In Box Review of Tamiya 1/25th Scale Field Marshal Rommel
Military Figure Series 5
Kit no. PF 0005-100
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 1990
Kit no. PF 0005-100
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 1990
HISTORY:
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel ( 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (German: Wüstenfuchs). He served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as serving in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany. Rommel was injured multiple times in both world wars.
Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his actions on the Italian Front. In 1937, he published his classic book on military tactics, Infantry Attacks, drawing on his experiences in that war.
In World War II, he commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname der Wüstenfuchs, "the Desert Fox". Among his British adversaries he had a reputation for chivalry, and his phrase "war without hate" has been uncritically used to describe the North African campaign.
A number of historians have since rejected the phrase as a myth and uncovered numerous examples of German war crimes and abuses towards enemy soldiers and native populations in Africa during the conflict. Other historians note that there is no clear evidence Rommel was involved or aware of these crimes, with some pointing out that the war in the desert, as fought by Rommel and his opponents, still came as close to a clean fight as there was in World War II. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
With the Nazis gaining power in Germany, Rommel gradually accepted the new regime. Historians have given different accounts of the specific period and his motivations. He was a supporter of Adolf Hitler, at least until near the end of the war, if not necessarily sympathetic to the party and the paramilitary forces associated with it. In 1944, Rommel was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler.
Because of Rommel's status as a national hero, Hitler wanted to eliminate him quietly instead of having him immediately executed, as many other plotters were. Rommel was given a choice between suicide, in return for assurances that his reputation would remain intact and that his family would not be persecuted following his death, or facing a trial that would result in his disgrace and execution; he chose the former and took a cyanide pill.
Rommel was given a state funeral, and it was announced that he had succumbed to his injuries from the strafing of his staff car in Normandy.
Rommel became a larger-than-life figure in both Allied and Nazi propaganda, and in postwar popular culture. Numerous authors portray him as an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of Nazi Germany, although this assessment is contested by other authors as the Rommel myth.
Rommel's reputation for conducting a clean war was used in the interest of the West German rearmament and reconciliation between the former enemies – the United Kingdom and the United States on one side and the new Federal Republic of Germany on the other. Several of Rommel's former subordinates, notably his chief of staff Hans Speidel, played key roles in German rearmament and integration into NATO in the postwar era.
The German Army's largest military base, the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf, and a third ship of Lütjens-class destroyer of the German Navy are both named in his honor. His son Manfred Rommel was the longtime mayor of Stuttgart, Germany and namesake of Stuttgart Airport.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Birth name: Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel
Nickname(s) : "The Desert Fox"
Born: 15 November 1891 at Heidenheim an der Brenz, Württemberg, German Empire
Died: 14 October 1944 (aged 52) at Herrlingen, Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern, Nazi Germany
Cause of death: Forced suicide by cyanide poisoning
Buried: Herrlingen cemetery
Allegiance: German Empire (1911–1918)
Weimar Republic (1918–1933), Nazi Germany (1933–1944)
German resistance to Nazism: 1944 May - 1944 October)
Service/branch: Imperial German Army, Reichsheer German Army
Years of service: 1911–1944
Rank: Generalfeldmarschall
Commands held: 7th Panzer Division, Afrika Korps, Panzer Army Africa, Army Group Africa, Army Group B
Awards: Iron Cross, First Class, Pour le Mérite, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Spouse: Lucia Maria Mollin (m. 1916)
Children: Manfred Rommel (1928–2013), Gertrud Stemmer (1913–2000)
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel ( 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (German: Wüstenfuchs). He served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as serving in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany. Rommel was injured multiple times in both world wars.
Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his actions on the Italian Front. In 1937, he published his classic book on military tactics, Infantry Attacks, drawing on his experiences in that war.
In World War II, he commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname der Wüstenfuchs, "the Desert Fox". Among his British adversaries he had a reputation for chivalry, and his phrase "war without hate" has been uncritically used to describe the North African campaign.
A number of historians have since rejected the phrase as a myth and uncovered numerous examples of German war crimes and abuses towards enemy soldiers and native populations in Africa during the conflict. Other historians note that there is no clear evidence Rommel was involved or aware of these crimes, with some pointing out that the war in the desert, as fought by Rommel and his opponents, still came as close to a clean fight as there was in World War II. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
With the Nazis gaining power in Germany, Rommel gradually accepted the new regime. Historians have given different accounts of the specific period and his motivations. He was a supporter of Adolf Hitler, at least until near the end of the war, if not necessarily sympathetic to the party and the paramilitary forces associated with it. In 1944, Rommel was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler.
Because of Rommel's status as a national hero, Hitler wanted to eliminate him quietly instead of having him immediately executed, as many other plotters were. Rommel was given a choice between suicide, in return for assurances that his reputation would remain intact and that his family would not be persecuted following his death, or facing a trial that would result in his disgrace and execution; he chose the former and took a cyanide pill.
