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Hasegawa

Set 31101

U.S. Jeep Willys M.B. Cargo 37mm Gun

Click for larger image
All figures are supplied unpainted    (Numbers of each pose in brackets)
Stats
Date Released 1991
Contents Jeep, trailer, field gun and 8 figures
Poses 3 poses
Material Plastic (Very Hard)
Colours Grey
Average Height 24.5 mm (= 1.77 m)

Review

While most of this kit is taken by the vehicle, trailer and gun, there are a fairly respectable eight figures too, which naturally will be the focus of this review. However the eight figures look rather less acceptable when you realise there are just three different poses, and frankly pretty boring ones too. The four seated figures are only good for placing in the jeep and trailer, and all are neatly holding their arms to the side, so nothing is going on there. The only figure with a base is very hard to understand; what his posture is is clear enough, but what he is supposed to be doing is anyone's guess. The last figure is clutching some binoculars so is presumably an officer, though with no base he is perhaps intended to stand in the jeep. He too is doing nothing much, so not the most dynamic group of poses ever conceived. What is worse, none of them could possibly be operating the small gun, which makes us wonder why these figures were chosen, with little reference to the rest of the kit.

If the poses are particularly underwhelming then the sculpting is no better. These are really quite poor sculpts with a basic representation of a G.I.'s uniform and almost no items of kit. The faces hold no expression and the detail is weak, while there is a good deal of flash, particularly on the officer figure. They all also have marks on their backs where the plastic was injected, which always disfigures any piece, so while there is little enough here to criticism for accuracy these are unattractive figures.

With such poor sculpting and such boring poses there is hardly anything to attract much attention today, when there are so many good sets of WWII American troops. Despite the highly misleading box artwork, there is no crew for the gun and no pose that anyone will struggle to find elsewhere, so unless you need the various pieces of equipment this is a product to avoid.


Ratings

Historical Accuracy 7
Pose Quality 3
Pose Number 3
Sculpting 4
Mould 5

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