed, and is not overly large, often an issue with figures.
The uniform would be the old Moleskin issue, greenish grey, with the American style helmet, the helmets are bare, and I did expect them to have the camo covers on them, but thats a minor gripe, and easily sorted with a paintjob, or by adding loads of foliage..
Its good to see these figures appear, and I hope that we get a few more packs,always difficult when beginning a new range, and its a bit of a niche area, so congratulations to UnderFire for commissioning this range
It has inspired me to drag out all my old model plans, and after a bit of jiggery pokery, I came up with this
Yeah ,Marder 1A2, its what every Bundeswehr Panzer Grenadier wants to drive about it, expect a 1/50th scale, hacked up plasticard mess to roll off my bench...........eventually :-)
There are a few more packs to come in this range, and I hope we will get some light support weapons, including the MG3
So West Germany done, lets hop over the Iron Curtain, and have a look at the East.
National Volksarmee 2 packs
To round out the East German side, we have two new packs of NVA figures, and once again, nice clean castings, that require a minimum clean up.
The first pack contains a platoon command group, comprising an officer/NCO, radio operator, RPG gunner, and a sniper
The second pack contains three infantrymen armed with the German equivalent of the AK47, and a kneeling figure aiming his RPG7.
The figures have a mix of helmets, some are plain, others have the net or camo cover, they all have the right selection of equipment, and the detail on the kit, and weapons is just fantastic.
These two new packs will enable you to make up a good mix of vehicle squads for either BMP mounted sections or the BTR60 ones
So lets put this one to bed, if you are interested in gaming a 1980s Cold War what if, and you choose to take the 28mm route, then you will not be disappointed with these models.
Price wise, they are £8.00 for four figures, this includes postage, and is about par for the course these days, you do get a quality selection of figures for your pennies, so the cost is pretty damn reasonable.
Get you backsides over to
and order a few packs :-)
Now, do I contact Mr Boustead, and see if he is able to sculpt some B.A.O.R and Soviets?
I have this urge you see :-)
Until next time fellow figure fondlers.
