"US Mortar Crew Preview " Topic

Rubicon Models published pictures of their M21 mortar crew

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Amicalement
Armand

Nice figures but the loader pose where the figure is holding the 81mm round with one hand at arms length is not accurate in my opinion. Having trained on 81s no mortar man worth his salt would handle a round that way.

+1 Terrement.

maybe he caught it on the way out

That particular figure was intended to fit inside the M21 where compartment space is limited, but we do have references that loader DID use single hand…

;)

Rubicon Models: I hate to be a pain but your example is with the end of the round already in the tube. There are several clips floating around out there of 81mm Mortars being fired in WW2, Korea and Vietnam all showing the same drill which had been in place for years. If you watch these clips you will see the loader two hands to guide the round into the tube. Once the round is in the tube the loader may then hold the round with one hand before releasing it to fire but two is what is recommended. The picture you show has the loader waiting before he releases the round down the tube to fire.

Now, having said that, I will be buying this figures eventually because they are very nicely done. I will be modifying the one hand loader to make him more believable. So please keep up the output of your quality product as customers such as myself like what you do.

So… when we gonna get these puppies?

Private Matter: Thanks for the feedback! Not being in military service had limited ourselves to historical photos and books for references. This is why we usually posted our work on Facebook and on our official forum for comments. TMP had kindly repost our work here and had drawn constructive feedback as well. In fact, we are re-sculpting the loader to a more logical pose; once done, will post it here again for comment. Thanks again!

Come in Nighthawk – Probably before year end!

Not my scale but they look nice.
Are the leg thingummies on the mortar bipod rather too chunky?

AONeill: they may be a touch too "chunky" but I would imagine that if they were cast any smaller they would too fragile for both production and assembly.