Corpus
35005

This is a unique little gem of a figure, a GI standing with his arms behind his back. This man is ready for a cold weather setting, as he is wearing four-buckle black rubber galoshes, his pants legs realistically bunched up over them. The collar of his jacket is pulled up around his neck. His hip pockets are softly bulging, almost to the point of looking like a pair of canteens. But you can image they're packed with rags, handkerchiefs, or balled-up gloves.

Because the jacket of the figure in the box photo is painted OD, one might be led to believe this is the M1943 jacket, which was worn in the ETO in the autumn of 1944. But it is really the light khaki colored M1941 field jacket, as it has visible buttons up the chest, no breast pockets, and adjustment tabs on the cuffs. So, unless you want to do a little carving and putty work, you should paint this jacket a khaki or light mustard color to be closer to the real thing.

The set is three light grey resin pieces - the body, the two arms connected at the hands, and head. The head is turned a bit to the left, which is more interesting than a straight-on stare. The sculpting, by Bódi Krisztián, is very nice, similar in quality to the better MK35 figures. The molding is very precise and there is some very thin flash between the legs and the two arms, which is understandable given the feet and shoulders are cast to the pour block and you'd need to have the molds halved there in order to remove the pieces. There's a slight seam along the back of the left leg to clean up.

It takes a bit of care to clip the pour block from the shoulders. I used a sharp X-acto to first sever the connection of the shoulder edge to the block, and then tried to cleanly cut down the sides of the arms where they attach to the torso. But I miscalculated a bit and lost the tip of one shoulder. The fit of the arms to the body is not flawless; there is a slight gap that needs a bit of filler.

He scales out at about 5'10" with helmet on, the latter item being similar to sizes from Tamiya and Ultracast.

The box photo shows some mud on the figure's clothes and boots, even on his helmet - a nice cue for the modeler who wants to set him beside a Dragon Wagon. Actually, since he's unadorned of any web gear and equipment, he could be a POW, a tanker or supply driver at rest, or a member of an artillery crew.

With a debut like this, here's one U.S. figure fan that hopes for many more from Corpus.

-tss-