D-Day Miniature Studio goes to the hills of then-Yugoslavia with fighters of the SS & Chetniks. Five figures, singles and sets. We look at their latest 35th-scale set in our preview...
Preview: Chetnik partisans in WWII & Mountain Division-SS in WWII.
The Subject: Chetnik partisans in WWII & the Prinz Eugen Waffen-SS...
During World War II, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia became a complex battlefield involving two primary resistance groups: the Chetniks, a royalist and Serbian nationalist force led by Draža Mihailović, and the Partisans, a communist-led movement under Josip Broz Tito.
The photos in this article were all used by the sculptor to fashion and make these figures of both Chetnik partisans in WWII & the Prinz Eugen Waffen-SS.
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While both initially resisted the 1941 Axis invasion, their conflicting ideologies—monarchism versus revolutionary socialism—soon led to a brutal civil war. The Chetniks, fearing severe German reprisals against Serbian civilians, adopted a more cautious "wait-and-see" strategy for an Allied invasion, which eventually devolved into tactical collaboration with the Italians and Germans to combat their common communist rivals. In contrast, the Partisans maintained an aggressive guerrilla campaign against all occupiers, eventually winning the sole support of the Western Allies and taking control of the country by 1945.
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The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen was an elite Waffen-SS formation specifically raised in 1941 to conduct counter-insurgency operations against these resistance movements. Composed primarily of Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) from the Banat, Croatia, Hungary, and Romania, the division became notorious for its extreme brutality. Between 1942 and 1945, it spearheaded major Axis offensives such as Operation Weiss and Operation Schwarz, engaging in a scorched-earth policy that included burning villages and mass executions of civilians suspected of aiding the resistance. Its soldiers were trained for mountain warfare, allowing them to pursue Partisan and Chetnik units into the rugged terrain of Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia, where conventional forces struggled.
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The relationship between these three groups was marked by shifting alliances and intense violence. For instance, in October 1942, the Prinz Eugen Division launched Operation Kopaonik specifically to destroy the Chetnik Rasina Corps in southern Serbia, resulting in the destruction of entire villages and the massacre of civilians at the Kriva Reka church. However, as the war progressed, some Chetnik commanders found a modus vivendi with German forces, including elements of the Prinz Eugen, to focus their combined efforts on annihilating the Partisans.
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By the war's final stages, as the Red Army advanced, the division was forced into a desperate retreat, eventually surrendering to Partisan forces in Slovenia in May 1945, where many of its members were summarily executed in reprisal for their recorded war crimes.
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The Figures:
Sold as singles and as a set of five figures, these new 1/35th scale figures from D-Day Miniatures look pretty good from the painted-up versions we have seen. Here they are now...
WWII Yugoslav Chetnik
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35284
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
This Chetnik partisan looks very (very) much like the fellows in the photos just above here. Seen in a mixture of thick pants and tunic. He has a jerkin on to help keep him warm, with the partisan's typical šajkača (pronounced [ʃǎjkatʃa]), which is the traditional Serbian national hat, historically worn by men in the countryside and as part of military uniforms since the 19th century.
SS "Prinz Eugen" Mountain Div. NCO 1942-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35285
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
This NCO is sculpted in 35th scale and can be seen here looking intently into the distance and pointing, probably at a hilltop far away; he looks like he certainly has seen something here.
SS "Prinz Eugen" Mountain Div. Kettenkrad driver 1942-45
(For Tamiya Kettenkrad)
(For Tamiya Kettenkrad)
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35287
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
This rider on top of his Kettenkrad (designed to fit the Tamiya kit) is wearing some rather plain uniform gear, with his M43 peaked cap and goggles a sensible choice, the jumper over his drill shirt and his suspenders holding up his plain grey trousers.
SS "Handschar" Mountain Div. Kettenkrad Rider 1 1942-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35288
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
The first rider sits inside the Kettenkrad at the rear as he looks out to the side, with a Kar 98 rifle & ammo and a scarf around his neck to protect him from the chilly mountain air. He looks like he is listening to someone, with his head slightly cocked to the side.
SS "Handschar" Mountain Div. Kettenkrad Rider 2 1942-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35289
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
One resin figure included
Price: €18 Euro
He is the second Kettenkrad rider, an SS "Handschar" Mountain Division soldier, holding his Kar 98 inside the rear, with the other hand on his knee. Noticeably his scarf, his typical headgear and galoshes over his mountain boots are easily noticed in this sculpt.
SS "Prinz Eugen" Mountain Div. NCO & Chetnik 1943-45
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35286
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
Two resin figures are included
Price: €35 Euro
A combination of the "Prinz Eugen" Mountain Div. NCO & Chetnik partisan, these two fit together for a simpler, smaller scene. Both bearing arms, these two look like they could be close to the action.
SS "Gebirgsjäger" Mountain Div. Kettenkrad Crew 1942-45
(For Tamiya Kettenkrad)
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35290
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
Three resin figures are included
Price: €51 Euro
SS "Unternehmen Heiderose", Yugoslavia, 1944
WSS Mountain Troops (Prinz Eugen & Handschar Div.) with Chetnik
(For Tamiya Kettenkrad)
by D-Day miniature studio
Kit No. 35291
1/35th scale
Sculptor & Box art: Pawel Krasicki
Five resin figures are included
Price: €51 Euro
These five figures are provided in the one set here in this larger boxing. The three riders, the NCO & the Chetnik partisan are all delivered unassembled in grey resin.
The scene here is expanded with a simple stone mountainous background, putting us in the heights of then-Yugoslavia at that time. The figures look right at home in this diorama made by the sculptor.
If you would like your own copies of these figures, you can order them via the D-Day Miniature Studio website.
