Friday, March 19

Preview: Stalingrad Miniatures two new sets of women & children enjoying the fruit of peace...

Not often do we get manufacturers making figures and sets of figures of  not soldiers, but women and children after the fighting has passed. Simply being themselves, playing or just waving coyly at soldiers passing by... Stalingrad has given us just that with two new releases of sets, we look at them both, and add the inspirational photos that inspired them in our preview...

2021's first new figures from Stalingrad Miniatures...

The Liberation of Paris, 1944 (two girls)
From Stalingrad Miniatures
Kit No #3009 
1/35th scale
Two light grey resin figures in one set
Sculpted & boxart by Alexander Zelenkov
These two figures of women match the Europe setting from anywhere from Derry to Damascus in WWII, but they are titled "The Liberation of Paris, 1944", so lets take it that they are two French girls in 1944. we would say they could be from any European city or large town during this era by the clothing and hairstyles. They are cast in light grey resin and sold as a set of two figures. Here you can see them unpainted and in raw cast resin form.
Detail of the women should always be investigated! Both of these figures feature hair and the clothing of the 40's, tight waisted awing dress on one of the ladies with high socks (over their ankles!) with shoes on underneath the socks. She has a lovely necklace visible on the neck and curly hair - of course you can make these any colour you like!
The other lady is dressed a little more conservatively,  with a jacket over her blouse and panelled skirt on underneath that all. High heeled shoes and a nice short handled handbag make her into a full figure. The details of her legs, her hair and her waist all suit the feminine form and the look of a young lady looking on to the scene before her...
Both of these girls are looking on, arms interlocked as they see the scene before them, could this be an Allied army in Paris? Or a German column with lots of young men entering in 1940? it is up to you and your imagination really.
Some photos or women in Paris and in the rest of Europe during liberation celebrations...

Children of war, 1945 (5 boys)
From Stalingrad Miniatures
Kit No # 3241
1/35th scale
Five light grey resin figures in one set
Sculpted & boxart by Alexander Zelenkov
the latest "big set" from Stalingrad features several smaller figures it seems - these five children  going nuts on the barrel of a tank left deserted and wrecked after the fighting in WWII giving them a place to play out their wildest fantasies - it surely is a strong gymnasium!

Some kids playing on tanks in the modern and WWII days which serves as inspiration for these sculpts
There are several pictures of  children in all sorts of warzones playing like this after the battle. kids will play - and the nature of what they are playing on seems to settle away as instinct, youth and imagination takes over to forget the sadness and depravation around them...
Children play on the bomb sites and wrecked tanks in Berlin in the aftermath of the fighting there. 1945.
Soviet children playing on the abandoned German Panzer V Ausf. D "Panther" medium tank (turret No. 785?) in Kharkov, Ukraine, USSR. Date: September 1943.
These children's imagination is running wild as they play on this mighty abandoned King Tiger 
The figures in this set:
The five figures of children are sculpted by Alexander Zelenkov in 1/35th scale, cast in light grey resin, an come in various poses holding on to , sitting on top of  and hanging from the barrel of a demolished WWII-era tank.
Here they are all painted up, and if you can just use your imagination, or the pictures that we have in this article, you can see them in the wild - having fun, sitting, chatting and imagining what has happened here before them - the innocents of children suit several dramas that look to dispel the harsh nature of a lot of settings that we have in modelling dioramas and scenes. These figures look to bring light and brevity to the modeller's bench...
These figures are sold as a two sets - they are available right now - check these out and all of Alexander's other works at the  Stalingrad Website: