Introduction

This is my first purchase of any of the Sovereign products, and therefore naturally enough my first look.

Sovereign also produce the British 2pdr Anti Tank Gun in resin and a small base on which to mount it.

The recent release of the Vulcan 2pdr Anti Tank gun prompted the purchase of the figures, well that and the look of the poses as I have a feeling these are very generic and useable figures.

The Set

The set comes packed in 3 zip bags attached to a small backing card. On the front is a sticky label showing details of the manufacturer and product.

The set consists of 3 British WW II figures dressed for the North African theatre of operations. Cast in a light cream resin and free from any visible damage the figures appear to be well posed and of good decent quality. So let’s have a look at what you get.


Figure one - Seated Gunner
Designed to go with their 2pdr anti tank gun the figures is depicted in a seated position He is cast in a relaxed pose, right arm across the waist and the left arm raising off the knee in the act of lifting a cigarette. The figure is made up of 4 parts. The body cast as a whole, with separate arms and head. Dressed in KD Shirt, with rolled up sleeves, shorts and service cap. On the legs are hose, anklets and a pair of ammo boots. The boots will need the pour stubs removed. Around the waist is a 37 pattern web belt. The brasses are evident on the front of the belt but no buckles are shown on the rear.

The shirt and uniform have good detail and nice creases and folds and the uniform should paint up well.

The legs will need a bit of clean up of flash and there are some small seems that will need cleaning up too, but nothing dramatic.

The head and arms are well cast and both have good detail. The head is adorned with a Field Service Cap and the face appears to have fairly good detail. There is a bit of a seam running down the left side of his face.


Figure two – Standing Gunner
This time a standing figure with the right leg raised presumable to rest on an ammo box. Consisting of 4 basic parts, the body, arms and head. This figure is also dressed in KD Shirt and Shorts with hose, anklets and ammo boots. Around the waist is a 37 pattern belt again with no rear buckles.

This figure is also very relaxed looking, although the right arm is designed to be raised shielding against the sun as the figure scans for the enemy. The left arm hangs loose by his side.

The head this time sports a Mk II helmet. You will need to be careful cleaning up this part as the rim is quite thin and there is some flash to remove from the rear of the helmet/neck as well as the pour stub, despite my best effort I damaged the helmet removing the flash. The head is designed to be looking forward/up. The helmet is tilted to the right and sits back on the head which is a nice touch. Facial features are fairly good.


Figure three – Standing Officer/NCO
The third figure is another standing figure. Possibly an NCO or Officer he is dressed in KD Shirt and Trousers and wears a pistol holster and small ammo pouch on the 37 Webb Belt. He is also designed to be ‘looking’ possibly for aircraft (?) as the head is tilted up slightly.

Consisting of 3 parts this time with a full body and the right arm moulded to the torso, head and left arm. The uniform seems to be well done, the pistol holster, ammo pouch and 37 pattern belt all well depicted. The pose look natural but he has a very thin right arm which is shown with the hand in his pocket.

The face is also of a youngish soldier, sporting a Mk II helmet and the facial detail is good. Again take care when removing the pour stub.

Additional equipment is in the form of a pair of binoculars hung around the neck and moulded to the upper torso. The left arm is designed to be raised and leaning on the gun shield.

General Observations

The two standing figures measure about 43mm foot to shoulder and 52mm with the heads on, so fairly acceptable in height. They all have quite natural poses, the body proportions are more in keeping with (remove “the”) Tamiya and early Resicast figures the limbs being quite thin. That said they look fairly well balanced.

The third figure is I believe available as a stand alone figure S2KF002 ‘British Officer N Africa’ but with a Beret and different left arm.

There are some annoying seams running down the shorts, trousers and legs. On the uniforms you will have to determine what is meant to be an actual seam and what is not. These really only start to stand out when you apply some paint to the figures and require some clean up and thought.

I have included some WIP shots of the set, as cream resin never shows up well in pictures.

Conclusion

These 3 make an unusual gun crew in so much as they are all in very relaxed looking poses but obviously on the look out for something. They have good uniform detail, natural enough looking poses, and with the exception of a slightly thin arm on the NCO the proportions look well balanced.

I think these will be very useable in several alternative settings, as drivers or soldiers taking a break, so the options are there for modellers to choose how to use them best.

There is some flash to remove and some seam lines too but overall they have very good detail and should paint up very well. (see General Observations above).