Modern US Army
Infantryman (Desert Uniform)
1/16 Scale - Kit No.36308
First Look by Terry Ashley

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The figure is wearing the latest fatigues with Interceptor body armor and chemical protective MOPP oversuit and can be painted in either the current Desert or Woodlands camouflage scheme and is armed with an M16A2 semi-automatic rifle.

Consisting of 42 parts in light beige plastic plus two in clear plastic and a short length of plastic tubing the figure is broken down in the same manner as their previous 1/16 figures with the legs and upper body in two halves each with separate boots, heads and arms and Fritz helmet.

The uniform details are quite good with well defined pocket and seam detail and nice fabric folds on the trousers and arms. The upper body with the body armour and vest has details that are slightly ‘softer’ than on the trousers and arms but still looks okay and looks like the images of vests from Iraq.

There are two alternate heads included and two sets of arms so the figure can be posed in one of two choices, one with his M16A2 in the firing position and the other with the weapon held in a more relaxed pose. The heads have hair included and nice facial features but with the helmet chin strap included on the head moulding it would be quite a task removing this to show the figure bare headed. The Fritz helmet has nice cover details as well as internal details and the AN/PVS-7B night vision goggles provided can be fitted in the lowered ‘in use’ position or the raised 'stowed' position or you can add the sand goggles included in clear plastic for another choice.

If you choose to model the figure in the firing position you will need to fit the hands to the weapon and the arms to the body in the one step so they can be adjusted for a good fit while the glue is still pliable. While you get two pairs of arms there is only one pair of hands which each have three fingers as separate parts to help in fitting around the hand grips.

The AN/PVS-7B night vision goggles are made up of four parts including a clear “lens” and are nicely detailed but you will have to make a choice as to which configuration you want to model early on.

The M16A2 is in two halves split longitudinally and this allows for good detail definition. The two halves allow the round holes along the top and bottom of the forward stock grip and the groove along the top of the handle and the split on top of the forward sights to be included although there is no sling, but this can easily be made from masking tape or lead sheet.

There is a good selection of personal gear included and these have nice details such as buckles and texturing. The items include single and double magazine pouches, first aid pouch, grenade pouch, butt pack, two water canteens, a bayonet pouch, side arm holster, gas mask bag, throat protector and the CamelBak hydration systems located on his back. The plastic tube included is for the hydration tube attached to the top of CamelBak and can be positioned any way you desire. To get a natural bend in the tube you can insert some copper wire inside the plastic tube so it will hold its bend (wire not included in kit).

The instructions consist of a small sheet with assembly instructions for the M16, CamelBak, AN/PVS-7B and positioning of the arms and weapon for the firing stance plus a guide identifying the equipment provided.
The box has colour images on the back of the assembled figure with the parts called out by number showing their location while on the box sides there is a colour painting guide for the uniform cam scheme while the other has colour images of the personal gear to help with the painting, the box top illustration can also be used as a painting guide.

Conclusion:
Overall a nicely detailed figure with a good selection of equipment and a nice choice of poses for a topical figure and with all the images available from Iraq there shouldn’t be any problems getting good reference material.

Kit courtesy of my Credit Card and the excellent service from Rainbow Ten.

Page 24 December 2003