Introduction

ICM has continued to release World War 1 figures and in this review we take a look at a four figure set covering the ANZACs. The ANZAC name means Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the unit came into being early in World War 1 (1915). They had their first exposure to World War 1 at Gallipoli; Gallipoli was a landing against the Turks and could have been a great success if commanders had pushed the troops forward rather than holding everything up and causing the unnecessary deaths of many troops, 1 41,000 plus Allied troops were wounded or killed during the Gallipoli landings, Australian dead and wounded were28,150 and New Zealand was 4,779. It should be pointed out that this appalling loss of life cannot be blamed on those who did the fighting, they gave a very good account of themselves and there were very heavy losses on the Ottoman Empire side as well, their losses totalled 251,000 plus dead and wounded.

Contents

This offering from ICM consists of two tan sprues packed in a re-sealable plastic bag. This is also packed in a rigid cardboard box with a flip top lid that has a separate card lid with the box artwork printed on it. Also included is a single glossy sheet of paper that covers both construction and painting of the figures.

Review

The figures in this offering have been well laid out by ICM, this makes it easy to assemble each figure and saves a lot of searching for the part you require. The parts are well moulded and other than the gates for the hats being attached to the brims which will require care, removal of all other parts should be easy.

The uniform looks to match my limited reference for World War 1 ANZAC uniform for the period, with details such as the puttees being very nicely done. In truth the uniform is almost the same as the British uniform with the exception of the headwear as far as I can see. While on the subject of headwear you are provided with two options for three of the four figures, you get four of the felt slouch hats and three Indian style pith helmets; the felt slouch hats are supplied in two parts and this has allowed some nice moulded detail to be present. The crease detail on the uniform has a nice natural look to them which adds interest to the uniform.

The facial detail moulded on these figures is very good and I would say is on the high quality side of injection moulded plastic heads. The hand and more importantly finger detail is also for the most part of a very good quality, especially where the fingers are splayed or pointing, it is only wher the hands are in a fist configuration where the detail suffers slightly.

The weapons supplied with this set is one of the sprues from the ICM WW1 British Infantry Weapons and Equipment. This weapons set offers a huge selection of items to not only equip the figures, but also to set a scene. Rather than repeating a review that has already been written I have supplied a link to a review of this product by Alan McNeilly at the end of this review.

Conclusion

This is another great set of W0rld War 1 figures from ICM and I am happy to see more and more of the combatants being recognised in this medium. World War 1 was always the poor cousin of the modelling world, but with the 100th commemoration of the start of WW1 last year models and figures from this period have gained a whole new following. This offering from ICM fills another gap in history and I am sure the Turks cannot be far behind.

WW1 British Infantry Weapons and Equipment