Barcode: 0 89195 86682 0
Case Pack: 36 Pieces Per Master Carton
Box Size: 7.5" x 11.4" x 1.8"

The famed SAS unit of the British Army was formed in July 1941 by David Stirling. It was a commando force designed to operate deep behind enemy lines, something it did very successfully. This box-top illustration depicted a famous wartime photograph taken in North Africa that featured Colonel Stirling conversing with his troops. By introducing this seven-figure set #6682, Dragon has now gone the whole way in allowing modelers to recreate the entire photo, with those 1/4-ton 4x4 trucks released earlier.

The new 1/35 scale figure set has the commander, Colonel Stirling, as its centerpiece, supported by six other figures sitting in their specially adapted vehicles. The soldiers are all wearing typical SAS garb, a potpourri of styles and apparel. The plastic figures provide a true likeness to the characters in that famous photo. By combining this full set of figures with Dragon’s vehicle sets, modelers can reproduce a piece of history. Or alternatively, the figures are versatile enough to be mixed and matched to produce a completely different scene showing potent SAS teams ranging across the desert sands of North Africa!

-Reviews-

SAS Vehicle Crews North Africa 1942
Manufacturer: Dragon Models
Scale: 1/35
Material: Styrene
Serial Number: 6682
Price: TBA

Dragon:
The famed SAS unit of the British Army was formed in July 1941 by David Stirling. It was a commando force designed to operate deep behind enemy lines, something it did very successfully. The box-top illustration depicts a famous wartime photograph taken in North Africa that featured Colonel Stirling conversing with his troops.

Kit Contents
This figure set from Dragon is supplied unusually in one of Dragon's top opening boxes. The box art, based on a well known photograph, has been used before too, although this is the first time we've seen it in its entirety, Dragon having used different portions of it before for various vehicle releases. The figures too have been seen before, with one or two being included in those vehicle releases. Now we have them all together in one release!
The kit contents consist of eleven small sprues, of which there are five pairs. The various parts make up into seven different figures, the odd, single sprue containing the parts to make up the figure representing David Stirling himself, or at least a standing SAS officer. As you would expect from Dragon, the sculpting of the original figures is superb, the moulding crisp and sharp with no flash. Unfortunately we're still getting those cooling lines on the torsos of the figures, caused by differential cooling of the styrene once the figures are extracted from their moulds. It's a problem that other figure manufacturers have overcome, and high time Dragon cured the problem.

The instructions supplied in the kit are of the same sort usually supplied with figure sets, i.e. an illustration of the assembled figures, with labels indicating which parts are to be used.

The more observant will immediately notice that there is more than the requisite fourteen legs or arms included in the set. In order to allow greater flexibility, both for this and earlier part releases, each of the figure sprues, apart from the standing officer figure, has two different heads, and two different sets of arms included. In addition to this, there are four extra pairs of legs included on small sprues. The instructions indicate which ones to use to achieve the figures shown on the box art, although of course, many modellers will choose to mix and match the various parts in order to individualise them. As long as all the figures are not used in the same diorama, there shouldn't be a problem!

All six of the seated figures are sculpted wearing the Arab keffiyeh, two slightly different ones being provided for each of the figures. Each keffiyeh is provided in two parts...a lower part representing the portion below the band, and a top portion that is fixed to the top. Each head is provided as a separate part too, onto which the keffiyah parts fit. There are two heads provided for each of the figures, although there's not that much difference between the two choices. With a couple of them there does seem to be slightly more beard growth, but to be honest there's not that much character in each of the faces, and most modellers will choose to swap them for Hornet or other resin examples. As a result of the repetition on the sprues, two figures are wearing the leather jerkin, two have shirts open to their waist, and two have tunics fully buttoned up!

The standing officer, based on David Stirling, is sculpted wearing an officer's cap and duffel coat, the pulled back hood of which is provided as a separate part for better effect. Although the figure's size is similar to the others, at least as far as can be guessed given that they're all sitting figures, for some reason the officer's head is somewhat larger than the others?


Conclusion
It's an extremely useful set, especially for the diorama builder, and all the more so since Hornet have recently released a set of SAS heads complete with beard detail etc. The cooling lines can be dealt with, and the heads swapped. I'm a little less certain of the size of David Stirling's head? I'll let you know once I have the figures built!

Vinnie Branigan