Introduction

This is a look at the second of 4 figures produced for the Western Desert, specifically LRDG soldiers, to compliment the Tamiya 1/35 Chevrolet or associated LRDG vehicles and dioramas.

The LRDG have always been a favourite of Allied modellers and these new additions to that genre are most welcome.

The figure was sculpted by Gerard De Troeye.

The figure

Packed in the standard Resicast format for their figures, the figure depicts a standing Trooper of the Long Range Desert Group. The parts are packed in a small zip plastic bag, and then a second larger zip plastic bag that contains a photo of the completed figure plus a coloured information sheet outlining the clothing being worn and three colour pictures of the completed figures.

The figure is cast in a light grey resin and consists of 5 parts. The body is cast as a whole with separate arms and head and hat. The figure is dressed in a mixture of desert clothing: Battle Dress Blouse No 37 pattern, KD shorts (first pattern), ORs shirt without collar and a pair of ‘chapplies’, (Indian Army sandals of the 1930 era). To complete the figure he holds a felt hat shielding his eyes from the sun.

The arms, which are separate items, have nice detail. The right arms is designed to feed into the RHS KD shorts pocket and the left is designed to be raised to link into the hand holding the felt hat.

The head shows the face shows that of a mature man with a beard, moustache and a full head of hair. The facial detail is excellent and should paint up really well.

The uniform has nice folds/creases, the KD shorts are of the early style with the first pattern field dressing pocket at the rear. All the clothing has the right pockets in the right place and overall the detail looks excellent. The sandals and hat make a nice finishing touch.

The figure has good body proportions with a heel to shoulder height of approx 44mm.

Conclusion

This is an excellent figure, well sculpted and cast. The mixed order of dress is one I’m very glad to see and this chap will look the part of an LRDG Trooper operating in the desert.

The LRDG was made up of men from over 50 different units from different British and Commonwealth countries, so the possible mixture of clothing and equipment is extensive.

Clothing would be worn to suit the time/season of the year and this chap certainly fits the bill.