introduction

Young Miniatures keeps producing top quality 1/10 resin bust in historical and military series. One of the latest addition to military busts series is YM – 1812 which represents a United States Army Soldier during World War II in European theater, Ardennes 1944.

box

The figure comes in standard Young Miniatures black color heavy cardboard box inserted in a transparent sleeve. The front cover of the box shows the photo of bust painted by Hiroyuki Ishii that can serve as a painting guide.

Parts are well protected between thick slabs of polyfoam. Big parts and small parts are placed in different layers of polyfoam and small parts are secured in plastic bags.

parts

The bust is sculpted by Hiroyuki Ishii and made up of 12 resin pieces. The parts are very clean and show no mistakes like air bubbles or excess resin as in all Young Miniatures 1/10 resin busts. Cutting and cleaning of the casting blocks will the only necessary process before priming.

Parts are ;

Upper torso : He wears a classical U.S Army greatcoat with wide collars and 6 big metal buttons on front. Inside the greatcoat, a woolen thick foulard or scraf is wrapped on his neck. The cloth folds of the scarf and greatcoat especially on collar, the buttons of greatcoat, texture and buckles of Y-webbings , details of bandolier, shoulder straps, starp of the side pack are extremely good sculpted and cast.

Head : Facial details like eyes, nose, ears,lips,hair and facial expression are very well defined. There is a small hole on the left side of the mouth to attach a cigarette. Under his helmet, he wears a M1941 wool knit cap which was also known as jeep cap or nicknamed as beanie. The cap had a short visor and ear flaps that could be turned up against the side of the hat or worn down over the ears as needed for the weather. It was soft and could be folded into a pocket when not needed. The texture of the wool cap is well represented. The visor part of the cap is given as a seperate part.

Helmet : He wears a M-1 steel pot helmet over his beanie cap. The detrited metal effect of the helmet , straps and buckles are well defined.

Right arm : The cloth folds of greatcoat, sleeves of the coat and shirt are all well defined.

Backpack : He carries a combat backpack and cargo pack attached to eachother on the backside. The details of the both packs are well represented. M-1 bayonet in M-7 scabbard is attached on the left side of the backpack. The handle of the bayonet is given seperate part.

Rifle : He carries an M-1 Garand rifle hanged on his right shoulder. The extension on the rifle makes the assembly of the rifle very easy and correct fit.

Strap of the rifle : Extra care is needed on bending this part because it is given as a resin part and not bent in shape. The texture and the metal details are well defined.

Right hand : Posed to grab the rifle strap. He wears woolen gloves leaving half of the fingers open.

Visor of the woolen cap

Handle of the bayonet

Cigarette

Part of the collar : I don’t know why this is given as a seperate part but probably to make the painting or casting easier.

casting & details

As in all Young Miniatures resin busts, the quality of this one is very high. Especially very small details like texture of straps and facial details are very crisp and clean.

painting

The box shows a photo of the bust that can be used as a painting reference. Unfortunately, there is no other painting guide included in the kit but Young Miniatures website offers many nice photos of the painted bust. Please visit US Soldier Ardennes 1944 Photos .

Conclusion

For World War II bust painters, and especially for the ones that appreciate U.S Army subjects, this bust is definitely a must with superb sculpt and high quality casting with nice details.



Highly Recommended