1:35 German soldiers Kursk 1943

The summer of 1943 at the Kursk salient

The group captures German infantrymen at the time of Operation Citadel, which broke out on July 5, 1943 and became the last major German summer offensive on the Eastern Front. The fighting took place in an open black-earth landscape with fields of grain, deep ravines and dusty field tracks. The dress of the figures matches that: light summer clothing with no greatcoat, helmets and field equipment without winter layers. It is precisely this seasonal key that settles which scene the figures suit and which they no longer do.

What the group adds to a diorama

A vehicle on its own shows a machine; only the people around it show a story. Several figures together let you build a scene with an inner logic: one points the way, a second listens, a third is just getting up from the edge of the road. At the same time they give the model a legible scale, because the viewer's eye compares the height of the armor with the height of a man and only then takes in how big the machine in front of it is.

What to watch when setting them in place

The most frequent trouble is contact with the base. The soles have to be cleaned up so that they seat over their whole area, otherwise a figure looks as though it were floating above the terrain. On a figure leaning against the armor, check that the hand really does lie on the plate and adjust the angle of the arm if need be. Apply dusty earth to the boots and the hems of the trousers in the same shade in which you dust the running gear of the vehicle, so that the scene holds together. Wash the castings before painting, trim the mold seams and fill any small bubbles with putty.