Introduction

During World War Two large numbers of photographers and cinematographers went into the battlefield and filmed the conflict as the battles raged around them. Large numbers of these reporters were also killed in action and so they should not be thought of any differently to the combat troops that they filmed. The War correspondent went everywhere the troops went and it is in no small part thanks to these people that we know what we do now of that period in history. The release of this product by Bronco Models should be warmly welcomed as an original figure set.

Contents

This new product from Bronco Models is supplied in an end opening box and has an artist's impression of the contents on the front. The rear of the box uses the same artists impressions as a guide to assembly and while I would have preferred to see these figures painted by one of the excellent figure painters around today, it is preferable to some of the assembly and painting guides I have seen. The rear of the box also provides a sprue layout and painting guide using;

• Gunze Sangyo
• Hobby Color
• Humbrol
• Tamiya
• Actual paint colours
  

The contents of the box are;

• 12 grey sprues
• 1 small decal sheet

Review

The six figures in this product all breakdown in a similar way which is;

• 2 arms
• 2 separate legs
• Torso
• Head
• Some have side arms
• Some have separate headgear

The figures are very cleanly moulded almost to the point of no seam lines in the plastic, they really are extremely fine to none existent. The crease detail depicted in the uniform is very good and while not up to the quality of resin casting I feel it is not too far away. Uniform accuracy and detail appears to be good to me with nothing wrong jumping out at me. The hand and facial detail is as good as any injection moulded plastic offerings I have seen to date; as such I see no reason for resin replacements to be considered.

There are a few moulding nipples that will need to be removed, but if this is how Bronco Models has managed such clean parts it is a small price to pay. I looked very hard for anything bad about these figures and the only thing I could find was some overly thick helmet straps, I believe these would look better removed and replaced with photo etched straps or a home-made offering. The decals provided with the kit consists of rank badges and unit patches, these additions are something that marks out Bronco Models figures and is something I wish other companies would follow.

The cameras are where I fall down as I found it very hard to identify specific cameras. The cameras in the set all match up to various offerings from the period and so I have not provided specific brands, if someone does know exactly which camera is which please shout up. The set supplies duplicates of each camera and for that matter typewriter. The cinema camera with tripod has nice detail to it even though I cannot identify it specifically; the mouldings are also very clean. Used in conjunction with one of the figures will make for a very good centre piece for a vignette, or as a part of a story in a larger diorama.

The hand held cameras are of two different types; one looks to be the equivalent of today’s point and shoot cameras, while the other is I believe the professional zoom camera of the day. I do know that German cameras of World War Two were sought after items and so may have been used if available.

At least one of these figures is based on a real wartime reporter and that is Alan Wood, the official British correspondent with 1st AB at Arnhem, and so chances are so are some or all of the other figures in the set may be based on actual war time reporters.

Conclusion

This is a really great figure set depicting an interesting aspect of war which is forgotten or ignored. I have no idea what Bronco Models have done to their moulds to do away with mould seams on the figures, however all I can say is please keep it up. I have no choice but to very highly recommend this product to anyone, as if you don’t have a use for it today you may do tomorrow and will kick yourself if you cannot get a copy.