introduction

Hobby Fan is a sister company to AFV club, producing resin accessories and figures in 1:35 scale of all era’s.The contents are packaged in a sturdy heavy duty, top opening cardboard box. The figures and sandbags are packed in individual bags and further protected with bubble wrap. The resin is a light yellow, cream colored resin that is somewhat soft, but the details of the figures are excellent.

contents in detail

The figure on his knees off the tank is armed with a M1 Thompson SMG. My sample was a little warped, but nothing that can’t be fixed with some warm water. The trigger assembly of the Thompson is molded into his right hand, providing a nice fit between hand and weapon. The casting on the main body of the figure is very delicate, with very thin castings providing a very high level of detail to be achieved on this figure. He is wearing a windbreaker type tankers jacket. The laces on his boots and the buttons on his shirt are cast extremely sharp and will stand out excellent in paint. The arms of the figure fit well onto his body, with the casting pins molded in the right place to provide a nice smooth fit. The head of the figure is cast separately from his helmet, providing a good definition of detail. The only problem I can find with this figure is the lack of detail on the bottom of his right boot, which will be very noticeable when placed on any groundwork.

The figure that is on the tank, firing the .30 cal machine gun is cast wearing a tankers jacket again, but zipped up this time. He is cast with a pistol holster on his right side and the detail on his jacket is very minute, with the zipper even being present on the seam. Again his arms are cast separately and have the locating pins cast into them to provide a smooth joint. His head is cast separately wearing a tankers helmet. The detail on this is again very nice and will come out great with paint. The only problem that I can find with this figure, like the previous one is the lack of detail on the bottom of his boots, which will be very noticeable when on the tank.

The final part of this kit is a 1 piece cast section of sandbags and logs for the front of an M5A1 tank. The detail on this is nice with the sandbags each having individual detail and the logs having very nice wood grain pattern.

Conclusion

Overall this kit is very nice. I think that many people will find other uses for these figures other than limiting them to an M5A1. With this in mind, I think that the sandbag section, while nice, would be better off in an accessory set, rather than the figure set. I highly recommend this set to anyone who is looking for a crew for the recent AFV Club M5A1 kit.