Royal Model
165

This is the only figure currently available, that I'm aware of, who is actually pouring gas or diesel into his tank. Yanks Miniatures had a pair of refueling tankers, one of whom was tipping the old jerry can over the filler hole, but this set is out of production. You can mate this Royal figure with some of the crew from DML and Jaguar who are hauling cans for a nice fuel depot scene. He wears the common tanker combat jacket and canvas leggings that could be found from North Africa to Italy to Northern Europe.

Sculptor Andrea Bellarte has done an excellent job creating this GI, which comes in seven pieces. There are no seams, flash, or bubbles present on the pieces, but there is a very sizable pour plug on the raised right knee that will take some careful sawing to remove without clipping off the fellow's kneecap. I haven't built my figure yet, but it's clear that positioning the arms will be crucial in getting a proper hold on the jerry can. The face and headgear are quite convincing and should paint up nicely. Speaking of paint, if you don't want to try to paint the insignia on the raised patches molded onto the sleeve, check out the products from Archer Fine Transfers.

And just how to create that fuel pouring into the mouth of the tank? The options I'm considering are stretching and flattening some clear sprue, or running some epoxy glue down some strands of white thread or clear nylon fishing line. If you try one of ideas or come up with something better, let me know!

-tss-