introduction

In battlefield, no matter how sophisticated and well-armored a tank may be, it only performs as well as the crew controlling it. Likewise, in my opinion, a high-quality and nice built tank model looks better on a model scene as it has well sculpted figures on it. It seems BRAVO-6 satisfied this need with his latest release.
B6-35063 U.S.Marines Tank Crew is a three-figure kit that can be used for Vietnam era tanks, exactly for M48A3 Patton but also for M551 Sheridan maybe M113 and M706 with T-50 turret.

If you prefer at rest scenes to action poses,upcoming kit B6-35067 Too Darn Hot will answer your need soon.

packing &casting

Figures come in standard light brown cardboard box.Front part shows a photo of painted figures and backside is labeled with a humorous poster as in all assembly guides by Vladimir ; Lennon and Yoko showing photoetched microphone assembly.
Figure bodies, small parts like heads and arms and PE parts are inserted into seperate zip-lock bags.
Parts are cast in gray resin in crisp details and represented with easy to remove casting blocks. There is no casting mistakes, air bubbles or flesh resin but slightly visible seamlines need a short cleanwork.

figures

Kit includes 3 figures. Figure A - Commander sitting on the open hatch firing .50 caliber machine gun and Figure B - Loader posed to point a target are supplied as full figures. Both wear tropical combat uniform and leather/canvas combined boots. Over the uniform, they have M1955 First pattern Flakvest differing from other types with no lower pockets. Cloth folds of uniform and flakvest details like flap front closure,three-quarter collar, internal ballistic plates and rope-ridge on the right shoulder to prevent the sling of a rifle from slipping off are nicely sculpted. Commander carries a M1911A1 Colt in a M3 Shoulder holster on left armpit and Loader has his Colt in M1916 holster on the right hip given as a seperate part .

Heads are supplied seperately and show nice facial details. Both wear CVC Helmet - Combat Vehicle Crewmen helmet which was a lightly padded crash helmet for wear inside all US armored fighting vehicles during the Vietnam era providing head protection for the bumps and jars. It was composed of plastic-resin coated ballistic nylon and gave almost equivalent protection as the M1 helmet. The details on the helmet like Exterior draw string which allows the wearer to snug up the earphone cup allowing a better fit and Send/Receive switch box are well defined. Four boom-type microphones -2 for 2 different types - are given as PE parts.

Arms are represented with upfolded sleeves. Right arm of loader is posed to put on the hull as the left arm pointing forward. Commander’s arms are posed to hold the grips of machine gun.

As a very nice gesture, Vladimir added a M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun , ammo belt, retracting slide handle, short turret pedestal and M23 Equilibrator Cradle to the kit. Really appreciated.

Driver is given as an half figure sculpted on waist level including utility belt. It comes in 3 parts as body and two arms. He wears standard uniform jacket and a Tropical combat neckerchief, folded in a triangular shape, used to keep dust out of the nose and mouth or wipe sweat. Facial details and CVC helmet are well defined. Over his helmet, he has M44 Goggles. Arms with upfolded sleeves are posed to hold the steering sticks and wrist watch on the left arm is a nice touch.

conclusion

If you’re modeling a Vietnam era US tank with open hatches, no doubt this set is what you need. Nice sculpt and cast, realistic CVC helmets with PE mics. So good to have a .50 caliber machine gun in a figure kit.

Very Highly Recommended