ESCI 1/9
Panzer Grenadier Grossdeutschland

The Division of Armored Grenadiers, know as “Grossdeutschland” is certainly the best known and most representative unit of the WWII German Army.

Since its formation, as a regiment of motorized infantry, it was joined by men from all parts of the country, contributing towards making this detachment representative of the whole of Germany, with a quite exceptional espirit de corps and a good mixture of traditions.

As a result of the war efforts, thanks to their excellent fighting qualities and the success they had, the detachment became known as the “guard of the German People”. The regiment had it’s baptism o fire in August 1940, during the French Campaign, commanded by General Schwerin; it then was transferred to the Balkans where it was made part of the group of Von Kleist’s forces and took part in the Greek Campaign. With the start of Operation “Barbarossa”, this unit was included in Guderian’s armored troops and took part on the Russian front. In July 1942, the regiment was promoted to division level and in November was finally transformed into the Armored Grenadier Division.

The following year, under the command of General W. Moerlein, it took part in operation “Zitadelle”, in the Kursk salient, as part of the 48th Armored Corps. Commanded by Von Knobeisdorff, and particularly distinguished itself.

The division continued to fight for the rest of the war with great courage in various sectors of the Russian front, until the spring of 1945. As part of the Nineth army, in East Prussia, they laid down their arms at the end of the war.What’s in the box?:

The kit comes in a large tray and lid type box. The box art shows a Panzer Grenadier with his 98K carbine rifle in a rather stiff, parade-rest, stance. His insignia is for Grossdeutschland Division on his shoulder boards and cuff title.

Inside the box are 2 large jet black styrene parts trees, a jet black styrene base dias piece, a tree of jet black vinyl straps, a large decal sheet and the instruction book.

Yep…I said BOOK! This is a soft cover book of 9 5/8” x 6 5/8” format with a stapled spine. It is roughly the size of a Squadron in Action book. It is 30 pages long and printed on slick coated paper.

There are 25 black an white wartime photos of German soldiers in this book, with 8 of them on the front and rear covers. There is also one photo of a case of potato masher type grenades and one of Wehrmacht and SS belt buckles.

The first 4 pages have white line drawings of various profiles of the different vehicles used in the Grossdeutschland Division. This is an organizational chart per se. Showing the strength of this unit.

On pages 4 and 6 is a history of Grenadiers in Grossdeutschland in French, English, Italian, German and Spanish languages.

Page 7 is the parts tree drawings. These will have to be referred to, constantly, while assembling this figure as NO part numbers are molded on the parts trees.

Pages 8 through 12 give assembly steps for putting most of the Grenadier together.

Pages 13 & 14 gives the Panzer Grenadier’s painting instructions in the same 5 languages as the history was.

Pages 15 to 18 gives assembly instructions for the steel helmet or soft side-cap options, arms assembly, rifle assembly, potato masher type grenade assembly and the dias base with nameplate assembly…plus uniform insignia placement drawings.

Pages 19 to 23 is painting tips. Especially for faces and hands. It is very good…and very thorough. Again, this is in the 5 languages.

Page 24 is a full page, black and white, wartime photo of a group of 10 German soldiers.

Pages 25-28 gives an account of what I can determine is about the Battle of Kharkov, with battle maps. However, unfortunately it is only in French.

Page 30 is more of the white line drawing profiles, like the ones on the first 4 pages.

The first of the 2 large jet black styrene parts trees holds: a canteen, 98K carbine ammo pouches, a gas mask canister, Wehrmacht and SS belt buckles, soft side cap, steel helmet with leather insert, a bayonet with scabbard, a shovel with separate carrying pouch, the front and rear of the figure’s head, his ears, jack boot tops and bottoms, a bread bag, shirt collar pieces, separate blouse pockets and flaps for them and shoulder boards etc. (75 parts)

The second large jet black styrene parts tree holds: front and rear torso parts, leg and arm parts, 98k rifle with separate breech and trigger parts, potato masher type grenade, the figure’s hands, uniform buttons and breast eagle (37 parts).

Next is the single jet black styrene base dias piece.

Finally, is the small jet black vinyl parts trees with all the belts and straps for the uniform, helmet and rifle (6 parts).

The decal sheet gives a choice of 3 different uniform markings:

1. A Wehrmacht Feldwebel of the Panzer Grenadier Regiment “Grossdeutschland”, with helmet or soft cap insignias, breast eagle, iron cross ribbon, shoulder and collar insignias, a campaign badge and the Grossdeutschland cuff title band.

2. A Wehrmacht Obergerfreiter Panzer Grenadier of the 6th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 7th Panzer Division, with helmet and soft cap insignias, shoulder and collar insignia, iron cross ribbon, sleeve chevron, and a wound medal.

3. A Waffen SS Oberscharfurer Panzer Grenadier of the 6th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment “Theodor Eicke”, 3rd SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Totenkopf” with helmet and soft cap insignias, iron cross ribbon, sleeve eagle and “Theodor Eicke” cuff title band.

I traded kits, with a Japanese net friend, years ago for this figure. He apparently had the kit in a stored where it was damp. Moisture and mildew destroyed the decal sheet. He somehow managed to get hold of 2 other decal sheets that he put into the kit, along with a second base dias part.

I did a review of ESCI’s 1/9th scale BMW R/75 motocycle (appears elsewhere on this site). I mentioned this rare kit and thought that a review of it would be of interest to readers. The kit is over 20+ years old and ESCI is long out of business. None of the companies that ESCI sold their 1/9th scale molds to had ever re-released this figure kit. Perhaps some day it will re-appear.

My only concern with the kit is the stiff pose. It would take major surgery and a lot of putty work to repose him somehow. Also, jet black is a poor color to mold a model kit in. It has been my experience, in the past, that his color bleeds through lighter paint colors applied over it and can darken them. A coat of white or light gray primer will cure this, plus it will show up any extra seam work that is needed.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this kit. There is perhaps a strong possibility that one may appear on E-bay for sale?