Introduction

A bipod is a support device offering significant stability along two axes of motion (side-to-side, and up-and-down). On firearms, bipods are commonly used on rifles providing a possibility to rest the weapon on the ground, a low wall, or other object, reducing operator fatigue and permitting increased accuracy. Bipods can be of fixed or adjustable length.

A tactical light is a flashlight used in conjunction with a firearm to aid low light target identification, allowing the marksman to simultaneously aim and illuminate the target. Tactical lights can be mounted on the weapon with the light beam parallel to the bore, and fitted with lenses to produce certain colors for different purposes. Infrared filters allow operators to see the light beam through night vision devices.
(Excerpts from Wikipedia)

Live Resin is a resin company from Russia, specialized in producing high quality weapon and accessory sets. This review covers their 1/35 scale Harris bipod set, opened and folded, Surefire Tactical WeaponLights (LRE-35012).

Review

The Harris bipod / Surefire Tactical WeaponLights set is packed in a zip-lock bag and safely secured between a firm cardboard (9X10cm). The CAD box art on the front displays all the kit parts, while the one on the back lists correct designations of the pieces included in the kit and shows them in more detail.

The kit consists of 4 resin casting blocks with 4 pieces each... 16 parts in total. The parts are molded in grey resin and the cast is wonderful; upon closer inspection I found no air-bubbles or seam lines. Here is some information on bipods and tactical lights included in this kit:

Harris bipods mount directly to the sling swivel stud on the forearm of the weapon. The sling can be attached to the bipod after the bipod is mounted to the weapon. Harris bipods are available in various lengths for prone and sitting firing position, however all models feature spring-loaded folding legs that adjust quickly with manual friction grip locks. “S” models swivel about 40 degrees to allow the operator to level the rifle on uneven ground. All Harris bipods fold forward when not in use and the version depicted in this kit (HBR-S as far as I can tell) is equipped with Picatinny rail adapter allowing the attachment of bipod to any Picatinny rail system.

Surefire Tactical WeaponLights produce a tactical-level beam with good reach and excellent peripheral light, perfectly suited for interior and close-range applications. WeaponLight is powered by two batteries and attaches to Picatinny rail system. The tail-cap switch assembly features a momentary/constant-on pushbutton and a momentary-on tape switch that attaches to forward grip via self-stick Velcro backing. The Surefire Millennium WeaponLight is depicted in two versions in this kit, with or without filter.

I think Harris bipods were the ultimate test of new 3D printing technology Live Resin employs to produce their weapon sets and accessories in 1/35 scale. Very difficult to design and print due to all the small details and protrusions, the guys at Live Resin managed to do a great job although they have depicted both open and folded bipod variants without strong recoil springs. This is something I didn’t have a problem scratchbuilding in 1/16 scale, but the springs would be very difficult to convey realistically in 1/35 scale. I think of using very small diameter styrene profile and seeing if it works well. The Surefire WeaponLights are really nice with wonderful details and I wish more different tactical lights were included in the set. Be sure to use some copper wire to add cable and tape switch to give an extra level of realism to the lights.

Conclusion

This kit features the most common bipod in the US Army arsenal today, Harris Bipod, depicted both in open and folded variant, and Surefire Tactical WeaponLights. 16 resin parts (8 bipods 8 lights) are cast extremely well with great details. If you are a die-hard modeler, you might want to add the Harris bipod recoil springs… those were omitted on the bipods in this set as it was probably too difficult to print the tiny spring pieces realistically in 1/35 scale.

Thanks to Yaroslav from Live Resin for this review sample.

References

Harris bipods
SureFire