US Infantry Weapons Set

I really like this kit and find it useful. I already used an M3 grease gun SMG for the tank crew in the Tamiya M41 bulldog kit. It has atleast 2 or more of every weapon and has 2 complete weapon sprues.. It is necessary for korean war and early vietnam kits and diaoramas, because it has not only the ww2 m1. but also the late production full auto m2 carbine with 30 round mags attached and m3 grease gun smgs.It also has optional late ww2 and post war. fighting knife and bayonets.I think the 50 cals and 30 cals mg's are decent but not as detailed as the academy kit, but definitly more durable. For colors i would recommend a medium brown for the wood, od for various things, and. gunmetal or darkish gray to simualate the parkerized finish on US weapons. These weapons were not just used by the US either but also allies and friends like West Germany, korea, south vietnam, Japan, italy,. enemies like the communist nations and terrorists also. The m1 carbines were also used in late ww2 by axis when captured. So axis figures could be given them for a very unique and realistic diaorama. Thompson smgs would be used by british commandos and as lend lease to chinese in the 40s and alter used by north korea and china in the korean war.

When I bought this kit I thought I was going to get a modern, state-of-the-art Tamiya molding. Unfortunately when I opened the box I almost cringed. The detail was poor and really showed the age of the set - it was first molded in 1981. The detail, while there, was not crisp. The guns lacked many features that should've been present if this was a modern molded kit. In other words, the detail is very, very soft. The good things about this kit are the pistols, the M3 Grease Gun, the flame thrower and the 57mm recoilless rifle. They are molded rather well and would look nice when used. About the 57mm rifle, however, the sight/scope should be cut off and then mounted to the side and further forward. But it should still sit so the actual scope is above the rifle, it just mounts on the side. As it comes it sits on the top of the gun and too far back. Other than those pieces I would only use the rest for practice or for little bits and pieces that won't be noticed easily in a build.

Though the weapons in this set are small, the detail is wonderful. Gluing the larger machine guns to their tripods proved challenging, however. Also, something I did not know when I first bought the kit, was that the instructions provided were written only in Japanese (or Chinese, I'm not sure). Regardless, the illustrations on the instructions were not too hard to use. Overall,I still liked the kit very much. (Note: One must use the box cover as their painting guide.)