Monday, January 27

Preview: New 1/35th scale U.S. Infantry Tank Riders. Set 1, From MiniArt.

We think most people like to see more tank riders from WWII, and these newly sculpted US Infantrymen from MiniArt look pretty nice indeed. The detail looks great; see more about them in our preview...

Preview: New 1/35th scale U.S. Infantry Tank Riders. Set 1, From MiniArt


U.S. Infantry Tank Riders. Set 1
From MiniArt
Kit No. 35407
1/35th scale
The kit contains four figures, weapons & equipment
The subject: US infantry tank riders during WWII.
Soldiers sometimes hitched rides on tanks in order to keep up with a rapid advance. Often seen on newsreels of victorious (and sometimes retreating) soldiers trying to get an easier or faster way to and from the front. This gave the tank infantry at close hand in case they came across any issues better suited to infantry warfare, like closed in streeets or aleys in towns and villages or any urban warfare.

These US Marines hitch a ride on the back of a M4 Sherman tank
Some more photos of US infantrymen loaded with gear riding tanks in WWII.
Below: This squad of infantrymen from Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges’ First Army caught a ride on a Sherman Tank as they moved through the French town of la Ferte-Mace on August 14, 1944. These troops were in a hurry to catch retreating Germans of the 5th Panzer and Seventh Armies in the Falaise Pocket. After having defeated the German counterattack at Mortain on August 7, the American First and Third Armies swept around behind the enemy from the south-west and forced them to flee eastward to escape entrapment.
The US Army even had a map of sorts or a procedure for who sat where on the tanks. Wether this was followed rigidly is up for speculation...
An image of the proposed mounting diagram for troops. Again, this was not strictly adhered to.

The kit from MiniArt:
This kit contains four figures with not only their own gear but extra weapons and equipment on the extra sprues of the kit.

The four figures of US infantry to ride the tanks each come on their own sprue, dressed in standard summer US Army fatigues, ammo, pouches and gear

The regular US soldier's helmets, packs, entrenching tools, water flasks, and bayonets are included to vary your soldier.
In the case of self-defence, Garand rifles and M1 carbines of two types are included.
Tommy guns, both early and late, plus grease guns, map packs, and ammo are also included on this sprue.

This kit will be available from Miniart's distributors Worldwide next month. See more about all of MiniArt's kits on their website...