WWII German Road Police (5 figure) 1/35 ICM 35633

WWII German Road Police (5 figure)

1/35 military figures scale plastic model kit
ICM 35633

High-quality details.

Manufacturer: ICM Models (Ukraine)
Scale: 1/35
Material: Plastic
Number of figures: 3
Paint: Unpainted, Unassembled, Kit do not contain paints and glue.
Condition: New in Box

At the end of the First World War and with the limitations of the Versailles Treaty a large number of ex-soldiers joined the German police force. As time moved on the police were slowly taken over by the SA and later SS members the police and those officers who were not supportive of the regime were weeded out as undesirable. When World War Two started progressed large numbers of younger police officers were taken from the police force and placed in the armed forces, this drop in numbers required a large number of new police officers to be recruited and it was by and large the undesirable officers who were taken back in. It is also worth noting that due to most young men joining military service the average age of German police officers increased.

This set of figures from ICM represents three police officers performing traffic duties or after 1941 could be part Verkehrskompanie, the role of the Verkehrskompanie was to check that vehicles were fit for the road and being driven lawfully.

Taking a look at the sprue the parts are all cleanly moulded with small gates joining the parts to the sprue. The gate connection for the arms is the only part that bothers me as it connects on the elbows, where as a connection point on the mating surface of the arm would have made life easier. I do have one other nit-pick which is that there are no parts numbers on the sprue meaning referral to the instruction sheet is required and the sprue layout and instructions are on opposite sides. I will say that in fairness to ICM is that parts placement does put each figures parts in the same area of the sprue. There are some very light mould seams that will need to be cleaned up, but these are placed in easy to get areas.

The uniform detail looks good with ICM having replicated the red German eagle on the left arm with a black swastika in slightly raised detail; it is important to point out that the eagles colour changed depending on the role the officer was employed in however the swastika was always black. The crease detail on the uniforms looks good and should look good with careful painting. The white jacket matches my reference very well and the long white duster coat shown on one of the figures is perfect for the officer on the podium giving traffic instruction. The epaulettes are again accurate and show two of the figures ranks as Oberwactmeister and the third figures rank as Hauptmeister.