Darren Baker reviews "Red Army Tankers at Rest 1943 – 1945" from Stalingrad, a recently released resin figure set.

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Thanks!

If I may offer a few comments:
* The crew figures are wearing jackets that were issued only after Stalingrad, so, they are post-January 1943.
* Both wear officer's shirts. Recalling that they are shown posed on an IS-2 gun tube, the IS-2 crew normally consisted of two lieutenants and two sergeants. Not that they all really did - but that was what their TO&E called for.
* Since I can't see any branch insignia, you are indeed correct that the guy wearing the pilotka is not necessarily a tanker.
* Tankers certainly wore the soft pilotka cap when not crewing their vehicle. I would imagine it was a lot more comfortable than the helmet.
* All ranks wore decorations if they'd earned them.

I hope this is helpful.

Danny firstly thank you for your input I am always happy to have further information offered up. Regarding the points you raise I will admit I missed the shirt type and was totally unaware about the crewing requirement of the IS-2. The shoulder strap would indicate a tank officer but there is nothing to indicate that he is a tank officer other than where he is sat. The other figure is most definitely a tank officer. If you look at picture 11 the epaulettes do possibly indicate a rank.

You are absolutely correct that the shoulder boards have rank insignia of an officer (which is good since they're wearing officers' shirts) . But I don't see any branch insignia, so, again, we agree that the guy in the soft cap could be any branch. Could be an Infantryman for example.