Italeri 1:72 - WWII German Elite Troops

I've recently got back into buying plastic soldiers foe the first time since I was a kid as my son (7) likes them. We started off with 1/32 but have shifted to 1/72 so we can have large scale battles, and I thought we could use them for wargaming if he stays interested.I can only only compare these with Airfix 1/72 figures as they are the only others we have bought in this scale (and I wanted to get a mix so we have a variety of poses). The Italeri figures are far superior. The definition on the figures is much sharper, the plastic is firmer, there is less flash and the detail is much better. The level of detail is basically as good as Airfix 1/32 figures.My only criticism is that a couple of the poses are a bit silly - the bipods for the two MG 42s look a bit daft as they are turned sideways, presumably to make them easier to produce. The mortar guy also doesn't look realistic. But these are a middle-aged man's grumbles, my son thinks they are great.PS - you will need a craft knife to remove the figures from the sprues.

Was a Christmas present, 9yr old loved them, very detailed figures

Great

Great price and high quality

Great set of figures.

Very good

All met my expectations

The now standard arrangement of three matching sprues of 16 poses has been used again here, and it must be said that a lot of the poses are very similar. There is more variety in the lower rows, although this is largely due to the heavier weapons being used. Several of the poses are almost identical to the first Italeri German Infantry set, which was a reissue of the old Esci product. The poses are OK if rather dull and bland.As the war went on the German army assimilated a wide range of clothing, this set the theme seems to be cold weather as the men wear a variety of greatcoats, parkas, tunics and smocks as well as over trousers, while several also wear the toque. In some cases, the position of the arms makes a definite ID of clothing impossible, but in all cases, the clothing has been sculpted correctly. There is a good range of weapons on show here, and again the emphasis is on the later war years, with such weapons as the MP43/StG44 Assault rifle. The men are fairly lightly kitted, with most just having their field flask, entrenching tool and gas mask case, plus the appropriate ammunition pouches of course. In general, the moulding is excellent, with plenty of detail in the one place that really needs it, the weapons. One place where this is not true is the base of the mortar. In this, the piece is just a featureless slab of plastic and not even the right shape, although the mortar support, which is a separate piece that requires glueing on, is properly done. Also, both the heavy machine guns have had their bipods twisted through 90 degrees, which allows them to be moulded but was not possible in reality. The other machine gunner has found a box to rest on, although this has a side missing (for purely production reasons).The SS men are more practically dressed and are clearly late war and in a cold environment - images of the Eastern front spring readily to mind. Although there are differences with the winter sets from Revell, this is not anything particularly original, but should work well with both those products. The uninspired poses and accuracy problems we have discussed are the main let-down’s here, which is a pity when the quality and sharpness of the sculpting is generally so good. Many have marked down this set for the reasons outlined, but for me, this has to be one of my all-time favourites​ hence my marking.