October 30, 2026

Preview: MiniArt's 35th-scale "Soviet Infantry 1943-45"

MiniArt's 35th-scale "Soviet Infantry 1943-45" features five figures & new sprues of weapons & equipment. See about the soldiers & the set in our preview...

MiniArt's 35th-scale "Soviet Infantry 1943-45"

Soviet Infantry 1943-45
From MiniArt Models
1/35th scale
Kit No: #35340
Five figures & new sprues of weapons & equipment included...
The Subject: Soviet Infantry 1943-45
The summer uniform of the Red Army was designed for durability in intense heat and dust, centred around the breathable olive-drab or khaki cotton gimnasterka tunic and matching sharovari cargo trousers. The tunic featured a standing collar that fastened tightly at the neck and reinforced elbow patches to withstand crawling through terrain. Soldiers wore the SSh-40 steel helmet for combat protection, but during rest periods behind the lines, it was frequently swapped for the lightweight, iconic pilotka side cap tucked into a belt or shoulder strap.

A great photo of many uniforms of Soviet soldiers during WWII
Footwear remained rugged and heavy despite the summer heat, with soldiers relying on tall canvas-and-rubber kirza boots or leather sapogi jackboots. Instead of socks, infantrymen strictly used cotton portyanki (footwraps); when wrapped tightly and correctly, these cloth sheets absorbed sweat effectively, dried quickly during brief pauses, and prevented debilitating blisters during gruelling forced marches across the dusty steppes.

WWII Soviet scouts with their typical hooded colth capes and PPsh-41s
A summer soldier's gear was stripped down to absolute essentials to minimise weight during long seasonal offensives. Rather than a rigid backpack, most carried the mesh veshmeshok duffel bag, a simple canvas rucksack secured by a loop knot. Stripped across their chests was a canvas ammunition pouch for Mosin-Nagant stripper clips or a curved pouch for PPSh-41 magazines, alongside a leather or canvas belt holding a small trenching tool (MPL-50), a canteen, and a pouch for an anti-gas respirator or grenades.

Soviet Infantry Marching on the Eastern Front 
Firepower in the summer months focused heavily on rapid mobility and close-quarters capability, making the PPSh-41 submachine gun highly prominent as units pushed through trenches and sun-baked villages. For riflemen, the long Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 was standard, frequently fixed with its long socket bayonet, which Soviet doctrine dictated should remain attached to the rifle during tactical advances, adding significant length and weight to the soldier's summer field profile.

1945: Enlisted men increasingly seen in M43 (Obr43) tunics with chest pockets, still officially designated as M43 (Obr43).

The Kit:
This set features five soviet soldiers from WWII with weapons and equipment. To those with sharp eys, you can see that these five are actually the set that we have already seen from MiniArt, "35108 Soviet Infantry" (review link here), with the addition of new sprues of weapons included in this re-issued set.
This set features five Soviet infantry figures in uniforms typical of the 1943–45 period, with realistic poses, weapons, and personal equipment. Ideal for adding detail and character to WWII Eastern Front dioramas, military vehicle scenes, and infantry dioramas.

There are two sprues that hold five figures moulded in light grey styrene. These features are easily distinguishable faces, fingers and sunken details for their accessories to fit more neatly into their bodies.
The first sprue contains a selection of standard-issue personal field gear and protective equipment carried by individual Red Army soldiers. Across the top row, there are five SSh-40 steel helmets alongside five bowler-style mess tins (kotelok) and two infantry drinking cups. The middle and bottom rows feature vital field utilities, including four MPL-50 entrenching shovels enclosed inside their fabric canvas carriers, as well as a single bare shovel head. Water filtration and storage are well-represented with a total of eight canteens, consisting of six bare aluminium or glass flasks and two enclosed in fabric carrier pouches. The remaining pieces comprise an assortment of auxiliary canvas gear pouches and dual-pocket hand grenade pouches designed for F1 or RG-42 grenades.
The second set of sprues focuses entirely on the personal weaponry, ammunition, and specialised tactical gear used by late-war Soviet infantry units. On the far-left segment, there are small arms and optics, including TT-33 Tokarev semi-automatic pistols and Nagant M1895 revolvers—moulded both bare and tucked inside leather holsters—along with an SPSh flare gun, infantry binoculars in rigid carrying cases, and a trench periscope. The middle cluster provides the standard infantry longarms, featuring Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifles (including standard M91/30 infantry variants with fixed bayonets and compact M38/M44 carbines) alongside their dual-compartment leather ammunition pouches. Finally, the far-right section details the Red Army's rapid-fire capability, showcasing iconic PPSh-41 submachine guns with interchangeable drum and curved stick magazines, stamped-metal PPS-43 submachine guns, and their corresponding canvas belt pouches.


This kit is due for release in a month's time.
See more about all of MiniArt's kits on their website...