Rommel was given a state funeral, and it was announced that he had succumbed to his injuries from the strafing of his staff car in Normandy.
Rommel became a larger-than-life figure in both Allied and Nazi propaganda, and in postwar popular culture. Numerous authors portray him as an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of Nazi Germany, although this assessment is contested by other authors as the Rommel myth.
Rommel's reputation for conducting a clean war was used in the interest of the West German rearmament and reconciliation between the former enemies – the United Kingdom and the United States on one side and the new Federal Republic of Germany on the other. Several of Rommel's former subordinates, notably his chief of staff Hans Speidel, played key roles in German rearmament and integration into NATO in the postwar era.
The German Army's largest military base, the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf, and a third ship of Lütjens-class destroyer of the German Navy are both named in his honor. His son Manfred Rommel was the longtime mayor of Stuttgart, Germany and namesake of Stuttgart Airport.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Birth name: Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel
Nickname(s) : "The Desert Fox"
Born: 15 November 1891 at Heidenheim an der Brenz, Württemberg, German Empire
Died: 14 October 1944 (aged 52) at Herrlingen, Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern, Nazi Germany
Cause of death: Forced suicide by cyanide poisoning
Buried: Herrlingen cemetery
Allegiance: German Empire (1911–1918)
Weimar Republic (1918–1933), Nazi Germany (1933–1944)
German resistance to Nazism: 1944 May - 1944 October)
Service/branch: Imperial German Army, Reichsheer German Army
Years of service: 1911–1944
Rank: Generalfeldmarschall
Commands held: 7th Panzer Division, Afrika Korps, Panzer Army Africa, Army Group Africa, Army Group B
Awards: Iron Cross, First Class, Pour le Mérite, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Spouse: Lucia Maria Mollin (m. 1916)
Children: Manfred Rommel (1928–2013), Gertrud Stemmer (1913–2000)
THE KIT:
Tamiya is an old prolific plastic model kit manufacturer, based in Japan. They make all manner of plastic model kit subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a shrink-wrapped end-opening type box.
I am no fan of this type of box, because invariably parts or the decal sheet will find their way past one of the end-flaps of the box to become lost forever. Give me a tray and lid type box any day of the week.
The box art shows a color illustration of Irwin Rommel, posed against one of Tamiya’s SIGNATURE all white backgrounds, that they use for the majority of their box arts.
He is standing with his hands folded behind his back.
He wears a flat black leather overcoat, black jack boots, a grey officer’s billed hat, that has a pair of binoculars strung around it. He has a pair of binoculars strung around his neck, along with an awards medal.
The back of the box serves as the painting guide. It shows a color illustration of Rommel from behind. Again on an all-white background.
There are small color illustrations of: his award medal of the knight’s cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds. His officer’s hat, Pair of goggles,
Binoculars and Jack boots.
Tamiya is an old prolific plastic model kit manufacturer, based in Japan. They make all manner of plastic model kit subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a shrink-wrapped end-opening type box.
I am no fan of this type of box, because invariably parts or the decal sheet will find their way past one of the end-flaps of the box to become lost forever. Give me a tray and lid type box any day of the week.
The box art shows a color illustration of Irwin Rommel, posed against one of Tamiya’s SIGNATURE all white backgrounds, that they use for the majority of their box arts.
He is standing with his hands folded behind his back.
He wears a flat black leather overcoat, black jack boots, a grey officer’s billed hat, that has a pair of binoculars strung around it. He has a pair of binoculars strung around his neck, along with an awards medal.
The back of the box serves as the painting guide. It shows a color illustration of Rommel from behind. Again on an all-white background.
There are small color illustrations of: his award medal of the knight’s cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds. His officer’s hat, Pair of goggles,
Binoculars and Jack boots.
The two side-panels of the box are identical. They just have a paragraph that is all in Japanese on them.
One end-flap of the box has color illustrations of the medal insignias on his hat.
The other end-flap of the box has a color illustration of his shoulder and collar rank insignias.
An illustration of a bottle of Tamiya’s glue is on a tab at each end of the box.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
This kit contains one dark-green parts-tree, that is not cello bagged. The tree is labeled as number 5. It holds Rommel as full-bodies, with the back of his overcoat and his arms as separate parts. Also on the tree is his hat, binoculars, goggles and a display base hexagon. (8 parts)
This kit contains one dark-green parts-tree, that is not cello bagged. The tree is labeled as number 5. It holds Rommel as full-bodies, with the back of his overcoat and his arms as separate parts. Also on the tree is his hat, binoculars, goggles and a display base hexagon. (8 parts)
The detail is excellent. He will really dress up any diorama of the Afrika Korps.
Highly recommended.