Warriors Scale Models
35469

This is one of Warriors' sets depicting U.S. Marines landing on Pacific islands. Their release was spurred by Italeri's LVT series, and the preceding figure sets were advertised as "disembarking LVT."

This set has two Marines who have seen some action at least. One Marines is sitting against the seawall, bunker or the side of a vehicle. He's holding his hand over a wound in his left shoulder,. The figure's torso, legs, right arm, and head are all cast in one piece. His left arm is separate. For equipment he's got an M1 helmet with camouflage cover, ammunition pouches around his belt, two canteens, and a shotgun ammo pouch. There's a small sprue with a K-bar knife and bayonet, so you could equip him with one of these. It's pity Warriors didn't include a rifle for the wounded crewman, but we're getting used to this policy.

His buddy is calling for a Corpsman, holding his rifle in his left hand. He is similarly equipped, but with only one canteen, a first aid pouch and carries an M1 Garand rifle. Legs and torso are one part, with two separate arms, head with helmet, and his left hand moulded to the Garand to ensure a realistic grip. There's also a haversack with M1910 entrenching tool.

Sculpting is good, with well defined details. The expressions on the faces are good on the shouting Marine and excellent on the wounded soldier. The latter also has a serious-though unintended-head injury, as there is a major air bubble at the back of his neck. There is also a small bubble on his right leg, his left arm, and a few tiny ones of the edges of the jacket of the shouting Marine. Fit of the parts is fairly spot on. The usual places such as shoulder joints might need a bit of filler.

I like the pose of the shouting Marine. He has his left leg knee slightly raised from the ground, which gives the figure a sense of wariness. It also makes him look like in a hurry. So this makes the set quite useful. The figures do not necesarrily need to be combined. He could be shouting for armor support, a bazooka, flamethrower, etc. What limits the use of the figures is the fact that the canteens are the later style, with the flap crossing over each other. This makes them excellent for use in conjunction with DML's Iwo Jima Marines, but no too easily used with the new Gen2 Tarawa Marines. Oh well, by careful positioning, you can deny viewers a look at the canteens. Or use a scalpel and some putty.

Overall, I'd rate this set an 8 out of 10. Poses are better than some of the other "Hit the Beach" sets. The figures can be used together or separately. There aren't many wounded U.S. figures anyway, so you might be tempted to convert this guy in an ETO infantryman.

Recommended for PTO fans!

-Martin Dogger