Introduction:

The US military adopted the five gallon steel jerry can early in World War II. It has been used for gas, water and other liquids as a key component of military logistics, becoming a widely recognized basic item of military equipment.

First appearing in late 1970s, plastic jerry cans offered a vast improvement over its metal predecessor: plastic cans were lighter, stronger and cheaper. Plastic jerry cans quickly became the new standard and have replaced the steel cans for most purposes in the US military. Unlike metal cans, where water and gas cans were almost identical, the plastic water containers were made exclusively with a single bar handle while the containers for other (poisonous) liquids had the traditional three bar design. Also, colors were used for the plastic material of the containers that would help avoid mixing the two uses: water cans are black or sand and fuel cans are olive drab or tan.

Review:

Although there are many aftermarket sets offering modern plastic water canisters in 1/35 scale, Live Resin decided to release their own version of the ubiquitous can. The US Army Scepter Military Water Canister (LRE 35156) set is packed in a zip-lock bag safely secured between a firm cardboard backing. The CAD box art on the front shows contents of the set, while the one on the back displays the water can in detail.

The kit consists of 3 resin casting blocks with 12 parts for building 6 water canisters. The parts are perfectly molded in grey resin with the cans featuring sharp details wonderfully delivered in scale. The large resin carrier plug is attached to the rear of the canister and, although a bit difficult to remove, the peculiar location of the plug enabled Live Resin to define the specific shape of bottom of the can… an overlooked detail on most water can offerings in 1/35 scale.

This set represents Scepter’s 20L Military Water Can, a heavy-duty plastic can designed to preserve the quality of drinking water during storage and transportation. The can is tall, flat-sided and rectangular with capacity of 20 liters (5.28 gallons) and dimensions slightly larger than Scepter’s Military Fuel Can: 18.8’’x13.7’’x6.8’’. The can features a single carrying handle, a self-locking cap with strap and a built-in vented pouring spout, with the content and the capacity of the container labeled on the side. This set of water canisters is another example of Live Resin’s fantastic dedication to detail, utilizing 3D rapid prototyping to define all the previously mentioned fine points of the can accurately and realistically in scale. An added bonus are separately cast caps, which can be positioned on the can to your own liking thus ensuring each canister is slightly different.

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Conclusion:

US Army Scepter Military Water Canister Set (LRE 35156) includes 6 water cans perfectly cast in resin. These are dimensionally correct and feature all the tiniest details found on real Scepter Military Water Cans. The best feature of these cans is definitely the fact the caps are cast separately. This enables positioning the cap differently on each can, thus offering a slight variation to the cans in the set.

It is a simple set, but together with Live Resin’s US Army Scepter Military Fuel Canister (LRE 35155) it presents a very important addition to any US or NATO modern military vehicle in 1/35 scale.

References:

http://www.sceptermilitary.com/