Model Armour

British Armoured Crew Set

Manufacturer:  Alpine Miniatures

Scale: 1/35

Material: Resin

Serial Number:  35080

Price: £22 Approx.

Introduction

Alpine Miniatures from New Jersey in the US is now ranked as the no.1 producer of resin 1/35^th scale figures by many modellers.  Known for producing extremely high quality resin figures, always supplied with a choice of heads, this set of two British Armoured crew also come with a puppy!

The Figures

As usual the set is supplied in the characteristic Alpine Miniatures stiff poly box, with a photographic insert offering painting advice.  Each of the two figures included is available separately or as here...a two figure set.  Note that is bought separately, the puppy is included only with one of the figures!

One of the figures (the seated one) is supplied as a main body casting with the arms already moulded in place, whilst the other is supplied with separate arms.  Each figure is of course supplied with a choice between two heads wearing different headgear.

As can be seen from the photographs of the painted figures, one figure is posed standing with his right arm raised shielding his eyes, whilst the other is posed seated (wall not included) with his hands on his knees, and there is also a small puppy looking up at the seated figure.

The main body castings are supplied already removed from their pouring blocks, although there is some fine residue on the soles of the feet and bottom of one figure that will need to be cleaned up, which is simply done with a scalpel blade.  The separate arms, heads and puppy are supplied still attached to their pouring blocks, but again, it's a simple procedure to remove them.  The resin used by Alpine strikes a fine balance between hardness, in order to retain the maximum amount of fine detail, and softness to improve the pleasure of working with it.  In my opinion, they've got it absolutely spot on.  The detail is superbly sharp, and yet it's so simple to clean up. Not that there's much to clean up once the pouring blocks have been removed anyway!

On the standing figure, there was a very fine seam on the inside of it's legs that needed to be cleaned up, but it was fine and simple enough to scrape off with a scalpel blade.  There was no other seams whatsoever.  The seated figure even has a fine tread pattern moulded into the sole of its left boot, since it's raised and possible to see on the finished figure.  Nice touch.

The fit of the arms to the standing figure was immaculate, and once placed no seam that would require filling could be seen.

Conclusion

I know some people would like to see figures from Alpine that are more 'action' posed, but in my opinion...and obviously that of the manufacturer....this kind of pose is perfect for AFV modellers that want figures to pose with their vehicles.  These kind of 'relaxed' poses can be used in so many scenes.  The figures are everything we've come to expect from this manufacturer....very nearly flawless. Sadly, with the decrease in value of the UK pound they're slightly more expensive than we're used to...but still great value for money considering the quality!  Highly recommended!

My thanks to Taesung Harmms and Alpine Miniatures for the review sample.

For full details of these and other Alpine Miniatures figures, please see the Alpine Miniatures website.