MiniArt Battle of the Bulge - 1:35 Military Figures - MiniArt

[Fran]

“Battle of the Bulge”

Ardennes 1944

(1:35 WWII Military Miniatures series)

 

 

MiniArt
Catalogue #35084
Available from any good model shop

    

         Before diving in on the inside box to see what inside, all WWII knows the history, even a brief one, about the Battle of the Bulge.

         A quick walkaround on the internet and you can find pleny of links and sites with the Battle of the Bulge.

         So here`s a little history of the this famous battle before diving into the box contents.

In December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp, marking a repeat of what the Germans had done three times previously–in September 1870, August 1914, and May 1940. Despite Germany’s historical penchant for mounting counteroffensives when things looked darkest, the Allies’ leadership miscalculated and left the Ardennes lightly defended by only two inexperienced and two battered American divisions.

On December 16, three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in the west in the poorly roaded, rugged, heavily forested Ardennes. The once-quiet region became bedlam as American units were caught flat-footed and fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division. The inexperienced U.S. 106th Division was nearly annihilated, but even in defeat helped buy time for Brigadier General Bruce C. Clarke’s brilliant defense of St.-Vith. As the German armies drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads west of the River Meuse quickly, the line defining the Allied front took on the appearance of a large protrusion or bulge, the name by which the battle would forever be known.

A crucial German shortage of fuel and the gallantry of American troops fighting in the frozen forests of the Ardennes proved fatal to Hitler’s ambition to snatch, if not victory, at least a draw with the Allies in the west. Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s remarkable feat of turning the Third Army ninety degrees from Lorraine to relieve the besieged town of Bastogne was the key to thwarting the German counteroffensive. The Battle of the Bulge was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties – in The Reader’s Companion to Military History. Edited by Robert Cowley and Geoffrey Parker. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Before opening the slip side box, I must say I quite like the boxart. Nice artwork from a unknow artist (do not know the copyright) representing a surrender action.

         In the back of the box, there`s the color guidelines for all 5 figures.

 

 

 

You will get also, on the down right side, a quite helpful color chart with full color reference.

 

Now let`s go inside.

You will get 3 Americans and 2 Germans soldiers and of course you can use all 5 of them or simply use then separately.

Inside the two sprues of grey plastic are kept together in a plastic bag.

 

 

 

 

Also a small paper sheet with the trees parts, and their corresponding numbers.

 

 

No instructions ...but really do you need it? Absolutely not.

Just be checking the sprues, a modeler can see how quite simply it would be construction of these figures.

Also surface detail is the first thing that pops out on the figure set.

 

 

The surface details on the clothes for an injection molded figure are quite amazing.

 

 

 

All the figures postures are quite well achieved, very natural and realistic.

 

         As you can see on the pictures, there`s some cleaning that it`s need because of the seam mould line.

         If that means no problem on the clothes and weapons, you cannot say the same thing concerning to the head and facial expression.

 

 

         The seam line on the face or hair is particularly difficult to remove without damage any details.

Notwithstanding the head are well molded, balanced in size and the faces are quite nice in expression and look… the cleaning simply can ruin it.

But you`ve got a good solution: resin heads.

Conclusion:

 

The figure set is quite comprehensive giving the modelers endless possibility for use in dioramas or vignettes, is the complete set is just one of the figures and all that for the price (at least in my usual store) of a resin figure.

Very well done Miniart!

 

(copyright Miniart)

Very highly recommended

 

Francisco Guedes

 

Our thanks to MiniArt for the review samples.

Available in any good model shop.