Hi to all on this great little planet of ours :

Some of you will have no doubt seen the news from Frank Brechmann of Modern Armies in Miniatures (MAiM)that there has been a joint release from them and Puchala Miniatures , here is the initial announcement:

http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showpost.php?p=413921&postcount=1

From my point of view its great to see 2 companies working together to give the modelling community a wide choice of subjects andits my pleasure to have the opportunity to review the bust release from them Otto Carius .

As I like to do lets have a little bit of background to the man himself and the subject choice:

Otto Carius was born on May 27, 1922 in Zweibrucken, Rheinland-Pfalz in Southwest Germany.

He failed to meet the criteria twice when he was drafted into the Heer and was sent home as "Not fit for service at present underweight!". He eventually was accepted in May 1940 joining the 104th Infantry Replacement Battalion.

This was integrated into the newly formed 21st Panzer Regiment and June 1941, was sent to East Prussia. He experienced his first battle as a gunner in a Panze 38(t) . Wounded during Operation Barbarossa in late June 1941. In 1943, Carius transferred to the Panzer-Abteilung 502(502 heavy tank battalion) , fighting bravely at Lenigrad , being wounded seriously on July 24 1944 and becoming the commander of 502.

He subsequently became the commander of a Jagdtigercompany of the schwere Panzerjägerabteilung (512th Heavy Antitank Battalion) in the West at the beginning of 1945. On 8 March 1945, without finishing its training, 2nd company was directed to the front-line . It then took part in the defense of the River Rhine and eventually surrendered to the US Army on 15 April 1945.

His awards and decorations so bravely won resulting in over 150 tank kills include:

Wound Badge in black (8 July 1941)
Eastern Front medal (20 August 1941)
Iron Cross 2nd Class (15 September 1942)
Iron Cross1st Class (23 November 1943)
Wound Badge in Silver (15 December 1943)










Knights Cross with Oak Leaves

• Knight's Cross awarded on the 4 May 1944 as Leutnant and Zugführer in the 2 companyschwere Panzer-Abteilung 502
• The 535th Oak Leaves to be awarded on 27 July 1944 as Leutnant and commander of 2 company schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502

Panzer Badge in Silver

• 2nd Grade (15 July 1944)
• 3rd Grade (1 September 1944)

Wound Badge in Gold (11 September 1944)

After the war he started a pharmacy shop called Tiger Apotheke - in Herschweiler-Pettersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, named after the beast he fought in so bravely .

He also wrote a book about his own experience in the war, titled Tigers in the Mud.(I have read this prior to the release and I recommend it as it paints a very moving picture of not only Otto but tank fighting in general in WW2)

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Moving onto the actual models themself:

Scale : 1:10th

Material : Resin

Reference Number : MAiM 10002

Sculptor: Ulrich Puchala

Box Art: Winrich Meyer

Casting: Yanis Sagiadinos of YS masterpieces


For the review I did not have the actual packing but am informed by Frank at MAiM that it will be a clear plastic container to allow viewing of the bust itself .

Consisting of 3 pieces all cast in same resin colour of gray that UP Miniaturen uses , the pieces are the torso (with round post as a base) the head with cap and the bottom of the base itself.

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Looking first at the torso:

Otto is sculpted wearing the Panzer fold over jacket (Panzerjacke), with decorations which include the Iron Cross Ist and 2nd class (a ribbon) , the wound badge (a choice of which to paint here) the Knights Cross worn at his neck with the breast eagle on his left hand side as you look at the torso .

Rank is finely done for a Leutnant with engraving which will benefit from careful painting (use washes to bring out the details) .Collar patches are also included with good piping details and the Totenkopf .

Sculpting is well done especially the awards , the style of jacket is really good as well and looks like it is being worn , folds are softly done , helping portray the material used , undercutting is good as well particularly in the collar area .

Casting lines are non existant apart from a fine one running down the pillar of the base and the base on one of the arms ..both are very easily removed using a sanding block and presented no concerns .

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Lets now look at the head :

This is sculpted with the Feldmutze , using the reference photographs neither the national cockade or the rose pink waffenfarbe soutache has been sculpted , but with the simple use of magi sculpt or your preferred putty these can be easily added on ..for me I will keep to the accuracy that Ulrich the sculptor has chosen to depict ..but dear reader the choice is yours of course ..either way it will look good , and after all in the field regulations were not adhered to in respect for comfort .

Looking through my references (The Panzer Soldier by Wade Krawczyk) which states on page 10 in amongst superb colour originals that the waffenfarbe was discontinued in mid 1942 .

I do recommend this book as a reference for Panzer troops as its superb and worth space on mine and yours expanding reference library!!!

The actual cap is a really good representation of the original , with a nicely moulded eagle at the front together with the piping also being well defined .

The facial features are also a good representation of Otto himself , good eye details , together with good definition of the ears , hair is also nicely sculpted .

The only prep needed is a casting plug removed from the back of the neck and a very slight csting line at the back of the cap both again easily done with sanding blocks or wet and dry .

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Dry fit is spot on with minimal filler required at the base of the neck ...a credit to both sculptor and caster

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Finally onto the base and a view of the complete piece :

The base is the same as in the UP range ,in the style of the Iron Cross with some nicely detailed oak leaves , after a little sanding on the base of the post that is cast with the torso fit was really good (I plan to pin mine together as well for extra security......don't want any heartstopping moments!!)

Note : The last picture is from the MAiM website .
Conclusion:

The overall presentation , sculpting and casting are very good inded producing a model that looks the part and is a great credit to all and honours a very brave man .

I look forward to more co-operation between both MAiM and UP Miniaturen .

The bust is due release on the 18th May so you can preorder from MAiM for 38.95 euro's via the webite www.sockelshop.com .

Address details: MAiM-Centuro
Frank Brechmann
Der Socklshop
Nerenwand 7
49377 Langforden/Spredu

E mail: info@sockelshop.de

Fax : 00447 8557056

Telephone: 04447 8557055

After talking to Ulrich you will be also able to get this (for approx the same price) at Up Miniaturen www.puchala-figuren.de or up-miniaturen@t-online.de


A nice bust which will look great in the display cabinet .

RECOMMENDED

Nap

Pedro ,
A pleasure , glad you like both !!!!!

Nap