1:16 U.S. equipment set-WWII

The kit of an American soldier in the large 1:16 scale

The accessory set holds individual pieces of personal equipment cast in polyurethane resin. 1:16 scale corresponds to figures one hundred and twenty millimeters tall, that is the class where it is taken for granted that the viewer will see the buckles, the straps and the texture of the canvas. The equipment is supplied unpainted and without a figure.

What an American infantryman carried

The basis of the kit was a belt with ammunition pouches, on which a canteen in its cover, a first-aid pouch and an entrenching tool were carried. A pack or a bag with personal things and a blanket went on the back. The arrangement differed with the task and with how long the unit was to stay in the field, and it is exactly this variability that makes loose parts a more useful aid than equipment cast solidly onto a figure.

Arrangement and painting

Separate parts allow the kit to be put together to your own idea: some stays on the soldier, the rest is laid out on a crate, on the seat of a vehicle or on the ground by a fire. The canvas parts are painted in sandy olive shades, the leather straps noticeably darker, and the metal buckles last. A dry brush will lift the weave, while a dark glaze deepens the stitching instead.

Who the equipment is for

• builders of large figures in American kit
• modelers who want to populate the interior or the surroundings of a vehicle
• makers of scenes from the campaigns in western Europe and in the Pacific
• painters who will appreciate working with the texture of canvas and leather