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Russian Tankers' Heads
and
American Tank Crewman

Ultracast

(see images in body text below)

 

S u m m a r y
Catalogue Number: 35023 - American Tank Crewman 1943-45
35024 - Russian Heads WWII, Tank Crew 1941-45
Scale: 1/35
Contents and Media: Each set contains five parts in cream coloured resin
Price: US$9.95 each
Review Type: In-box
Advantages: Perfect casting; excellent detail; simple casting block removal and cleanup; natural pose (figure); variety of expressions (heads); expands an underpopulated field (ie Allied figures)
Disadvantages:  
Recommendation: Highly recommended to all American or Soviet figure and armour modellers

 

Reviewed by Brett Green

 

F i r s t   L o o k


Ultracast are expanding further within the field of 1/35 scale Allied figures with their two latest releases.

 

American Tank Crewman

 

This full figure comprises five separate parts - a head, torso with folded arms, casually crossed legs and two feet.

The figure wears the US tankers' perforated headgear and a zippered jacket. His pose is casual and quite natural.

The figure is moulded with a depression in his backside that corresponds perfectly to the top of a Sherman! He will look very comfortable resting on the top hull of any Sherman variant against the turret front, gazing into the distance. I am sure that he would look equally at home in other settings too.

Casting quality is well up to Ultracast's excellent standards. There are no pinholes or other imperfections present on my sample. Detail is crisp and impressive too. I particularly like the drape of the jacket's fabric and the texture of the elasticised waistband.

All parts are attached to their block via thin strips of resin. These will be very easy to remove and clean up before assembly.

The cardboard backing includes a colour photo of the assembled and painted figure. This will be a useful guide for painting and posing.

 

 

Russian Heads WWII - Tank Crew 1941-45

 

 

This is a set with five different heads. All wear the characteristic padded Russian tank helmet. Early war helmets were leather while mid-war austerity measures led to cloth being used later. As the design was fundamentally the same, it will be a simple matter to depict the early or later style by the use of paint colour and gloss level.

Finnish tankers also prized the Soviet helmet, so the heads could be used in combination with Finnish figures and vehicles too.

Facial expressions and angle of the chin straps are all unique, allowing all the heads to be used on one crew.

The quality of detail and production is, once again, excellent.

These heads will offer lots of scope for improvement and variation to Tamiya's and Dragon's Soviet tank crews.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Allied figures continue to be an underpopulated area. 

Ultracast have made a welcome contribution to correcting this situation over the last two years with their Commonwealth figures and head sets. These two releases are versatile additions to Ultracast's ever-growing range. They will be of great value to any modellers of WWII Soviet or American figures or armour.

Highly recommended.

You may view these and other products including photos at Ultracast's Web Site.

Thanks to Kevin at Ultracast for the review samples.

Review Copyright © 2000 by Brett Green
Images Courtesy Ultracast Website
Page Created 07 January, 2000
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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