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First Look Review
135
'D-Day' 6th June 1944
U.S. 29th Infantry Division
  • 3520big

by: Jim Rae [ JIMBRAE ]

Introduction
This is NOT a 'conventional' review, rather it is a quck overview of a product which is going to hit the shelves in the next few weeks. With the interest which is being generated at the moment in U.S. subjects - due in no small part to the extraordirily good Allied vehicles which are coming out, there still remains a shortage of good (plastic) U.S. figures. Masterbox has announced three new sets which are covering the Mid-Late war period and will serve as a good basis to 'populate' dioramas and vignettes.


The Figure Set
3520 - 'D-Day' 6th June 1944 is a four-figure, injection-moulded plastic figure set covering Infantry of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division who landed at Omaha beach in the first hours of the Normandy Landings. The figures comes on a single sprue and are moulded in (this advance copy) in a light-grey plastic. The set consists of only 54 parts with each (basic) figure consisting of seven parts plus their respective equipment.

POSES: The figures are sculpted (in what we have now come to expect from Masterbox) in very active poses - in this set running.

Equipment: All the usual equipment is provided - rifle pouches, entrenching tools and the small U.S. backpack. One of the figures is provided with a 'Bangalore' torpedo in it's waterproof cover (commonly seen on images from Omaha)

WEAPONRY: The figures come with the usual weapons - M1 Garands and a Thomson SMG. In addition, a nicely rendered model of an M-1 Flamethrower, whether or not it was actually used at Normandy remains open to question, but it is VERY well done...

UNIFORMS The figures are dressed in the commonly-seen U.S. infantry M-1941 Field jacket (Parson's Jacket) with two of the figures being sculpted wearing the 'Battle-jerkin' over the Field jacket. This will allow the figures to be used in a variety of settings from Tunisia onwards although the battle-jerkin will make life a touch more problematic.


Conclusions
Once again, Masterbox has produced a set which is both useful and versatile. Although, with the nature of this Preview, I haven't done a real 'in-depth' evaluation of the set, it does appear to be very good indeed. This set should be useful - either built out of the box or used in conjunction with others to give more variation.

My thanks to Alexander of Masterbox Ltd. for the opportunity to give the users of Kitmaker Network an advance look at these and several other NEW sets..

SUMMARY
Another (advance) Preview of a future release from the Ukrainian manufacturer, Mastebox Ltd. Very welcome as U.S. figure sets are NOT exactly thick on the ground or in the manufacturer's catalogues...
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 3520
  PUBLISHED: Apr 21, 2007
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 88.06%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 84.05%

Our Thanks to Master Box Ltd.!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Jim Rae (jimbrae)
FROM: PROVINCIA DE LUGO, SPAIN / ESPAñA

Self-employed English teacher living in NW Spain. Been modelling off and on since the sixties. Came back into the hobby around ten years ago. First love is Soviet Armor with German subjects running a close second. Currently exploring ways of getting cloned to allow time for modelling, working and wr...

Copyright ©2021 text by Jim Rae [ JIMBRAE ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Gday Jim They look nice mate. Would you know if there is a raised area for the patch on the figs? Because the artwork appears to be the big red '1' , whereas the 29th had a circular design? Cheers Brad
APR 21, 2007 - 07:25 AM
That certainly does look like a 1st Infantry Division badge. The kit looks great, no matter what division they are from. Do you happen to know how they compare in size to the DML 29th Inf. kit? It would be great to combine the kits to have more troops available.
APR 21, 2007 - 09:42 AM
@ Rodger & Bradley - just checked the figures and they DON'T have any moulded patches on their arms, so... As to size, I compared them to the Gen II USMC figures and no problems of incombatibility whatsoever...
APR 21, 2007 - 03:13 PM
Good news then! They would look the part with both kits mixed together, and even the other MB set which has one dragging a wounded comrade would add some visual action.
APR 21, 2007 - 04:09 PM
   
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