WAFFEN SS PANZER GRENADIERS

◗ theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk ◗ £19.95

The Plastic Soldier Company have recently expanded their manufacture of ranges only previously available in metal, in their Ultracast plastic. Specifically they have some new 20mm WWII Waffen SS Panzer Grenadiers in 20mm. I looked hard at the sculpts and thought: gosh these are good, and then I read on their website that they are re-casts of the superb Adler Miniatures range, sculpted by Leon Locke, and so now I know why.

A penny off of twenty quid buys you a box of 33 miniatures and the website description reads as follows: three HQ and the same number of NCOS; 12 riflemen, three chaps with Panzerfausts and six LMG teams (each with a pair of figures per team), but these are split into three prone and another three walking. However, that bare description doesn’t cover the variety: with the exception of the prone MG teams (with MG42S including separate bipods) I can find no repetition amongst the rest of the box: all three Panzerfaust users are different; the command is different (all crouched with maps, radios and whatnot). Then there’s the walking MG carriers and their ammo bearers and the riflemen: all different. These samples were flash free and are wearing helmets, smocks and lots of kit with great facial expressions and other detail. This is an impressive and relatively cheap way of buying a 20mm WWII German unit and they will also be available with extra teams of HMGS, 81mm Mortars and Panzerschrecks. It’s worth noting that it does say on the website that they can’t be shipped to Germany or Austria: politics aside, however, these are excellent models.