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Alpine Miniatures
Alpine Miniatures
WWII US Paratrooper 82nd AA
1:16th Figure Set No. 16004
Review by Terry Ashley

The Set:
Alpine Miniatures recently released this 1:16 figure scupltered by Jorge Scoriaffico with the boxart figure painted by Gino Poppe representing an WWII 82nd Airborne Paratrooper seen shortly after 6 June 1944 and again comes packaged in a stout cardboard box with a couple of pads of soft foam material to firmly hold the zip-locked bags in place reducing the chance of damage in transit.

He wears the Jump-Suit M1942 jacket and trousers over the standard issue woolen shirt with scarf plus gloves along with laced up jump boots. The jacket details are captured extremely well with the four large jacket pockets suitable bulged as they are usually packed with all sorts of useful items. The detail extends to the well defined fabric seams and stitching around the lower flaps as well as the elbow reinforcing panels to the well detailed jacket belt.

The Airborne insignia consists of the US flag on the right shoulder which has the correct seven strips (no I didn't count the stars) and the 82nd AA crest on the left shoulder and these are nicely embossed to allow easy painting in this larger scale. There is one item missing for a D-Day paratrooper and that is the gas-detection armband which would have covered the US flag on the right shoulder and this could be added from tissue is you wished.

The trousers capture the baggy look very well and also have the two large pockets suitably packet with gear as well as having the reinforcing panels from the knees down to the jump boots which has very well defined lace details.
Additional equipment consists of the M1 ammo bandoleer cast with the jacket along with separate M1911 A1 Colt and holster with a small pistol ammo pouch plus two small pouches for either a M.18 smoke grenade or Mk.II fragmentation grenade.

Other equipment includes the standard water bottle and M-1910 pattern T-handled shovel instead of the later 1943 folding entrenching tool and he is armed with the Garand M1 rifle with separate sling which is finely cast with very nice buckle and clip details. There would usually be a larger rucksack carried on the back for D-Day operations but this is not included.

As with all Alpine figures there are two heads supplied, one bare headed with very nice facial features and short cut hair and the other wearing the standard Airborne M1C Steel Helmet with camouflage netting cover and the distinctive chin strap which has the first aid pack attached to the front of the netting.

The figure has 17 parts in light gray resin which are cleanly cast with just the usual casting plugs to be removed, this is made easier by the "softer" type resin used in Alpine figures but still retains the excellent crisp details. The most noticeable thing is the total lack of casting seams which makes the preparation very easy, but care is needed when removing the casting plug from the left arm. The casting plug is at the top of the shoulder and if too much resin is removed while cleaning up it can result in small gaps when fitted to the torso.

The upper torso and legs are in two parts which fit together perfectly at the belt along with both the arms separate as are the jump boots and the two heads. The right hand is cast with the Garand M1 for a very natural grip and this is attached to the right arm and fits snugly into a recess on the inside of the arm for again a natural sit.

As mentioned the details on the figure are excellent with crisp well defined details on the uniform lapels, pockets and fabric seams which are included on the jacket and trousers as well as the sleeves with very realistic fabric folds. The detail on the Garand M1 is also nicely done with breech detail and the muzzle slightly indented making it easy to drill this out further to improve the appearance.

Assembly is very straightforward with locating tabs between the two torso halves making lining these up easy and the fit of the arms equally good provided you were careful with the right arm cleanup as above. The boots also have locating tabs to help line these correctly in relation to the legs and there are indentations in the jacket for all the personal equipment.

Everything fitted perfectly apart from the two grenade pouches which had to be located further inwards to clear the colt holster but other than that there was no trimming or other alterations required during assembly. The Garand sling will have to be dunked into hot water and bent to shape and again this is very easy given the type of resin used. The sling buckles at either end may need to be replaced with thin wire as they are easily broken while removing the sling from the casting plug.

As with previous figures I added a small “wire” pin to the neck of each head to go into a hole drilled into the body to make fitting and swapping the heads easier if you don't want to glue the chosen head in place. This also allows the heads to be painted separate and easily attached later. A small tip if you do add the pin is to always drill the hole for the pin at right angles to the neck cut-off on both the torso and head as this will ensure the head sits correctly as intended when fitted together. I also added a pin to attach the right hand as this made fitting the Garand in place much easier as you only need to worry about lining the stock up with the arm indentations.

Conclusion:
This is another superbly sculptured and cast figure from the boys at Alpine Miniatures with virtually no cleanup required and excellent fit of the parts to provide a superb rendition of a WWII 82nd Airborne paratrooper. the only addition required for a D-Day figure is the gas-detection armband and possibly the larger rucksack but other than those all the gear is provided.

Very Highly recommended for those who like the larger scale figures.

Resin parts
Alpine Miniatures
Views of the assembled figure with close-up of Garand M1 and alternate head
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Details images
Alpine Miniatures
Alpine Miniatures

See the Alpine Miniatures web site for ordering details and thanks to Taesung from Alpine Miniatures for the review sample.



Page created March 18, 2009