Waterloo 1815


www.onthewaymodels.com

British Paratroopers with pack howitzer

Kit #: AP 036 Review by Peter van Kempen - P(dot)Kempen5(at)chello(dot)nl
Edited by Al Magnus

This set, AP 036 from Waterloo 1815, took my breath away when I received it due to the extremely clear detail visible on the elements delivered in the box.

The title makes you expect a gun and men, but there's much more included! Let's make a stock of what's on the sprues:

To begin with, three of each item are included , so the box contains 3 sprues of each. You get three guns, and three sets of paratroopers and other included items with them. The medium is a semi-hard tan colour polystyrene plastic that takes glue well and can be worked and sanded with ease. The guns are not bad at all, some might want to add even more details, but good painting and highlighting and a drilled bore will give a nice display model as it stands. Place it anywhere and in anyway with your vehicles as it was universally employed, in many combinations. The figure poses leave nothing to desire. With such a box full of various interacting Para's with, for example a 6-pounder or 17-pounder gun, would completely win the braille scale market.

But there's more - look at the included Wellbike(s), staggering good detail for this medium, and never before available in our braille scale!

To top that, the para-caisson carts (a vehicle in its own right) suggest many conversions - hanging under the Dakota planes, but also, by cutting in halves and showing the 75mm tubes with projectiles when used as transporting, or being towed by rigging and either mules or men as intended. Unique subject, and also never available before.

When considering the average price this set should bring, it's an even better deal. Waterloo 1815 has another set on the market, this time with US mountain troops and the same guns (kit number AP 038), the figures again are great, but the set contains less extra goodies as with the para's here.

There's one issue with Waterloo 1815 sets though: they are not widely available for sale and mostly not available in the assortment of regular modelling shops.

I obtained mine after some intensive searching from a Dutch trader in Scale figure sets, Battalion and Hordes, but there also, stocks are mostly depleted. A plus is that postage is naught as the box can be flatted into an envelope with the sprues to fit your mailbox and sent cheap by regular mail. The sprues are of a reasonably hard but flexible plastic so damage should not be expected from this.

From my references, I could not find scale issues with the content, but then I did not count the bolts on the wheels.

So everyone, search the net and dig for this golden contribution to your collection.

Review sample purchased by the author.

Back to Waterloo 1815 Kit List Back to Construction Reviews

Article Last Updated: 28 August 2013

Back to Home Page