Introduction:
US involvement in the Vietnam War relied heavily on military trucks, which were essential for transporting troops, supplies, and equipment across the difficult terrain, ensuring the logistical support necessary for sustained combat operations.
DEF Model recently released a 1/35 scale figure depicting a US truck driver from Vietnam.
Review:
US Driver Leaning next to Truck in Vietnam (DF35034) comes in a small cardboard box featuring a CAD image of the figure.
Opening the box reveals a zip-lock bag with 3D printed figure pieces and a small instruction leaflet.
The figure pieces include a full body with legs, two arms, two heads and a boot. I didn’t find any imperfections in the 3D print, with the details well defined and perfectly delivered.
The instruction sheet provides some info on cleaning the 3D printed pieces. This could come in handy for those not experienced in removing the printing supports.
The printing supports are thin and feature minimal attachment points, so I had no problems cleaning the figure. I used sharp pointed side cutter from Tamiya and worked on removing one support at a time, finishing by sanding the pieces with some fine grit sandpaper. Unfortunately, the cigarette snapped from figure’s right hand during the process, so it will have to be replaced by a thin copper wire.
Assembling the figure is very much straightforward. The parts feature protrusions and indentations which help to align the pieces correctly. I had to trim some of the protrusions to get a perfect fit, but the putty work was kept to a minimum.
The assembled figure looks really cool, with proportional anatomy and the relaxed pose well reproduced. The figure represents a US soldier at rest, leaning on a vehicle, and is based on the wartime photo.
Along with a tank top, the figure wears jungle fatigue pants and jungle boots. The simple equipment setup and the sunglasses additionally convey the relaxed setting of the figure.
The figure comes with two optional heads, which is definitely a bonus. The second head is depicted sporting a field cap.
Conclusion:
Sometimes a single figure can have so much “cool factor” that I decide to build the vehicle model just so I can display the figure. US Driver Leaning next to Truck in Vietnam (DF35034) from DEF Model is definitely one of those figures…
Perfectly printed and easy to assemble, the figure was a lot of fun. I especially like the relaxed pose which looks very authentic.
Highly recommended.