| number4 | 23 Mar 2013 8:53 p.m. PST |
Pictures of the new set are up on PSR link And I have to say, it looks very nice! No fewer than nine BAR's, which is a vast improvement on most sets which all but ignore this – the second most common infantry weapon fielded by the US forces. However, there appear to be just 18 M1 rifles (six poses), which will leave the platoon well short of the 34 required for a full strength outfit. One pose (3 figures) appears to be pulling the pin of a grenade, but has no the weapon visible, so could be riflemen too. Nine figures are using or carrying radios – an absurdly high number for an infantry platoon. One pose is using the SCR 536 "handie talkie" which is correct, the other radio is the SCR 300 "walkie talkie" backpack radio. This was a company HQ set, so is included here at the expense of infantry riflemen. link The officer figure and his radioman do make an excellent artillery FOO team though. Sculpting looks good, with everyone wearing a helmet net and the mid war M41 field jacket and M37 wool pants (no paratrooper cargo pockets!), but there appears to be something odd with their web gear. All seem to be wearing suspender straps, which were attached to the infantry pack permanently – if you dropped your pack, the straps went with it. It also looks like some riflemen are wearing carbine pouches or an impossible combination of rifle pouches on on side of the belt and rifle ones on the other. One man has a correct M1923 rifle Cartridge Belt, but he is the radioman/officer armed with a Thompson! |
| Hornswoggler | 23 Mar 2013 9:45 p.m. PST |
Looks like a pretty good set. Nine BARs seems a lot but I suppose the extras may come in handy with so many figure sets omitting them altogether. Would have been nice to have some BARs being fired prone with the bipod but that pose is rarer still… Now I am assuming MGs, mortars and Bazookas are all going to be included a support weapons set. I wonder if that might also include a grease gunner – such a figure is needed for the drivers if you want to use these PSC chaps as armoured infantry. |
| normsmith | 23 Mar 2013 11:17 p.m. PST |
Handy getting the cassualty figure. |
| Fire at Will | 23 Mar 2013 11:51 p.m. PST |
Would have liked a few alternative arms/weapons like the other sets otherwise a very nice set. However I'll wait till the heavy weapons set appears before buying more as there are no bazookas unlike the 15mm set. |
combatpainter  | 24 Mar 2013 2:24 a.m. PST |
Barely any detail on these and once you prime there will be even less. They look like flat figures. Reminds me of the flats I got as a kid. Not excited here, sorry. |
| rct75001 | 24 Mar 2013 3:11 a.m. PST |
i'm afraid I agree with combatpainter on these. I have the Russians and like them very much. I think they are much nicer than what I see on this scan of the US. Hate to say it but they reminded me of the cheap plastic ones from China etc. |
| parrskool | 24 Mar 2013 5:23 a.m. PST |
Barely any detail on these ……. Ditto |
| PiersBrand | 24 Mar 2013 8:26 a.m. PST |
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| number4 | 24 Mar 2013 2:24 p.m. PST |
I bought the PSC Germans last year and the detail level looked about the same, but the painted up very well indeed without any problems. Maybe the PSR scan doesn't show the depth too well… However crisply molded detail is not much good if it's wrong! The superb painting job by Piers shows the horribly incorrect web gear on this rifleman. Aside from the carbine pouch being worn by a rifle armed soldier, the canteen and first aid dressing pouch are shown sitting on the belt when they hang below it on the real thing, and he is wearing 'Suspenders, Belt, M-1936'. They were normally issued to officers and other personnel whose duties prevented them from wearing the M-1928 pack such as drivers, airborne troopers, artillerymen and radio operators. |
| PeterH | 26 Mar 2013 10:12 a.m. PST |
I have two sets and in my opinion the PSR pictures don't do them justice, they are pretty detailed and will fit well with AB in metal and the newer Italeri set from several years ago. I can't comment on the webbing issue because I don't know enough about the topic |
| number4 | 26 Mar 2013 11:31 a.m. PST |
I have some Italeri figures too; some of them have an equally bizarre (and impossible) set up, like the last figure on the right – rifle pouches on ones side of his belt and carbine on the other!
BTW I would love to know what sculptor intended the kneeling guy to be doing – maybe found a hair in his rations or caught a mouse? |
| number4 | 26 Mar 2013 11:39 a.m. PST |
I've found it! It's the US version of the "aeroplane curse" as reported in the memoirs of British comedian and WWII veteran Spike Milligan:
link |
