1:35 British PIAT Team - Soldier No.1 (1 Figure)

The weapon that did not kick flame backwards

PIAT stood for Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank, and the British Army introduced it in 1943. Inside there was no rocket motor but a massive spring and a so-called spigot, a rod that ignited the propellant charge in the rear of the bomb. That is exactly why the weapon threw no stream of hot gas backwards and could be fired from a window, from a cellar or from a narrow foxhole - where an American bazooka or a German Panzerschreck would have given the crew away and burned them as well. It weighed over fourteen kilograms, and cocking the spring before the first shot counted as one of the most unpleasant jobs an infantryman could be given.

The man on the trigger

The figure captures the gunner, that is the soldier who carries, aims and fires the weapon. The shaped charge bomb punched through armor at short range, roughly up to a hundred meters, which meant letting an enemy tank come uncomfortably close. Several Victoria Crosses were awarded for courage shown with this projector.

Working and building

The casting is of modeling resin and is supplied unassembled and unpainted, with sprue gates that have to be cut off and the area sanded smooth. Before painting it is advisable to wash the surface and let it dry thoroughly so that the primer holds.

Where to place the figure

It looks most natural where the weapon made sense: behind a low stone wall, in a ditch along a country lane or in the corner of a shot-up farmhouse. Open ground does not suit it, because in it the crew would have no chance against a moving target. Set the figure lower than the first impression suggests - with this weapon men lay and knelt far more often than the number of photographs showing an upright stance would suggest.