Tuesday, April 9

Construction Review: 1/35th scale Children Of Budapest from KFS Miniatures

KFS Miniatures has a few resin figures already released that we have liked the look of - today we are looking at yet another - this time the subject is two children  - alone in the Winter of 1945 in Budapest. See the picture that inspired this set, what comes in the package and what these figures look like when together in our review...



Construction Review: Children Of Budapest
From KFS Miniatures
1/35th scale
Kit No# 35-010
Unbuilt and unpainted figure set of two children 
Cast in resin
Kamil Feliks Sztarbała's range of figures, sold through his KFS Miniatures website is under the microscope today. we are looking at an interesting set from him. That of two children, sculpted in 1/35th scale from the late WWII period - in fact, it could be anywhere in that timeframe, but especially in Winter as both of the figures are wrapped up warmly against the cold.

This set contains two 1/35 scale figures of children from WWII in 1945 period, inspired by a photo taken in Budapest in 1945.  These two are standing next to an Italian tank destroyer used by the Germans - the Semovente 75/18 from the 12th SS Polizei Panzer Kompanie. is seen here disabled and with the children in front of it, somewhere in Budapest, March 1945.
There is also a better quality picture of just the young girl standing on top of the tank destroyer.
Both of these images are very evocative, and I can see it was with these two pictures that Kamil from KFS Miniatures had in his mind's eye when he made these two sculpts. Let's have a look at them now.

The Figure Set:
In a Zip-loc bag, this pair of resin castings arrive. The artwork of the figures, painted by their sculptor Kamil is in a white card on the front of the package for inspiration and a painting guide. 
Inside the bag, there are two figures - well one and a third and three-quarters of a figure if you get what I mean as one figure has his arm around his sister. I know that ensures a snug fit, but it does not allow you to show them separate like the single girl in the second picture in the series. Not a big deal but worth mentioning.
The resin the figures are cast in is surface bubble free, and nothing was wrong with the figures that could not be fixed with a little cleanup. The figures both come attached to small casting blocks that they are "standing" on that need to be removed also. 

The little boy:
The taller of the two, I think this is a little boy - although his winter wraps make him hard to tell the sex. He is bigger than the other figure and to me, he looks like a young boy.
The boy has not only the think hood on, but a large winter weight overcoat that covers up his whole upper torso, leaving only his legs, in thick wrinkled pants showing at the bottom. 
His hands are covered in mittens (remember when gloves didn't have individual fingers huh? and his right arm is resting on his sister's shoulders.


The Little Girl:
The sister sure does look sweet - I am almost certain she is meant to be a little girl, her chubby cheeks and shorter stature make her the younger sister of the two. She is dressed very much like her brother in this sculpt.
The thick headscarf, the padded jacket with large collars and thick, round buttons are more feminine compared to her brother's zip-up coat. She also has thickly wrinkled pants and is wearing mittens.

Putting them all together:
...Took about five minutes...
The hardest thing was sanding the little girl's feet flat - her feet are TINY - so I actually used a bit of the flat resin to make her feet align so her toes pointed out of her pants a little further. It was something I did as a personal choice - nothing was wrong with the kit.

Notice the slight hollowed out cavity so the two can be posed closer together as you would naturally when you have your arm around  a person
Here they are put together...
OK - so here they are  - a very sweet looking couple- most probably a brother and sister - they look very sweet and vulnerable. The little boy with his concerned look at his sister - the sweet little lady with big cheeks - they tie in very well together in the sculpt and the body language.
The set is cheap to buy, the figures are evocative and well sculpted and the assembly is quick. What's not to like?

Adam Norenberg

Thanks to Kamil at KFS Miniatures for sending us this figure to review...
Here is the pair - Kamil's figures from the box art - on the KFS Website.