Introduction:
Typhoon is a Russian family of Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles in service since 2014. The first 1/35 scale model of Typhoon-K appeared in 2017, and was followed by several variants of Typhoon-VDV and soon to be released Typhoon-U. Of course, some of these kits found their way into my stash, together with several Live Resin figure offerings, which are designed as Russian Army crew for Typhoon family MRAPs.
The miniature I’m reviewing is Russian Army Armored Vehicle or TruckCommander, Set 18 (LRM 35065), which I plan to use with my Typhoon-VDV fromRPG Model.
Review:
The figure set is packed in a hard cardboard box. The box features CAD image of the figure leaning on the vehicle door, as well as the CAD image showcasing the figure from several different angles. The box also states the figure fits all 1/35 scale Typhoon-K and Typhoon-VDV kits.
The box contains zip lock bag with resin pieces, additionally protected with several layers of bubble wrap.
I inspected the pieces and once again confirmed the impressive quality of Live Resin products. I found no imperfections in the cast, no seam lines to clean, no air-bubbles to fill. The level of details is very high, all very nicely defined and delivered in resin. One of the pieces broke from its casting block, but there was no damage to the part itself.
The casting blocks are easy to remove using side cutters, and the pieces were then cleaned using a sharp blade and some fine grit sandpaper. The fit of the pieces is really good and I had no problems assembling the figure. The main figure pieces feature protrusions and indentations, enabling optimal alignment of the parts. I glued the figure’s torso to the legs, then fixed both boots to the legs, followed by attaching the right arm to the torso. The gaps between the pieces are minimal and hardly visible, but I opted to use some Magic Sculp putty just to make everything perfectly smooth. The equipment pieces were fixed using box art photo as a reference.
The assembled figure looks really good. The pose is superbly delivered, as the figure is depicted exiting the vehicle and leaning on the door to survey the perimeter with binoculars. The details on the uniform and the equipment are impressively rendered and the figure will definitely prove as a focal point on any 1/35 scale Typhoon MRAP vehicle.
I fitted the figure to my Typhoon-VDV from RPG Model. As the figure was not designed specifically for this kit, I had to dryfit the vehicle doors and the figure to find their optimal position. Kudos to Live Resin for supplying two slightly different left arms to this figure kit. One arm variant is intended to comfortably rest on the lower set vehicle door, while the other variant is made to lean on slightly higher set vehicle door. Choosing between the two means fitting the arm to the figure and aligning the figure to the vehicle and the vehicle door. The end result looks very impressive.
Conclusion:
At the moment I saw this figure I knew it was perfect for my Typhoon VDV. The first thing that caught my eye was the pose, as well as the heavy equipment loadout which I feel looks really cool. The figure kit is impressively cast and easy to assemble. The two left hand options enables using the figure with different Typhoon kits from different manufacturers, a big plus in my book.
Altogether, I can highly recommend Russian Army Armored Vehicle or Truck Commander, Set 18 (LRM 35065) from Live Resin for anyone building Typhoon MRAP and other modern Russian Army vehicles.
EDIT: In the meantime I finished the figure. Here's the final result: