U.S. Paratrooper Normandy
Modeling the U.S. Army in WWII

Warriors
35257

This is the "second generation" paratrooper figure sculpted by veteran Brian Stewart in the mid 1990s for Warriors. The torso unit serves for both "U.S. Surrendering to German" (35235) and "U.S. Paratrooper with M.G." (35484). While this particular chap has perhaps met with a rough landing as evidenced by the bloody gash on his left leg, the sculptor has mended the poor fellow's wound and given him new arms and heads for the other versions. This continues to be a moneysaving trick by the manufacturers, but an annoyance to modelers (well, me at least). When the machine gunner version of this figure was released in 2003, I'd hoped that it would be sufficiently different from this figure as to present the opportunity to have present a pair of troopers (heh, heh) trudging down the road to Ste. Mère-Eglise, but the lockstep similarity of the poses quashed that idea.

On his own terms, however, this fine figure is up to the high standard of quality we've come to enjoy from Brian Stewart. The soldier wears the distinctive M1942 airborne uniform with the generous pockets and slash flaps, and the much-prized Corcoran jump boots. He's equipped with an M1 Thompson submachine gun and ammo pouch slung over his shoulder, Colt pistol, canteen, and trench knife. He has no suspenders or musette bag. His pose, with his gun shouldered, is fairly casual.

The only parts to attach to the body are the two arms, head, and Tommy gun, to which you'll need to add a sling. The molding is crisp and clean, and the face has a good expression. The figure is a decent size, scaling under 6'.

If you have to clone your own products to come up with new offerings, this is a pretty good start. But you're really not creating new opportunities for modelers to combine your products.

-tss-


 

Modeling the U.S. Army in WWII © 2002—2007 Timothy S. Streeter