German Infantry, 1939–1944
Airfix 1:76 Scale Figure Review
German infantry wearing the M.1936 field-grey Einheitsfeldbluse uniform with dark green collar and shoulder straps, and stone-grey trousers. Field-grey trousers were issued in 1940. The troops carry light infantry equipment, they must be mechanized or motorized Panzergrenadiers who have left their personal gear in the half-track or truck. The M.1943 Einheitsfeldbluse was similar in appearance, but it was produced from cheaper fabric, and the collar and shoulder straps were made from the same field-grey material. The M.1936 uniform may be painted reed-green to represent the M.1944 cotton twill Kampfanzug summer battle dress. The entrenched figures are conversions of standing riflemen cut apart at the waist and glued into individual foxholes.
Contents
48 Figures in 15 Poses – 22 mm equal 167 cm Height
- Officer
- Junior Officer with Steyr MP 34 Machine-Pistol (3)
- NCO advancing (3)
- NCO kneeling (3)
- l.MG gunner with MG 34, marching (3)
- l.MG gunner with MG 34, prone, firing (3)
- l.MG loader, prone (3)
- Assault Pioneer with Flamethrower M35 (3)
- Grenadier with Karabiner 98k, throwing Stickgrenade 24 (3)
- Rifleman with Karabiner 98k, marching (3)
- Rifleman with Karabiner 98k, kneeling, firing (4)
- Rifleman with Karabiner 98k, standing, firing (5)
- Rifleman with Karabiner 98k, running (4)
- Rifleman with Karabiner 98k, crawling (4)
- Rifleman, falling wounded (3)
Evaluation
Excellent choice of subject, these Airfix figures cover the early war years until the introduction of the M.1944 Einheitsfeldbluse which looked more like the British Battledress of the period.
Excellent poses suitable for dioramas and wargames. The figures are anatomically correct and they are accurately posed to represent mechanized and motorized infantry in combat or patrolling near the front.
The figure mix is suprisingly close to an actual infantry platoon. There is an officer, several non-commissioned officers, and enough light machine gunners and riflemen to fill the infantry squads.
Some, but not all the figures in this set are equipped with a Feldspaten entrenching tool and the Sidearm 84/98 Ausf. III strapped to it.
Compatible with Fujimi, Matchbox, Milicast, Cromwell Models, Ostmodels, MMS, and Vac-U-Cast.
The crawling rifleman is not a particularly useful or attractive figure. His rifle looks like a stick, and his helmet is shaped incorrectly.
There is no loader to accompany the marching machine gunner. A rifleman carrying two ammunition boxes would have been nice to have, and much more useful than the crawling rifleman.
Possible Conversions
- The wounded figure may be converted to a mortar operator by replacing his left arm with an outstrechted arm holding a mortar round. The face needs to be reconstructed when the hand is removed from it, but minor facial damage will not be very obvious, because the figure is looking down.
- Some of the figures may be shown wearing the Einheitsfeldmütze field cap which became available in 1943. Suitable heads with the field cap may be scrounged from the Airfix Afrikakorps figure set.
These Airfix figures are among the oldest scale miniatures on the market today, but they continue to set a sculpting standard against which other manufacturer’s German infantry need to be judged.