Soldier Story Panzergrenadier Wiking Division 1945 Preview

This newest soon-to-be-released 12-inch Soldier Story Waffen SS Panzergrenadier from the Wiking Division (1945 Hungary) has got me all excited about a World War II German military figure again. There have been a lot of WWII Germans released already but this one got me taking a second look. That's because this latest 1/6 scale German motorised or mechanized infantry i.e. Panzergrenadier (abbreviated PzGren or Pzg) is loaded to the hilt with lots of new, interesting and improved gear.

Based on a soldaten from the Wiking SS division during late war operations in Hungary, his outfit consists of a M43 field gray tunic, pea dot camo tunic and pants, leather lowboots with leggings, heavy weather coat with hood, cold weather mittens (wool gloves are also included), wool toque, field gray cloth sidecap, and metal whitewashed M42 helmet. Gear wise, he has all the standard issue, but the cloth and metal gas mask with canister really stands out. He is armed with a captured Soviet PPSh-41 sub-machine gun with 71-round drum magazine, ammo drum pouch (no spare drum), and P38 pistol with holster. A single stick grenade is also included.

The captured PPSh was in particular a favorite weapon of the Germans. Because of the similarities between the 7.62x25mm Tokarev and the 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge used in the Mauser C96 pistol, the PPSh was easily supplied with ammunition. In fact so many were captured that it became the second-most-common sub-machine gun used by German forces.

The whole combination even has a post-apocalyptic feel to it and whether displayed as a complete figure or stripped of some of his essential equipment and items, one could easily kitbash a soldier or figure trying to survive in an agrarian, non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of technology remain. It could be like the end of civilization as we know it - either through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster.

One of the coolest thing has to be the Gas Mask which can go into the Gas Mask Container (metal) which also comes with Gas Mask Cape Bag with Straps

Set includes: 12-inch Figure with Winter Jacket with Hood (parka), German Field Grey Tunic, Pea Dot Tunic, Pea Dot Pants, Leather Low Boots, Leggings, Wool Gloves, Heavy Winter Mittens, Toque, Sidecap, Helmet (metal), Waffen SS Belt, Y Harness, E-tool & Carrier, Bayonet & Scabbard, Pistol & Holster, Mess Tin, Bread Bag, Water Bottle & Cup, Gas Mask Container (metal), Gas Mask Cape Bag with Straps, Gas Mask (cloth / metal), PPSh-41 Sub-Machine Gun (wood / metal), PPSh-41 Ammo Drum Pouch and Stick Grenade (wood / metal)

The PPSh-41 (Pistolet-Pulemyot Shpagina; Russian: Пистолет-пулемёт Шпагина; "Shpagin machine pistol") submachine gun was one of the most mass produced weapons of its type in World War II. The PPSh operated with simple blowback action, had a box or drum magazine, and fired the 7.62x25mm pistol round. It was made with metal stampings to ease production, and its chrome-lined chamber and bore helped to make the weapon very low-maintenance in combat environments.