Soldiers' Sargeant 2nd.Rangers

[Pete_H]

Last weekend at the Chicago show, I came across Soldiers' new Sargeant 2nd. Rangers at Pointe du Hoc. When I saw the price of $40, I was reminded about the recent discussions here and on other forums about the ever-increasing retail prices of figures. Personally, I thought that $40 for a 54mm figure was way too much ..... but I gave into my weakness for WWII subjects and bought it anyway.

Upon examination, the first thing that came to mind was that it was way too big to be a 54mm figure. In fact, it was HUGE for a 54. The figure measured at 2.75 inches in height, which is 69.85mm - close enough to it's real scale of 70mm. I examined the box and instruction sheet for any indication of the figure's scale and there was none. Perhaps $40 for a 70mm of good quality isn't bad afterall. I assembled it with Blue-Tac (somewhat visible in the following pictures) and placed it next to Michael Roberts' 54mm US paratrooper for comparison.

 

[Pete_H]

The figure comes cast in many pieces; most importantly the entire body is cast as one solid piece, with arms & head cast separately. I only found one faint mold-line running up each leg, which wasn't a problem to clean up. There were, however, very few small pits on the shins, which were quickly filled in with magic sculp.

The placement of casting plugs - very small ones at that - were placed where they'd cause as little difficulty and risk of damage to the piece as possible. For instance, they appeared on the joint between shoulder and torso on the arm. There was one plug, though, that could have been placed in a better location - the helmet had one on the right side along the lip. No matter how careful I was, I still damaged some of the detail, so a bit of putty work will be needed there.

As far as filler is concerned, it doesn't look like any will be needed. The joints between the arms & torso, and the head & torso are flawless. Also, all gear fits perfectly onto the web belt, as well as the Tommy gun into the right wrist socket. The Tommy gun does have one of my pet peeves - casting the hand onto the gun itself. I understand that this makes things a lot easier when it comes to casting & assembly, but I've always liked painting all fleshtones as separate pieces.

The figure's pose also shows a lot of character - arrogance and strength - with the torso leaning back just enough, as well as how its holding the Tommy gun. The amount of gear also makes for either lots of fun or lots of headaches, depending on your preferences (let's be honest: some of us hate painting so many little separate pieces, while others thrive on it. Personally, I like painting all the goodies ).

 

[Guy]

Thanks for the review Pete. Although I do not do too many WWII subjects, I like the pose of this figure and it being an actual 70mm does make the price a little more bearable. oh well.....one more to the "want list"

 

[Pete_H]

As far as detail goes, this figure shows a lot of it - right down to the detailed webbing on the belt and the gaiters' laces. All wrinkles & folds seem to flow naturally from the webbing and pose. Another detail I like is the fact that the figure depicts a Ranger wearing the OD green HBT trousers. Rangers wore these over their regular OD trousers during the Normandy landings (many got rid of their OD's in favor of the HBT's right after the initial landings in the name of comfort and practicality). This will make for a nice contrast between the khaki M42 field jacket, the light OD green or light-sand/light-khaki webbing, and the OD green HBT's. Another possibility for color contrast is to paint the wool scarf a brownish olive drab.

The amount of gear on the figure also contributes to its great detail. On it you'll find: .45 holster w/leg string, combat knife w/leg string, 3-magazine ammo pouch, 2-magazine pistol ammo pouch, canteen, 1st.aid kit, and M1928 haversack w/e-tool. All these come with pegs and corresponding holes on the webbing for firm placement of these. The only details I thought was a bit too much were leg-strings at the end of the pistol holster and the combat knife scabbard. These were typically used to tie the end of these to the trooper's leg (for example, paratroopers tied down their combat knives to the bottom side of their shins). One can go without these since almost all soldiers promptly "lost" these. However, they do offer a bit of color variation since these were typically a light-brown leather with tan rawhide backing.

Overall, this is a piece that will be fun to paint. The high level of detail, seamless joints, character, and ease of assembly will make this a very fun project. As for mine, I've already scraped off the Ranger diamond insignia and have sculpted on the arrowhead of the 1st. Special Service Force.

Have fun with it!

 

[Jim Patrick]

Thanks for the review Pete. I too was eyeballin' this figure and the scale (actual) is very interesting.

Jim Patrick

 

[poetwarrior]

Pete,

Thanks for the review! I've seen this fig and have thought about picking it up and after reading your review and seeing the pics I now know it's a must have.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Pete_H]

Guys, you're welcome. I already started painting it, so expect some appearances on the vBench soon.

 

[Alex M.]

Hey Pete,

Thanks for the review, i wanted to get an inbox look at him too!
As for the scale issue, i don't know about the older soldiers figures, but the new ones are all huge. I took a look at their new english civil war figure, looking for a nice scale 54mm and nearly filled my drawers...70mm for sure...

$40 isn't so bad for that

can't wait to see it painted

-Alex

 

[Anders Heintz]

Hey Peetey!

Great review man! I really like this figure, even more so now, although the price is very hefty.

I cant belive that you budged your mathimatical rule! And you bitch about spending $55 for a 120mm! lol...Im proud of you!

 

[Pete_H]

Originally posted by Anders Heintz@Oct 13 2004, 10:31 PM
I cant belive that you budged your mathimatical rule! And you bitch about spending $55 for a 120mm! lol...Im proud of you!

Hey Anders, it's my pleasure! But you misunderstood me: I only bitch about paying $85 for a 120. At $40 for a 70mm figure, that comes out to 57 cents per mm. Just under my 60 cents per mm. rule

 

[poetwarrior]

Pete,

Once again the review and pics are great! Although, don't take offense, but I just want to touch upon the refences to the leg ties on the holster and fighting knife, I think it's an interesting detail to include on a figure this scale. Don't limit yourself to just the Airborne applications, use and wearing of field gear. The use of leg ties, I suspect was probably more wide spread then you think, especially among specialized units such as the Rangers or even as a point of personal preference among individual troops. I believe that these items were at times even issued with leg ties attached and bound in the manner depicted on the figure. In fact, within my own collection, I have a First World War dated US leather holster with the leg tie still attached.

Dave

 

[Joe Hudson]

Hey Pete,

Nice review. I look forward to seeing this one. I take it you will have him for Atlanta? Sorry we did not have a chance to talk more at the show but hopefully we can catch up on things later.

Joe

 

[jitch0t]

Thanks for the review, Pete. I'll get this one for sure now that it's become a 70mm

I can't wait to see your progress on it! Keep us posted, please.

Regards

 

[rafaelega]

Pete,

Excellent review. I will be in touch with your next steps...

Rafa