Introduction:

The decisive victory of the coalition forces led by the United States against Iraq in the Gulf War reunified the country and restored a national pride lost in the aftermath of Vietnam, proving that the US armed forces were again the most capable military force in the world.

DEF Model recently released a new 1/35 scale figure, depicting a US soldier from the 1990s era: US Army Driver at Rest, Gulf War 1991 (DF35031).

Review:

The set is packed in a small cardboard box, with a box art image showing the figure on a small scenic base, built and painted by the talented Artur Miniszewski.

The box consists of a single zip-lock bag with 6 resin pieces.

The resin looks really good, with nicely defined details perfectly cast in resin. The casting blocks are easy to remove using side cutters, a sharp blade and fine grit sandpaper. I would suggest some extra patience when cleaning the boonie hat, as the brim is delicate and might snap if manhandled.

Assembling the figure is very much straightforward. The main body parts, as well as separately supplied equipment parts, feature protrusions and indentations which help to align the pieces correctly. Due to the very good fit of the parts, the figure goes together without any issues and the putty work can be kept to a minimum.

The assembled figure looks really cool, with the anatomy spot-on, the relaxed pose well reproduced, and the facial features nicely delivered. The figure represents a US Army soldier at rest, leaning on a vehicle, and is based on the wartime photo.

Along with a brown Army T-shirt, the figure wears DBDU bottoms and a floppy brimmed “Boonie” hat. The All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE) gear consists of a LC-2 Individual Equipment Belt, Water Canteen and USGI M-17 Gas Mask Bag with adjustable waist belt. The simple equipment setup and the sunglasses additionally convey the relaxed setting of the figure.

A photo of the assembled figure leaning on the Humvee highlights the potential of the figure to easily turn into a focal point of any vignette.

Conclusion:

There were several instances in my modeling career when a super-cool looking figure made me think of a scenario in which I would build and paint an entire vehicle model just to display the figure I liked. US Army Driver at Rest, Gulf War 1991 (DF35031) from DEF Model is such a figure…

Perfectly cast and easy to assemble, the figure was a joy to build. The relaxed pose looks absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait to get me another Humvee to display the figure with.

Highly recommended.