Introduction

This is my 3rd review on the recently released Resicast British Tank Riders, this time on the Tank Rider with Rifle No 2.

The first two reviews can be seen here on Armorama:

Tank Rider with Rifle No 1

British Tank Rider with Bren

The figures were sculpted by Pete Morton and those featured on the card inserts were painted by Christopher Nachtergael.

So lets have a look at what you get.

The Figure

The figure comes packaged in the standard Resicast zip bag with a card insert depicting the finished figure to aid painting. The figure itself is contained within a further zip bag for extra protection. Also included with the figure is a small paper insert containing a picture of the 4 new figures positioned on the front of a Sherman tank, again to show possible positioning when finished. Beside the picture of the 4 Tank riders is a small piece of text quoted below :

“These universal tank riders can be fitted to any vehicle (Churchill, Comet, Sherman,...) However to obtain a correct fit we suggest that the underside be adapted to the appropriate vehicle.”

This figure comes posed as sitting on the top right hand side of a Sherman turret. The figure is bent slightly forward at the waist, left leg raised to rest on the turret top, the right leg extended to rest on the hull top. The figure is shown holding a No 4 rifle pointing down toward the left, resting across his upper thighs.

Cast in the familiar light grey resin used by Resicast, the figure appears free from any damage (besides the pick head in my sample) or air bubbles. The quality of the casting looks excellent. The figure consists of 9 parts. The body cast as a whole, separate arms, head, No 4 rifle, short stabbing bayonet, water bottle, small digging tool, and a backpack with pick head and a separate shaft.

Dressed in what appears to be a good representation of Battledress Serge 37/40, the uniform has the right number of pockets in the appropriate places, although the rear of the trousers show a hip pocket on the left and right, not a style I have seen before. The uniform has nice folds and creases and the pose looks very natural. On top of the uniform the figure wears a skeleton set of 37 Pattern Webbing, consisting of belt, left and right ammo pouches and braces. The webbing is very well done with nice front braces and buckles where they should be. The figure is designed to sport a back pack and the straps for that are present over the shoulders and at the sides. So a very small amount of work would allow you to model this figure without the additional kit. Slung over the left shoulder and hanging across the right ammo pouch is a 50 round bandolier of ammunition containing the correct 5 pouches of ammunition. The tunic collar is open at the top. Around the neck of the figure is a camouflage scarf.

The arms come as two separate items and are designed to hold a good representation of the No 4 rifle. The No 4 rifle is nicely done with good detail and comes as a separate item. The detail on the hands is also very good. There are raised details of the shoulders of the arms for the Unit and Divisional patches, so no need for transfers unless you want to add them.

The head, also a separate item comes with a sharply cast interesting looking face, with excellent detail. This tank rider sports a small moustache, and on his head is a MK II netted helmet with the strap fixed at the back. The face is that of a young man with a slight smile on his face.

To complete the figure you get a short stabbing bayonet, water bottle in a carrier, backpack with a pick head held between the closing straps and a shaft for the pick, plus a small digging tool for the rear of the webbing. All these items are nicely done, although the buckles on the digging tool holder are a bit weak, but present nonetheless. So either full battle order or skeleton order is doable, and the alternative pack is a neat addition. Unfortunately the spike of my pick head was damaged but this is a fairly easy fix.

Clean up should be minimal with only 3 small pours on the main figure to remove and the casting blocks on the remaining parts, a sharp X-acto blade and file is all that will be needed, to quickly clean up the figure and get to building and painting.

Normal precautions apply when working with resin and sharp objects!

Conclusion

Another cracking figure to add to your vehicles or dioramas. He could sit equally well as a stand alone figure on a small base or added to a variety of vehicles, tanks and boats.
As the weapon is not moulded to any of the hands you could provide him with an alternative very easily.

The overall level of detail is excellent. This one should bring joy and pleasure to figure painters and diorama builders alike, an excellent addition to the Resicast range.

With the possibility of 8 more Tank riders to come, there appear to be some interesting and exciting possibilities around the corner.