Time to reward your self – with our review of Verlinden's German General…

Verlinden’s latest release 1/16^th figure is that of a Luftwaffe General awarding a soldier with one of the highest honours – let’s see if the figure gets the same type of kudos in our review…

Luftwaffe General WWII

#2788

1:16 Scale

Nine parts

Cream resin

$32.95 directly from Verlinden.

Haven’t I got one of these? This German Luftwaffe General seems to be thinking as he is seen looking down at the ribbon of the medal – he maybe is in the process of awarding it and maybe just looking at it..

This picture reminds me of several shots of German Officers awarding medals to their soldiers in WWII

Manfred Meurer, seen here receiving the Ritterkreuz out of the hands of Gen. Josef Kammhuber in September 1943. This event took place at the airfield of Venlo in Holland.It reminds me of the painted up Verlinden figure you get if you finish this model

The new general from Verlinden is in 120mm or 1/16^th scale whichever you prefer. He comes in nine parts of cream resin which is bubble free and fairly detailed for the scale he is in but not THE best detail we have seen. He does however hold a few surprises – and one right in his hand!

The large scale 1/16^th figure’s head is the only choice with this figure – many offer two choices but this General is true to form of most of the general staff in wearing his Officer’s peaked cap.

The face is that of a larger older man with really interesting jowls around his neck and a double chin. This is definitely a man of rank and privilege. The braid on his peaked cap looks good as does the German eagle and swastika, the German circle emblem and the cockade around it – usually in gold for his rank.

The torso is the next main part – on it he has a fair few medals on his chest already - he has a board of campaign colours on his left chest, with the Knight’s cross of the Iron Cross or “sore throat” around his neck with details of his tunic easy to see as well.

The collar patches of a general are easy to see as they are finely sculpted – as is his German eagle holding a swastika on his right breast pocket. The two holed officer’s leather belt holds his waist in while the pockets on his jacket sit very nicely. The jacket gives the illusion of being pinched at the belt and buttons which adds realism.

The sagging material around his underarms is also well done as is the two lines across the shoulder bones. Note the split in the jacket bottom slightly open.

The arms lock straight into the joints – of note are the thick long cuffs in the older style and the general’s armband around his left arm as you can see on the jacket above's cuffs. 

You can see in this picture the sideboard on the general’s shoulder a little more as well as the notched that help you secure and locate the arms in place…

The hands are seen here in gloves which look great – you can see when he reverses his hand…

The only thing this figure is missing is the ribbon for the medal!  The Iron cross he is just going to award his recipient is hidden away in his palm which is a nice little detail of this sculpt

  He has the striped breeches of the General staff and the Generals stripes adorn the side of his strides, the breaches again warp with their shape and the weight of the cloth.

 

The back of the pants look pretty convincing and a little uncomfortable as well! 

Lastly we have a pair of high jack boots the Germans favoured until later in the war.

Well I was surprised by this one – the box art angle almost doesn’t do him justice as he is looking down and you don’t really see his face – often something Verlinden cops criticism for but one which is one of the nicer features here. The old chubby cheeks are great, and the medal in his palm is a nice little Easter egg as well. I would suggest you find yourself a 1/16^th scale Luftwaffe officer or pilot to award your medal to now.

Adam Norenberg

These kits are currently on introduction sale at Verlinden’s Webstore.