These are an often overlooked feature of warfare. You go to the trouble and time of manufacturing a fine, precision instrument that needs to be transported 100's, possibly 1000's of miles to the troops that need it. So - you need a good quality transit box, right? The Germans were masters at this, and any casual internet search of "German WW2 Transit cases, crates, boxes" - or whatever - yields up a mass of really good quality wooden boxes and crates for weapons, ammo, optics, instruments, tools. You name it, there was a box for it. So, a good choice by RiS, and an interesting one.
What you get are 8 crates and a set of decals. Four of the crates are presented with a shut lid, and four have contents. You have a crated MG42, crated Gewehr 43's, crated MP40's and finally, crated Sturmgewehr 44's (or MP44's if you prefer). The decals, as you will see by the photos, are related to the listed contents. The MP40's are represented as being covered over by a light tarp, or maybe a layer of greased paper, and the MP44's are shown with the same, but with one weapon showing.
The first thing to say is that the resin quality is excellent. The boxes and lids are crisply detailed, with no flash. The boxes have a small 1-2mm base pouring plug on the underside. This does not need to be removed with a saw. All I did was run the box up and down a large sanding stick a few times to remove the base plug. Easy. The box lids need to be removed from a transit plug, and again, a sharp blade does the trick as they are finely cast and easily separated.
The details of the boxes and weapons are sharply defined, and the representation of the tarp, or fabric is very finely done, with the weave of the cloth clearly visible. The best way to show this is by painting a few up.
I sprayed each piece with my usual base coat of Tamiya acrylics - a 50/50 mix of flat black and hull red. Next, they were sprayed with a mix of Tamiya acrylics to represent dunkelgelb, dunkelgrau and grun. The insides were left in a dark yellow to represent bare wood (they weren't painted inside). Next came an oil-based wash with burnt umber, finishing off with a dry-brush of Humbrol 74 Linen and a few spots of Vallejo acrylic brown tones applied with a piece of ripped up scotchbrite to represent dirt and stains. The weapons were painted in a mix of acrylics for the black parts, and oils for the wooden stocks of the Gewehr 43's. Decals were applied using an initial coat of Future floor polish, with layers built up before a final coat of flat matt varnish. The Micro Sol and Set method will achieve the same effect- ie no visible carrier film.
I was really pleased with the results. This is a set of real quality, which is what you need in a resin item. The better the casting, the easier the painting and finishing. It helps if the master is well sculpted, and again, Olav has done a great job on these.
Highly recommended.
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