Post by Smudge on Oct 5, 2012 9:53:28 GMT -5
Hi all
Inspired by Ski’s great dio ‘Battle for the Citadel’ modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2077 I thought I’d share this new kit from Master Box with you.
Kit# MB35107 ‘Head for the Huey’ is third set in their Vietnam series, the others being MB35105 ‘Charlie on the Left’ and MB3599 ‘Patrolling’.
The kit:
The kit consists of two sprues of light tan injection moulded styrene, packed in the usual MB boxes. Box art is great; artwork by Andrey Karaschuk is, as usual, excellent, and depicts five soldiers (one injured) heading back to the helicopter for evacuation under the cover of smoke. One sprue is unique to this set, the other more generic; it is also found in the kit MB3599. The box rear shows the figures made and painted. If you want to confirm what the figures will turn out like the rear is often the best with MB just in case there’s any minor differences between the artist and sculptor.
There are no numbers on the sprues. Normally not a problem but in this case the build up is slightly more complex than normal because of the way parts are broken down…especially in respect of arms and pouches. There are also surplus parts that will find their way into the spares box. All I would say is take a little time and select the right parts.
The moulding is very good. Just the odd tiny amount of flash and some seam lines to contend with. Nothing a sharp blade can’t cure though.
There is some great detail on the uniforms, with all the creases, folds, buttons etc being very well done…and the faces are very good for styrene; all having great individual features. They’re probably as you’ll get in styrene.
The accessories:
The equipment is very good…and there’s loads of it. Just make sure you use the appropriate parts because the sprue is generic some may be inappropriate for this era. The packs are very good, some with separate frames, some with separate pockets so the straps can be depicted. The bed rolls have separate ends to portray the rolled up bedding. There’s a huge number of accessories IMHO; first aid pouches, a choice of four different types of headgear, and the classic KA-BAR fighting knife to name a few.
The weapons are a bit of a mixed bag. The M4 carbines are pretty good. The Ak47 too although the butt looks wrong to me more like a Rumanian folding wire stock rather than that of the AK47S or Chinese Type 56-I. The Thompson M3A1 is also good but be careful the barrel is very slim and prone to bending or breaking. Fragmentation and smoke grenades and
However the M16’s vary from piece to piece. This might be a moulding issue because they’re no where near as good as MB’s usually are, with very soft or no detail. It isn’t a one off but may be a batch problem because I pulled kit MB3599 ‘Patrolling’ from the stash to find the same problem.
Conclusion:
This is a great set of figures with a lot of potential for conversion. The poses are excellent, apart from maybe the grenade thrower who looks a little contrived to me…but that may be just me and I’m probably being picky. I would be careful matching the three casualty evac figures together trio’s like these can be tricky, but time will tell. Certainly makes it harder to paint in my experience.
The amount of personal equipment, the choice and the quality is outstanding. The weapons in some cases less so but don’t let that put you off this is a very good set of figures with loads of potential. And like I said it might be a production problem across a batch, which I’m sure Master Box will attend to.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Master Box for the review sample
Smudge
Inspired by Ski’s great dio ‘Battle for the Citadel’ modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2077 I thought I’d share this new kit from Master Box with you.
Kit# MB35107 ‘Head for the Huey’ is third set in their Vietnam series, the others being MB35105 ‘Charlie on the Left’ and MB3599 ‘Patrolling’.
The kit:
The kit consists of two sprues of light tan injection moulded styrene, packed in the usual MB boxes. Box art is great; artwork by Andrey Karaschuk is, as usual, excellent, and depicts five soldiers (one injured) heading back to the helicopter for evacuation under the cover of smoke. One sprue is unique to this set, the other more generic; it is also found in the kit MB3599. The box rear shows the figures made and painted. If you want to confirm what the figures will turn out like the rear is often the best with MB just in case there’s any minor differences between the artist and sculptor.
There are no numbers on the sprues. Normally not a problem but in this case the build up is slightly more complex than normal because of the way parts are broken down…especially in respect of arms and pouches. There are also surplus parts that will find their way into the spares box. All I would say is take a little time and select the right parts.
The moulding is very good. Just the odd tiny amount of flash and some seam lines to contend with. Nothing a sharp blade can’t cure though.
There is some great detail on the uniforms, with all the creases, folds, buttons etc being very well done…and the faces are very good for styrene; all having great individual features. They’re probably as you’ll get in styrene.
The accessories:
The equipment is very good…and there’s loads of it. Just make sure you use the appropriate parts because the sprue is generic some may be inappropriate for this era. The packs are very good, some with separate frames, some with separate pockets so the straps can be depicted. The bed rolls have separate ends to portray the rolled up bedding. There’s a huge number of accessories IMHO; first aid pouches, a choice of four different types of headgear, and the classic KA-BAR fighting knife to name a few.
The weapons are a bit of a mixed bag. The M4 carbines are pretty good. The Ak47 too although the butt looks wrong to me more like a Rumanian folding wire stock rather than that of the AK47S or Chinese Type 56-I. The Thompson M3A1 is also good but be careful the barrel is very slim and prone to bending or breaking. Fragmentation and smoke grenades and
However the M16’s vary from piece to piece. This might be a moulding issue because they’re no where near as good as MB’s usually are, with very soft or no detail. It isn’t a one off but may be a batch problem because I pulled kit MB3599 ‘Patrolling’ from the stash to find the same problem.
Conclusion:
This is a great set of figures with a lot of potential for conversion. The poses are excellent, apart from maybe the grenade thrower who looks a little contrived to me…but that may be just me and I’m probably being picky. I would be careful matching the three casualty evac figures together trio’s like these can be tricky, but time will tell. Certainly makes it harder to paint in my experience.
The amount of personal equipment, the choice and the quality is outstanding. The weapons in some cases less so but don’t let that put you off this is a very good set of figures with loads of potential. And like I said it might be a production problem across a batch, which I’m sure Master Box will attend to.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Master Box for the review sample
Smudge
