The Kit

Once again, ICM has come out with another excellent diorama set. The 8 cm Grantawerfer 34 was the standard infantry mortar throughout World War II and was noted for its accuracy and rapid rate of fire.

Inside the box you will find three gray sprues sealed in plastic. Tree A contains finely molded figure parts. Sprue W1 contains weapons and gear. The third sprue is identifiable only with numbered parts for the grenade launcher, rifles, ammo boxes, etc. The parts are all flash free and are very nicely detailed.

A double-sided glossy assembly guide is provided. Color callouts are easy to spot – red capital letters inside of red boxes -- and they correspond to Revell and Tamiya paints. In addition to color callouts, weapon and gear placements are indicated. The full color figure illustrations only show one view, i.e., right-side view, front view, etc. You will need to do research on your own to get gear placement truly accurate.

The Build

The figure parts fit together nicely and very little sanding is needed. You will need to fill shoulder joints. I assembled the torsos, legs and arms first, but I left the head and hands on the sprue. For me, it was easier to prime and paint all the small parts while still attached to the sprues.

After priming, I used Vallejo paints throughout. I attached the heads, helmets, and hands. Next, I began to attach the gear and weapons. As mentioned above, the illustrations fall a little short. If ICM provided a front & rear view of the figures, it would help to figure out how to outfit the soldiers.

When the figures were fully assembled, I used Tamiya Flat Clear to finish them.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an excellent figure set. It assembles easily and it defiantly makes a very nice diorama scene. And the price is really unbeatable. I am by no means an expert in painting 35th scale figures. Despite my shortcomings, you can see that this set of figures is really excellent. I would highly recommend this figure set.