Introduction

The following is directly from the US Navy’s official web page:

“The Navy’s Sea, Air and Land Forces – commonly known as SEALs – are expertly trained to deliver highly specialized, intensely challenging warfare capabilities that are beyond the means of standard military forces.

Their missions include: direct action warfare; special reconnaissance; counter-terrorism; and foreign internal defence. When there’s nowhere else to turn, Navy SEALs achieve the impossible through critical thinking, sheer willpower and absolute dedication to their training, their missions and their fellow Special Operations team members.

Established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, the Navy SEALs are a nimble, elite maritime military force suited for all aspects of unconventional warfare. In this role, you will provide immediate military options amidst crises around the world.

Your duties as a SEAL may include, but are not limited to:

Conducting insertions and extractions by sea, air or land to accomplish covert, Special Warfare/Special Operations missions

Capturing high-value enemy personnel and terrorists around the world

Collecting information and intelligence through special reconnaissance missions

Carrying out small-unit, direct-action missions against military targets

Performing underwater reconnaissance and the demolition of natural or man-made obstacles prior to amphibious landings

Navy SEALs train and work in all manner of environments, including desert and urban areas, mountains and woodlands, and jungle and arctic conditions. Typical missions may involve insertion into a combat objective by any number of means: parachute, submarine, helicopter, high-speed boat, foot patrol or by a combat swimmer insertion.

SEALs operate not only as highly capable individuals, but also as members of tightly knit units.”

The Model

Since 1962 the US Navy SEALs has endured numerous changes in location, tactics, uniform, and weapons. We have seen weapons change over the years from CAR-15's and M1911’s in Vietnam to FN SCAR’s and GLOCK 19’s in Afghanistan. Uniforms ranged from blue jeans and camouflage top in Vietnam to digitized camouflage combat shirts and pants in Afghanistan.

Legend Productions has captured a modern-day US Navy SEAL warrior in resin with the new 3D printing technology. Every strap on the body armor is captured in detail. The soles on the “combat tennies” are very detailed. You can see the seam lines between the two different materials in the combat shirt and the knee area on the pants. Legend Productions has even given you the tip of the comm’s headset mike boom and the “push to talk” switch, all in 1/35th scale.

The model itself consist of 34 parts in total. Here is the part numbers listed with item description:

1 Antenna for comm’s (THALES AN/PRC-148 MBITR/JEM)

2 THALES AN/PRC-148 MBITR/JEM)

3 Bottom part of blade antenna Part #1

4 2x Utility MOLLE Pouch

5 3x ammo pouches w/magazines with MAG Pulls

6 MOLLE utility pouch

7 Medical MOLLE pouch

8 4x Side-arm pistol “hard” magazine pouches

9 SERPA holster with side-arm

10 GERBER Down Range Tomahawk

11 LBT Assault Pack

12 Dump pouch

13 Modular MOLLE pouch

14 Canister grenade (M18 Smoke Grenades, M8 Smoke, M14 Incendiary)

15 2x Grenade MOLLE pouches

16 Ops-Core Helmet

17 Right arm w/canister grenade

18 Right arm

19 Head (to include PELTOR comm’s headset)

20 Left arm

21 Main upper torso w/operator tactical body armor carrier assault chest rig

22 Lower torso with left leg

23 Right leg

24 Right boot

25 Left boot

26 PELTOR comm’s mike boom tip

27 Battery pack for GPNVG-18 goggles

28 Mount for GPNVG-18 goggles

29 2x GPNVG-18 tubes

30 AN/PEQ-15 aiming device

31 Scope

32 Bipod

33 FN MK 20 SSR

34 PTT (Push To Talk) device for comm’s

Everything is molded in gray resin and most are easily removed from their pour blocks with a sharp X-Acto knife. The body, to include the boots, head, and arms have square locating plugs that allow a nice tight fit. No putty is required between the joints.

Two part #32 are provided, and open and a closed bipod. Be careful when removing from the pour block, it is fragile along with the whip antenna, part #1. Also, be careful when removing part #34 and #26 from the pour blocks because they are so small and can easily be lost.

The Build

I started by painting the head without the helmet separate from the body. The head was painted with oil paints and various Vallejo colors. The body was then assembled minus the left hand holding the rifle and the head. All the pouches and gear were left off for ease of painting the uniform. The uniform was a combination of Vallejo paints and Cross Delta #35024 Operational Camouflage decal sheet. I also used the decal sheet for all the pouches and backpack. The rest of the gear and rifle was painted with Vallejo paints. While on the pour block and after the decals have set for a day or two, I painted all the straps and then removed from pour blocks and attached to body. During final assembly, I added thin lead wire for the comm’s and GPNVG-18 and thin lead foil for patches on the arms and helmet.