Introduction

When I was down at Duxford on the 21st of June, I stopped by the Accurate Armour stand and said hello to Derek and checked out a few of the excellent kits they produce. Apart from all the beautiful vehicles, I noticed two new figures in the Accurate Armour range, A WWII British Officer with Helmet (no.1) and a WW2 British Officer with Cap, Baton and Orders (no.2) which is Reviewed Here on Armorama. Resisting the temptation to buy one of the excellent Lloyd Carriers, I opted for the 2 figures instead, as considerable funds had already been expended.

There aren’t that many British Officer types around, so here is a brief look at kit F24, a welcome addition to the genre.

The Figure

Accurate Armour figures come packed in a sturdy plastic bag, stapled to a backing card. On the front of the card are the Company Name and a description of the figure. The reverse contains the company contact details.

The figure is cast in a light cream resin and I could see no damage or problems with the mould, the casting looked excellent. This is a simple figure in 4 parts, the body cast as a whole, with arms and head separate. There will be some pour stubs to remove from the feet, left arm and head. This being the case, all the tools you should need would be a good sharp razor saw, X-acto blade and a board to smooth the cut ends.

The figure depicts a standing British Officer wearing a Steel Helmet. The left and right arms are designed so that the figure is pointing to his watch with his right hand finger.

The Officer is dressed in 37/40 Battledress, complete with shirt and tie. This is a good representation of the uniform, although the detail on the right hand hip pocket was very faint. There are nice folds and creases in the uniform and this figure should paint up nicely. To complete the uniform, the figure is wearing officer’s ammo boots and anklets. The detail here is also very good.

Around the waist is a 37 pattern belt with a pistol holster on the right hand side and a small ammo pouch on the left. The detail on the brasses is excellent, and the rear buckles are shown on the belt. My only observation here is that the studs on the pistol holster and ammo pouch seem to be missing, but that is a small fix. From feet to Battledress neck he stands about 46mm tall.

The head depicts the face of an older, mature soldier. The detail is quite sharp and he wears a fine moustache, in keeping with his Mk II steel helmet. The arms, as mentioned, are designed to come across the front of the body; the right hand/finger pointing to the watch depicted on his left wrist. Detail on the wrist cuffs is a little faint.

Concerning the pose, this chap could be a Senior Officer or Quartermaster type. He would equally work well as an Artillery Officer. It may not seem a particularly exciting pose, but I like it. I saw the figure with a Humber Box in the background and standing outside the vehicle he looked the part. The figure could also be used successfully as a Home Guard type, or with a change of head a younger Officer. Remove the tie and he would also work well as a regimental Sergeant Major or Senior Warrant Officer.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an excellently cast and well detailed figure. The missing studs on the pistol holster and small ammo pouch are an easy fix, but the rear hip pocket might need a bit of work. The figure is fairly generic so he could crop up in almost any place from the Home Guard to NWE, and during any period of the war.

It would have been nice to have the option of a different head, but as a Senior Officer I believe he fits the part. Pointing/looking at his watch, he could blend into any number of scenes and fit with a number of vehicle types.

I am assuming he was also designed with the above mentioned WWII British Officer No 2 in mind, which I purchased at the same time.

Normal precautions apply when working with resin.