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Review Eisernes Kreuz-Series Obergefreiter Unternehmen Barbarossa 1941

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Martin64, May 19, 2022.

  1. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Hi,
    just wanted to show a brief look into the contents of Andrea Miniatures newest release:
    Andrea Barbarossa 8.jpg
    It shows a German "Obergefreiter" (Private First Class) throwing a model 24 (stick)handgrenade (Potato-smasher-type) from a prone position. The more than once overlooked detail that the grenade has to be made "hot" (by removing the cap at its bottom and pulling the string of the fuse out of the handle) before you throw it has been reproduced in the model. The pose of the soldier resembles the recommended way to throw that kind of grenade and is in line with the way this was trained in the German Army. Opposite to the many figures available throwing grenades while standing upright the way to throw a grenade from a cover on the ground was naturally much more common in combat.
    Figure and pose are based on a series of pictures taken for propaganda purposes.
    Dt Infantrie 1941.png Dt Infantrie 1941 a.jpeg Dt Infantrie 1941 b.jpeg

    IMHO the pose is perfectly translated into the miniature.
    There is a video available that shows the painted boxart figure


    The model kit is made up from nine white metal parts and three resin parts. The resin parts include the upper body with rolled up sleeves, ammo pouches, bread bag and another grenade tucked into the belt and the two separate legs. All other parts ( head, helmet, K 98 rifle, arms, gas mask with strap, field bottle, bayonet and base) are cast in white metal. The price of the 1/16 scale model kit was 79,95 Euro on offer from Berliner Zinnfiguren shop.

    I assembled the kit and took pictures without a base coat and some more with a base coat for better visibility of details.
    Andrea Barbarossa 1.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 2.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 3.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 4.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 5.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 6.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 7.jpg

    Pro`s:
    Realism of the pose, perfect anatomy and details of uniform with folds and equipment are at the highest level IMHO. The assembly is straightforward and the fit of parts is quite good. At the joints of the arms and at the joint between the legs a wipe of filler was necessary.
    The metal castings and the resin castings have some hairlines that are best carefully removed with a sharpe knife. Did not take too much effort.
    The helmet is daubed with mud which is already represented on the surface of the helmet. (Another plain helmet without this detail would have been a nice extra btw.)

    Con`s:
    The box comes without a sheet providing a short background or a picture that inspired this figure as it was the case with the first release in this line. Of course not necessary but at this price level something you might expect. There is also an absence of decals - the Handgrenades usually had printed instructions on the the outer shell ("Vor Gebrauch Sprengkapsel einsetzen"). Looking at the releases of this series it would be nice to have some decals included to ease painting.
    The resin is of a brittle and hard sort that - as usually with Andrea Miniatures - tends to have have small holes from airbubbles at the surface. Several had to be filled with putty - for example at the hobnails on the soles of the boots that are nicely sculpted but less nicely cast so that detail was lost.
    The metal parts need at places some treatment with hobbyknife and filler where they were separated from the sprues before packaging leaving small damages to the surface of the parts. The number of metal parts indicates that Andrea Miniatures is aware of their problems to produce high quality resin castings.

    Summary:
    I like this kit a lot but hope that Andrea Miniatures take another look at the way they cast the parts and at the resin they use. If they find a way to improve this they could produce more parts in resin and maybe as a result decrease the price of their kits slightly. Nevertheless the kit is worth the money and I hope that Andrea Miniatures extends their range further. It is pretty much a painter`s figure considering the good fit of parts and the small effort in preparation for the painting.

    Hope you find the pics and info useful if you consider to buy this kit.
    Cheers, Martin
    Diegoff, Nap, Sylvanus and 8 others like this.
  2. Tom W. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Germany
    First class pose of the figure,but the underground looks like a piece of flocatti bathroom carpet out of the Seventies.
    Nap, Time in Scale, Manfred and 3 others like this.
  3. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    A massive white metal flocatti which makes up more than half of the total weight of this kit. Anyway it is easily replaced as even the K 98 rifle on the ground comes as a separate part.
    Tom W. likes this.
  4. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    I like the animation ..beats the plethora of plain marching nazis..but they are very much premium priced..and haven’t sorted resin yet..I’ve found the same on other Andrea mixed media- brittle resin..lots of holes
  5. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Good review, and a nice looking figure if WW2 Germans is your thing.

    I've never been keen on prone figures on their own though. I think they work much better in vignettes or dioramas.

    - Steve
  6. Sylvanus Active Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Interesting.
    I have some of the original metal Andrea Kits in 90mm metal .. also a Verlinden 120mm kunstoff Traffic controlLer. Both very different.

    Combining two mediums (media?) always a problem once solved by Le Cimier! A metal base for a Resin Mounted Chasseur a Cheval . Also metal used for those fiddly figure "plastic" ones. "Bottom2 line is a based that will support the figure.

    Chacun a son gout?
  7. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Martín

    Thanks for review , good points raised especially ref the casting considering the cost and lack of transfers.......more care is needed

    My personal thoughts are Andrea have stiff competition with others and need to relook

    Almost a classic pose , base can be replaced , looks a little small

    A painters piece , hope we see your version

    Thanks for sharing

    Nap
    Martin64 likes this.
  8. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Thanks Kev,
    plugging along with the paintjob. Unfortunately family and job issues slow it down but what to do.
    Here is the initial result while working on the skin parts and face. I tried Scalecolor Skin Tones for the first time and like the general smoothness and intensity of the paints very much.
    The basecoat (Vallejo Surface Primer) has obvious difficulties to stick to the resin parts... the resin needs to be reconsidered by Andrea but I am repeating myself.
    Andrea Barbarossa 1a.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 2a.jpg Andrea Barbarossa 3a.jpg

    Cheers, Martin
    Steve headley and Nap like this.
  9. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Progress
    Andrea Barbarossa 1b.jpg
    Steve headley, Nap and 1969 like this.

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