Darren Baker reviews U.S. Marine Corps Infantry, Tarawa, November 1943, the second offering in the "Bloody Atoll Series" from Master Box.

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Thanks!

Thank you for getting this sorted James.

Thanks for this review Darren, I was looking forward to it and I believe you have answered any of the questions I had about this set.

The third and final set will be reviewed soon Jeremy, glad you found it of help.

Great Darren, looking forward to it Darren

Good review there Darren. The only thing I don't understand is ther amount of flash on a new mold. I thought that came from excessive use and heat over a period of time when the surface warps a bit. Anyway, they still look promising and workable and I will be P/U at least two sets of each. I have the western front set and I congradulate Masterbox for thier release of these sets that are interactive. Something other companies should note. They are really becoming my favorite company for figures and accessories lately. Variety is the key here and I think they are going to have winners here.

These three sets used in conjunction should create a lively battle scene and you could of course add further sets and do a little scratch work/mix and match to increase the nukbers further. I did not call it flash as for the most part they are mould seams which will take some work to clean but not overly difficult, why it is there I cannot answer.

To distinguish between what is flash and what is a mold seam; a mold seam should be solid and obviously where the two tool halves meet. Its considered flash when there is a risk it could break off or come loose. In the medical industry flash would mean rejecting as they couldn´t risk small pieces blocking canals or being loose and mixing in with products. From what I can see this mold seam is excessive and for a medical product would be rejected. For a model I dont see this as a huge problem as long as it doesnt effect details. This is probably caused by tooling that is not aligned properly or the process is not properly optimised or the machine is not capable of running these tools due to age or size.
Thanks for the review Darren. I got the other 3 box set with US soldiers and its a similar story. For me the biggest issue is soft details ... especailly the hands. I usually go for Hornet heads, but their hand sets would be useful here as well. Great action poses though.

I am forced tp agree with you Frank as regards the hands as they could be better and in their latest products they are improved. The heads in this sets are reasonable and I consider that they good for plastic, I would also say that they of a good enough quality that they do not have to be decapitated for Hornet heads to be applied.

Nice review, but it would help if you told us what version of the uniform the figures wore. Weren't there multiple camouflage versions?