1:35 Bazooka M1 a M1A1

The weapon that made tank crews respect the infantry

The M1 rocket launcher was adopted by the American army in 1942 and first appeared in numbers in Tunisia. Soldiers nicknamed it after the sheet metal musical instrument once made famous by the comedian Bob Burns, and the name caught on so well that it pushed out the official designation. Early examples had a wooden stock and shoulder rest, wiring run along the tube and firing from dry-cell batteries, which was the weakest part of the whole design in rain and frost. The simplified M1A1 version of 1943 removed some of these problems and received a modified round.

What is in the set

Twelve polyurethane parts and one photo-etched fret. In sets like this the photo-etched parts carry the sights, the clips and small sheet metal brackets, that is, the elements that cannot be made thin enough in a casting.

A note on the setting

Anyone who wants the version right goes by the date of the scene: North Africa and Sicily belong to the early shape, the later fighting in Europe rather to the following models. The weapon was carried over the shoulder, lay on the rear of a vehicle or leaned against a wall beside the gunner and the loader, because the crew was always two men.

The set is built to the 1:35 ratio and suits infantry figures as well as equipment stowed on vehicles.

How the weapon was carried

On the march the tube lay on the shoulder with the muzzle forward and the rounds traveled in a canvas bag or in a tube on the back of the second man. When building a scene it therefore pays to think out which of the pair carries what, because the pipe alone without a container for the rounds looks half done. On a vehicle it tended to be hooked behind brackets on the fender or tied to a crate of equipment.