Hi All,

Its time for another figure review and this time we’ll step back a bit away from all the fancy white metal and Gen 2 sets and look at a simple styrene set. It’s on another favorite subject of mine, one of Germany’s elite troops, the WWII Gebirgsjager or Mountain troops. So with without further ado we'll look inside the box of DML’s 1/35th Gebirgsjager (Caucasus 1942).

Introduction

Beginning back in 1915 with the creation of the Alpenkorps, the first Gebirgs brigade was formed in June 1935. One of its most famous commanders was in fact no other than Erwin Rommel who won the coveted, Pour Le Merite during WW I when he led a unit of the newly formed Alpenkorps against the Italians.

Most of the recruits that joined and made up the Gebirgsjager were in fact experienced mountaineers. While the Gebirgsjager were in all respect an elite unit, their general uniform, much of their equipment & weapons and even their pay were standard and similar to the rest of the Army. However, in terms of training and in terms of fitness was where the similarities end for they received extensive training in mountaineering skills as well as survival training to live and fight in a harsh, unforgiving, cold environment where they were in their element. The other major difference was in their official insignia, the coveted, silver-gray Edelweiss badge which they wore on the right sleeve of their standard service dress as well as on the left side of their Bergmutze, a shorter peak cap version of the M43 field cap.

While the Gebirgsjager were troops specialized in mountain warfare, they saw action in almost all fronts along with Germany’s other elite force, the Fallschirmjager. The Gebirgsjager distinguished themselves in the many diverse environments ranging from Norway to the Mediterranean to the Eastern front.

The Set

This kit which is one of two offerings on Gebirgsjager (not counting the Ski troop set) comes in DML’s standard 1 piece box found in the majority of its older sets. The boxart is done by Ron Volstad whose work is always a delight for me. The illustration depicts the 4 figures in the Gebirgsjager’s element, the mountains presumably somewhere in the highlands in Caucasus. As usual the back of the box comes with both assembly and painting instructions.



Opening the box one will find the typical arrangement found in the majority of all the older DML sets, namely 2 sprue trees consisting of one for the figures and equipment with the other sprue tree holding the weapons.



The 4 figures are in various action poses with upturned heads to add to the impression that they are in an inclined or mountain environment. While not fully kitted out in totally cold weather clothes, 2 of the figures are wearing the double breasted Wind jacket, a third wearing a variation of the Anorak which is normally field grey reversible to white and a fourth in the standard battledress. All 4 figures are also kitted out with puttees and mountain boots. The former although not unique to the Gebirgsjager but when worn in combination with mountain boots are typical of mountain troops who favor the combo over the standard jack boots.

Weapons are pretty standard with 3 Mauser Kar98K and a MG34 whose belt feed was surprisingly quite well detailed despite being pre Gen 2. Some variation was provided by having one of the Kar98K fitted with a scope.

However, DML has added some additional touches to further differentiate this kit as one featuring Gebirgsjager and one of them is the the inclusion of rucksacks and ice-axes as seen in the next photo.



The other is addition of the Edelweiss badge to left of their Bergmutze or field cap and to the right sleeve of the figure with the standard service uniform. The badges on the caps were unfortunately not very detailed as can be seen in the next photo but the one on the sleeve is well molded.



Comments/Recommendations

It would be unfair to compare the detailing of this kit versus DML’s more recent offerings of its Gen 2 kits. As such moderate amounts of flash is evident and expected whilst the level of detail in general is deemed to be adequate. However, one of the areas in which DML never disappoints whether its pre or post Gen 2 is their weapons and the molding here remains among the best I’ve seen for styrene exceeding some resin ones as well.

The action poses, the nice addition of mountain equipment and dressing and an attempt to include the Gebirgsjager most recognizable emblem, the Edelweiss and of course the price makes this a decent set for those looking to add to their collection of WWII elite troops as well as those intending to create an action diorama featuring mountain warfare.

Interesting set of figures. The molded patch on the shoulder is something new to me.

BTW, are those molding defects on the back of the gun? Overall, the guns are the usual Dragon well detailed designs.

With the Gebirgsjager sharing almost similar uniforms and equipment its the Edelweiss badge and their shorter peak cap that really sets them apart. Since they have to carry everything on their backs and sometimes on their mules most of them wear their caps rather than helmets. However, there has been Gebirgsjagers photographed without their Edelweiss badges on their caps.

As far as I can tell there are no defects on the gun Kenny. If your referring to the holes on the stock just below the gun bolt the actual gun actually has a slight recess where a rivet like screw sits and for the butt as you know there's where the strap is threaded followed by another rivet. As you mentioned DML weapons are well detailed with minimal defects.

The only variation I can see is the Anorak shown on the boxart. It is usually field grey with a reversible white. I didn't check on the color scheme on the back of the box though. The color on the double breasted Wind jackets are right.

Thanks for highlighting those for the readers.