Introduction
The following introduction is taken from the ICM website:
For cooking in combat conditions, the Wehrmacht used various types of field kitchens: large ones for personnel ranging from 125 to 225 men, and smaller kitchens for 60-125 men. Captured field kitchens were also used. These kitchens were transported either by trailer behind vehicles or by horse-drawn carriage. Soldiers humorously called these kitchens the ‘Gulaschkanone’, which allowed them to prepare a variety of dishes. A large kettle with an insulating layer (using glycerin) was used for cooking main dishes. Later models of the kitchens included a separate kettle for frying. Additionally, these kitchens could simultaneously prepare up to 90 litres of coffee. It should be noted that the food ration for Wehrmacht soldiers included a wide variety of products – German soldiers received sausage, cheese, milk, and cocoa. Qualified cooks handled food preparation, assisted by helpers who peeled and chopped vegetables, chopped firewood, fetched water, and performed other tasks.
Review
This offering from ICM arrives in a sturdy flip top cardboard tray with a separate card lid depicting the artwork. The sprues are packages in a single plastic bag and are cleanly moulded. Some of the gates are a little on the large side, making clean up and removal that much more difficult. The 4 figures provided in the set consist of 1 that is very clearly the cook, with his chef’s hat and is an aspect that I don’t believe would have been seen in the field. You have 1 member peeling spuds, 1 cutting wood for the cooker and 1 shown preparing to pour water into the main pan on the top of the cooker. Uniform is basically shirt, trousers with braces. One is wearing a jacket, but it is not a military style jacket and the Chef has an apron. Other than the chef the figures are wearing the peaked field caps.
Hand detail on these figures is of an exceptionally high standard, and the faces are acceptable to me. The figure peeling the potatoes has clearly one is his hand with a knife in the other, and has been provided with an open sack of spuds, which shows forward thinking on the part of ICM. The male cutting the wood has been equipped with an axe, which due to the stance would possibly been better with a hatchet. Chopped wood, as in split logs along with a block and uncut logs has been provided with this figure and so setting the scene well. The chef appears to be sharpening a knife with a steel, he is a more portly figure and has been supplied with a table, a bowl, a chopping block and 6 ring sausages. The last figure shown to be ready to pour water into the cooking vessel I feel is good but could have utilised performing a more interesting task.
The field cooker meets my expectations with regards to external detail. There are a number of decals that have been supplied for it, and is something that is often forgotten or neglected. The main cooking vessel inside the cooker has been provided and would have contained a goulash/stew. However the rest of the internal detail would appear to be missing which is a shame considering the effort that ICM has put into the rest of the offering. This lack of detail internally by no means detracts from the set as a whole, but it does reduce your options when it comes to display. Ancillary items provided with this release are jerry cans clearly marked with a painted white cross, which is the sign for water, so that you did not mix fuel with water specific jerry cans. You have buckets, bags of spuds, wooden boxes. The vessel used to transport food to a small cadre of men and the only thing not in this set that I would have liked to have seen is bread, as it tended to be a common food type which was dunked into the stew when eaten.
Conclusion
This release from ICM pleases me greatly for the most part, as the figures are in the process of committing specific roles and the supporting materials are also present, with the provision of both split logs and uncut logs being particularly pleasing touch. I still question the inclusion of a chefs hat, which I feel is out of place. I would have liked the ability to have shown more of the cooker, such as using the 4th man throwing logs into the burner. As in the review I bemoan the lack of bread being included as it is a very generic food stuff that tended to always be part of the meal.