Disclaimer: The images above were supplied by the manufacturer and painted by their artists.

Introduction

PT-025 – “Soviet Tank Officer, 1940-42” is a 1/35th scale resin figure sculpted by Kwangyeol Lee. The figure, wearing winter gear, is portrayed in a casual stance with clipboard or map in hand, perhaps issuing orders at a field briefing. Released in April 2006, the box-art is painted by Davide Decina.

The figure

PT-025 wears the popular sheepskin coat, which was both issued and privately acquired. Known as the polushubok, it was used by both infantry and mechanised personnel. Note the fastening, by cloth extension tabs and buttons on the right side of the chest; and slash pockets on each side below the waist. On his hands he wears sheepskin mittens.

Keeping his head warm, the officer wears the new ear-flapped fleece cap – shapka-ushanka – introduced in 1940. The officers’ pattern was made from good quality grey astrakhan, whereas that issued to the soldiers had synthetic pile. The cap bears the universal enamelled Red Army badge on the front flap.

The tank officer wears the steel grey breeches issued to tankers, along with the traditional calf length sapogi leather boots. His personal equipment consists of the Officers’ belt Model 1935 (Sam Browne) with the cut-out Soviet star buckle and a map-case acquired through the Lend-Lease program.

The kit

PT-025, moulded in a light grey coloured resin, comes in a kit form consisting of six pieces. The figure comes packaged in a small box with the parts inside a small zip-lock bag.

The figure consists of the following pieces: head and fleece cap; torso and legs in a single casting; left and right arms; and map-case and clipboard.

The head, wearing the shapka-ushanka, is well detailed and moulded. I particularly like the facial expression of this figure. It is fairly pleasant, as if the officer is sharing a joke or finding something amusing. The fleece cap is very nicely textured. The casting block is positioned lengthwise from the rear flap down the neck. I must admit my first thought was that this was rather unfortunate as some of the pile texture would be unavoidably lost when removing the block. However, that said when I removed the casting block for the dry-fit, this was barely noticeable.

The torso is extremely well detailed, with only some very minor casting seams long the inner legs. The collar of the sheepskin jacket, as with the flaps of the cap, is very nicely textured. The cloth extension tabs, buttons, slash pockets, belt buckle and various belt clips are well defined. I am particularly fond of the indentation on the right hip where the figure has his clasped hand.

While the torso proper has absolutely no flash or mould seams, the inner legs yielded a minor seam each - which runs the length of the leg. This is easily removed with a sharp blade.

The two arms are very similar in nature. Apart from the casting blocks, neither had any flash or casting seams. The right arm even has a locator pin, which ensures a perfect fit to the shoulder. The left arm revealed a minute air pocket when the casting block was removed. This is easily filed with CA glue or filler.

The map-case and clipboard come attached to the same casting block. Apart from the casting block they are devoid of any flash. I must admit to being a bit confused by the placement of the map-case. Firstly, it is not attached in any of the box-art photos. Secondly there does not appear to be any place along the belt, or indeed waist area, where the map-case will either realistically line-up with buckles or clips, or will sit comfortably.

Conclusion

This is a very nice figure of what has become a popular subject in recent times, namely Soviet tankers. It is well detailed, well cast and good quality. This little figure will be great either as a stand-alone or as part of something bigger like a vignette or diorama.

Highly Recommended.