Warriors Scale Models
35644

The final pair of the six-man Priest crew from Warriors, these two boys are humping ammo (presumably you supply the driver—who according to the field manual was positioned in the dirver's seat during fire missions—as the seventh man in a full complement).

It's nice to see the cold weather mackinaw coat used on the figure holding the 105mm round. The other man wears a field jacket; it looks like he might have an extra shirt on that pokes out under the back of the jacket. He also wears the winter combat helmet for added warmth beneath his metal M1 helmet.

If you take your painting tips from the box art here, I'd recommend a less greyish color for the field jacket and lean more on the khaki tan side. The color for the macinaw is an acceptable example. The green OD color of the trousers suggests the cotton sateen field trousers, or herringbone twill cotton that was worn during the warmer weather months. You could paint them as the more seasonally appropriate serge wool trousers, which were a brownish field drab color.

These figures were cast more roughly than Warriors has been noted. There was a nasty bubble in the cleft of one chin that would make Kirk Douglas envious. One of the helmets had a sizeable bubble hole through it, and there were several bubbles along the hem of the mackinaw. The left arm of the man wrestling with the tube did not mate well with the shoulder, leaving a significant gap. The problems were quickly remedied with dabs of Testor's contour putty.

Both the ammo shell and fiberboard tube are a tad short compared to real specimens, but quite acceptable in the larger scheme of things.

This is a good way to complete the M7 Priest crew. Steve Zaloga's U.S. Armored Artillery in World War II will provide a host of wintery settings to inspire use of these figures.

-tss-