Review
This offering from Classy Hobby, arrives in an end opening card carton, with all of the artwork and instructions on the rear. Inside is a flip top cardboard tray, which greatly improves the strength of the packaging. Inside of the packaging are 2 green sprues in a Ziploc bag and a resealable bag containing photo etch and decals.
The figure itself is in what I would class as a staged pose, with one foot on a wall with his weapon pointing towards the ground and looking into the distance. A minor negative for me, is that a number of the gates are rather large and so will require very careful clean up. The uniform replicated here depicts an Airborne soldier after they have landed and been engaged with the enemy. Items that are no longer present concern things such are the drop bag, the parachute itself, and in some cases a Mae West and so you are looking at a soldier on the ground. The correct brown high legged boots are well depicted here, the trousers are I believe are the M 1942 jumpsuit trousers which had a different type of cloth from just above the knees down and which I believe was for reinforcement and extra protection. You have large thigh pockets that have a strap that goes around the legs. The jacket is also the M1942 style, this also has large baggy pockets on each breast and each hip with poppers as opposed to buttons. I believe a canvas belt was worn with this jacket style, and that appears to have been replicated here. An M1 steel helmet is worn with the chin strap undone, but that would of course have been done up when jumping. Classy Hobby has provided 2 types of scrim net for the helmet using photo etch. I personally do not like this approach, but commend them for having provided it. I myself, would use something like a fine gauze instead and coloured as desired as I feel it would replicate the effect more accurately. A medical bandage has been secured to the front of the helmet for quick access.
The equipment that I can identify here is, a backpack that I have not been able to identify to my satisfaction, but it is my belief that this is the M1 webbing set or part of. The straps coming down the front of the chest, have been adorned with a grenade and another first aid piece of kit. The belt area at the front has been kept clean to aid ease of movement. Moving to the rear, and you find the water canteen, ammunition pouches for a Thompson machine gun. However, equipment such as a side arm. Entrenchment tool and various pouches are not present. Moving down the figure to the right calf, you will find an M3 knife with am M6 scabbard. Finally this Airborne soldier is equipped with the M1 Thompson machine gun, with 2 separate magazines of 2 sizes. The weapon itself looks to be pleasingly detailed, and despite not having been slide moulded, a small recess is present in the muzzle.
Detail of the figure, is what I would describe as soft as in the details are not crisply replicated. This has given the uniform a very natural look to crease details, but webbing straps I feel, could do with being enhanced to clearly identify the that it not not part of the underlying cloth. Moving on to the hand and facial detail, the fingers will need a little bit of clean up as there is a minute amount of flash present. I would also run a scriber between the fingers to refine the detail. The face of this figure has all of the required details replicated, but could be enhanced by a replacement of the head from a company such as Alpine that does provide replacement resin heads in this scale.
Assembly of the figure should prove a relatively easy task, s there are not an excessive number of parts. The torso and legs are in halves, and hollow with assembly aided via locator points, of which there are quite a few. The arms are solid mouldings which have not suffered any shrink marks. I like that the connecting part at the shoulder uses a bevel on the shoulder, and that should attach very cleanly with no filler required. A small section of wall is included for the figure to place their foot upon, and so you have the display element present within the box. Moving to the decals and you have the US flag for one arm, on the other arm you have the option of the Screaming eagles or the Army airborne, Sergeant rank badges and black US symbology is provided. These would go onto the water canteen and the backpack which are very nice details to have been covered on the decal sheet. There are also 2 decals which I believe refer to the first aid kits and unfortunately my eyes are not up to the task of picking out this detail even under magnification.
Conclusion
This release from Classy Hobby of a 1/16th US Army Airborne soldier in World War II is suitably attired for America’s troop going into the UK and shortly after D-Day. Later Airborne operations had alterations as regards to the uniforms. The face of the figure is not as crisp as I would have liked and I would consider replacing it with a resin head. The uniform is nicely depicted with nice soft details to the creases in it. Details such as the fingers and webbing will in my opinion require some scribe work to be done to help refine the detail further than the moulding has allowed. I like that Classy Hobby has included photo etch to replicate the scrim net on the helmets, and even provided photo etched parts to replicate the cloth that is often entwined into the scrim net to break up the outline. I, myself, feel it would be easier to use gauze and paper to replicate the cloth elements. I really appreciate the effort put into providing the decals for this figure, as it covers details which are hard to paint and can prove difficult to source separately. Finally, the Thompson machine gun being provided with a photo etched rear sight and photo etched sling gives you a particularly pleasing weapon. I will close by saying that Classy Hobby is one of the few companies that I know that provides all of the required elements for constructing and finishing a figure, without forcing you to seek out after market elements.