One of the many reasons for the ultimate failure of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was the severe winter weather they encountered. Initially the Red Army had also proved unprepared for the winter, despite it being their own climate, but they recovered much quicker than the stretched Germans, and in time vast numbers of Soviet infantry were wearing warm, practical uniforms that allowed them to operate in almost any temperature. Several plastic sets have now depicted such men, and this one from Preiser is part of their contribution to that popular subject.

Three of the poses wear the standard greatcoat, and three the quilted jacket and trousers which were so warm. All are properly done, as are the boots and headgear - the latter being the only real options on these multi-part figures. A number of extra heads are provided, including ones wearing the helmet, the ushanka and even the old soft budenovka 'helmet', which was more common early in the war but adds a worthwhile dimension to the uses for these figures. The kit is all fairly standard, although of course not all Soviet troops enjoyed such a good level of kit. Most have the very common and simple veshchevoi meshok pack, but one man has the M1938 canvas knapsack, which is fine too.

Weapons are three rifles (with bayonets attached - good), two of the famous PPSh-41 and a DP-28 light machine gun. All are well done and certainly appropriate for the subject.

Sculpting is as always excellent, with plenty of detail and great proportions. The figures come in several parts (see sprue), but everything fits together well. There is no flash, and the poses, all of which are excellent and thoroughly lifelike, benefit from the separate weapons and arms in some cases. As usual there are no bases, and these are of a smaller scale than most figures on this site, but they are still very fine figures. Having said all that, they do not really offer anything not already available in other, 1/72 scale sets, so they don’t really expand the hobby in that sense. Nice product though.