Plastic Soldier Review - Revell Scottish Infantry, 8th Army

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Revell

Set 02512

Scottish Infantry, 8th Army

All figures are supplied unpainted (Numbers of each pose in brackets)

Stats

Date Released	1994
Contents	50 figures
Poses	12 poses
Material	Plastic (Medium Consistency)
Colours	Tan

Average Height

24 mm (= 1.73 m)

Review

This set of British 8th Army was released when three other manufacturers, Airfix, Esci and Matchbox, already had full sets on the market. The question then is is this set just repeating what has gone before, or does it have something different to offer.

Happily, the answer is the latter. This set of 12 poses has some splendid figures, and some genuinely original touches. Revell moulded several of their figures wearing standard British battledress, recognising that not all the troops wore the light khaki shirt and shorts all the time. In addition, some are wearing pullovers, and some long trousers. All these features are unique to this set, and authentically reflect the diversity of clothing that the army wore in an environment that could be stiflingly hot by day and bitterly cold by night.

All the major infantry weapons are represented here, with rifles, Thompson machine guns and a Bren gun being utilised.

The poses are good, and include a sentry and a private eating his rations, though he seems to be putting his spoon in his ear! With many sets it is possible to detect their inspiration, or at least the source used for much of the research. As with many other sets, the inspiration here is in the Osprey Men-At-Arms books - in this case 'Montgomery's Desert Army' - where can be found the soldier eating, the piper and the unusual officer with his walking stick. The inclusion of a piper seems to be practically compulsory for 8th Army sets, though Scottish regiments served in all theatres of war. However in this case the sculptor has not represented the actual act of playing the pipes well as the bag is not properly placed to be squeezed - a necessary prerequisite if any noise is to be gained from the instrument. One notable omission is a figure on the ground. In a landscape often devoid of any real cover, soldiers who got involved in a firefight without first hitting the ground would be courting disaster.

A most excellent World War II set that complements and expands on others already available.

Ratings

Historical Accuracy	10
Pose Quality	9
Pose Number	8
Sculpting	10
Mould	10