By the time this set appeared Revell had already produced one set of German infantry, which is basically what this set also contains. The earlier figures (set 02502) were done with the Ardennes campaign in mind, and consequently are wearing winter clothing, whereas these figures have rolled sleeves and are clearly in a much warmer environment.

The 16 poses in this set, which is a good number for Revell, are one of its strengths. Though the actions themselves are the standard selection, the poses have a very natural feel to them that so many sets lack. Several seem to have been taken directly from photographs of the real thing, and as a result we have figures hunched and keeping a low profile as they move about, and generally displaying a lot of realism. We pretty much liked all the poses but the pick of the crop is the officer, who is peering through a periscopic instrument - a refreshing change from the advancing with pistol pose.

The down side of all these lovely poses is the amount of extra plastic which comes with them. The reason many manufacturers make quite flat poses is to avoid undercutting, which means extra plastic has to be left on the figure. In their quest for realistic figures, Revell have had to accept compromises with the mould, and while many figures suffer with little or no excess, some have awkward areas where detail is lost or extra plastic mars them. Careful trimming will rectify most of this, and to what extent this is a problem will depend on what each customer looks for in a set. However on samples we have seen there is also a problem with flash, which is more prevalent than in many Revell sets.

The uniform and kit has been pretty well depicted, and though not the clearest and best detailed figures ever made most will find them acceptable. Most of the men carry rifles, but the crouching man with hand in the air signalling to others holds a captured Soviet PPSh41 sub-machine gun (the pose is taken from a contemporary propaganda photograph). Some of the guns are pointing directly into the mould, which means they have very little detail.

This is another of the sets Revell did in conjunction with Preiser, who market an identical set of figures in HO scale. Their excellent anatomy helps to offset the slightly rough sculpting, and those figures that require assembly (the machine gun crew and the officer) fit together quite well. A mixed package to be sure, but a set worthy of consideration despite the plethora of sets already available on this subject.