Three new figure sets have now been confirmed by the Ukrainain manufacturer, Masterbox Ltd.

Last year, Masterbox did something that, up until then, no manufacturer had ever done. Rather than releasing a series of 'one-off' figure sets, they released three figure sets together. The common theme in these sets was 'Hand-to-hand combat' and featured a total of 12 figures (6 German, 6 Soviet) one set was Soviet, another German and the third containg five figures. By combining these sets, the modeler is able to create a huge variety of combinations. It seems obvious to most people, but no manufacturer has chosen to copy this impressively innovative concept...

Now, Masterbox has gone back to this idea by releasing three sets of U.S. Marines AND (for the first time in decades) Japanese Infantry.

The same format is being followed - one set of U.S.M.C., another of Japanese and a third containing figures of both nationalities.

We were fortunate enough - due to the high-level of cooperation we enjoy from Masterbox, to bring you exclusive images of some of the figures 'in-progress' - these are republished at the side along with the box-art for the new sets.

As to the sets themselves;

MB3542 - "Japanese Special Naval Landing Force Tarawa, 1943"

MB3543 - "Bloody Atoll" U.S. Marine Corps Infantry, Tarawa, 1943

MB3544 - "Bloody Atoll" Hand-to-hand fight, Tarawa, 1943

This is perhaps exactly the right moment for Masterbox to release these sets. U.S.M.C. M4s have been released from DML and the Japanese manufacturer, Fine-Molds have an increasingly impressive range of Japanese AFVs.

With these sets, the War in the Pacific now looks more 'doable' than it was before...