introduction

A new resin figure company has appeared from France, and if I am reading things right one of the sculptors is Chistophe Camilotte from Nemrod. They are producing figures in a range of scales, including both 1/35 and 1/24! Being from France, it’s only appropriate that their first figure in 1/35 is of a US Infantry Private in Normandy during the liberation of France.

the figure

The figure from Manta Figurines arrives in a clamshell blister back, and within this are the resin parts packed inside a small plastic zip bag. This particular figure has thirteen parts, some of which appear “generic” in nature and are of typical infantry gear for the period. Included in the set are a M1910 E-tool, frag grenade, bayonet scabbard with bayonet, M1942 first aid pouch, and a canteen. Note that this figure has a M1 with bayonet fixed, so if you use the scabbard, remove the sheathed bayonet.

The figure body itself is wearing what appears to be the M-1941 field jacket, early combat boot with leggings, bandoleers with ammo for the M1, and the gas mask bag all molded as part of the body. The gas mask bag was issued shortly after D-Day, so this would place the figure later in the Normandy campaign, and maybe not in June. As a side note, once the threat of gas attack wore off, many soldiers discarded the mask and kept the bag to carry personal belongings. A separate part makes up another field jacket tucked into the figures belt, though I’m not sure what jacket this could represent as there is no distinguishing marks. It could be the later M-1943 jacket.

Two helmet choices are provided, one with netting and one without.
The head, minus the helmet, and arms are all separate. The M1 rifle is molded with the hands, so no gaping holes or frustrating time wasted trying to get the hands to grip the rifle. Overall the sculpting is excellent, with clean castings. On some parts there is a very small seam running down one side of the part, so a little minor clean-up is needed.

Assembly

There are no instructions, only the box art to work off of. Once parts were cut from the pour gates, they were cleaned up and assembled. I started with the tucked jacket, and then moved to adding the arms, being sure to coordinate their positions with the hands griping the rifle. The hollowed out sleeves on the arms helped alignment, as it didn’t have to be perfect, but only look natural and the hands could slip into the sleeves.

Overall everything fit perfectly, and the few gaps were from overzealous cutting on my end while removing the arms from the pour gates. Nothing a little filler won’t fix and the figure will be ready to paint. I would suggest obtaining some photo-etch slings and using one on the M1.

Overall Impressions

This is a great little figure, that scales out well in 1:35. The equipment mix is interesting, and being that the recognizable items are of “earlier” issue, one could use this figure for an Italian, MTO, PTO, or maybe even North Africa campaign. The figure is sculpted such that one could also leave off the tucked jacket if you desired, and then add more equipment than what I was able to fit on. I really enjoy the pose, with the look of advancing while keeping his head low. It adds a little drama to the piece and could be an excellent stand-alone figure.

Overall I would give this figure top ratings for overall detail, ease of assembly, and pose. This is some fantastic new work by Manta, and a great way to start off the new company! Our thanks to Manta Figurines for the review sample, and we hope to see many more that could compliment this figure soon!