Scale: 1/35 - about 1.5"/ 3.8cm each when assembled

Parts: 15 resin, making up three troopers

Instructions: 2 pages generic assembly/modification tips

Decals: N/A

Molding Quality: 9 - very good

Detail: 8 - nicely done for the scale

Accuracy: N/A

MSRP: $20.00 USD (~$31.30 CAN/ € 20.50 EUR) available from Sharkit

Overall Rating: 8 - nifty little accessories with a wide range of applications

Sharkit are perhaps best known for their 1/72 experimental, research, hypothetical and Luft '46 aircraft/spacecraft, but they do have a growing line of sci-fi kits and accessories. The "Rob-Troopers" reviewed here are intended for use with their Alternate-History WW2 German Mecha kit, but can be used for or with plenty of other things as well.

Image: More catalog than assembly guide, but it does show how the figures should look built up

Image: Generic instructions for modifying 1/35 scale figures

What You Get

This set is comprised of three figures representing German Army "Sturmgeher" from an alternate 1944. The figures are very similar to other Sharkit releases, including pilots for their Jet Bike set. Each comes with weapons and what appears to be fuel tanks.

The resin is hard, smooth and easy to work with. Casting in my sample was first-rate, with no pits, bubbles, visible mold seams or other flaws; there is some flash surrounding some parts, but it's easily dealt with. Detail is decent for the scale - not up to the standards of Ultracast (the gold standard for resin figures, IMO), perhaps, but quite good nonetheless. One of the three appears to be wearing some sort of form-fitting bodysuit, with a distinct chevron-like pattern of ridges; the others are more conventionally dressed in fatigues. The weapons provided appear to be modifications of late-war German firearms.

Instructions of a sort come on two pages of letter-size paper. One sheet has drawings and some text in French & English intended to provide guidance on modifying figures. The other is more catalog than assembly or paint guide, though it does provide views of the completed figures. It's just as well that parts positioning is self-explanatory, becuase the instructions would be no help if you couldn't figure out what arm goes on which side just by looking.

Assembly and Finish

Dry-fitting parts reveals no surprises. The parts just need to be removed from their pour stubs and quickly cleaned up with sandpaper before gluing (though I'd recomment leaving the blocks attached to the figures' feet until you're done painting -- they'll make it a lot easier to handle the figures while you work on them). CA (superglue) should be all that's necessary for assembly, though if you use 5 minute epoxy you'll have more time to fiddle with the pose of the arms and heads.

There's more than enough references out there on German Army uniforms, if that's how you want to paint these critters, that the kit's lack of a paint guide is no big deal.

Conclusions

Whether marching next to a spider-legged German tank or across an alien landscape, these figures should make an interesting - and different - addition to a diorama or vignette. Assembly is simple enough any builder should be able to handle it, despite the lack of a clear assembly guide. Recommended to anyone with the interest in the subject.