6306, US Rangers Normandy 1944, Premium Edition. 1/35th-scale injection-molded styrene plastic with multi-media parts. Contains: 192 injection-molded styrene parts, five DS-100 soft styrene parts, 28 etched brass parts and one single-sided instruction sheet.

DML has begun re-issuing some older vehicle kits and figure sets in a new "Premium Edition". These are essentially some of the better, more recent items, with new parts and features added. In the case of the figure sets, new weapons and equipment, etched brass parts and some DS-100 styrene bits are included.

This latest re-issue contains four figures of US Army Rangers as they would have appeared upon hitting the beach at Omaha, or as they made their fabled assault on the German battery at Pointe-du-Hoc. Figure one depicts a running rifleman holding his M1 rifle in his right hand and a Bangalore torpedo in his left. He wears an assault vest and carries a variety of pouches, as well as an entrenching tool; he also wears the M5 assault gas mask on his left leg. Figure two depicts an advancing Sergeant carrying an M1 or M1A1 Thompson SMG in his right hand and a pair of satchel charges in his left hand. He wears an M5 assault gas mask on his chest and a US Navy M1926 life belt high on his waist. Figure three is a BAR gunner, standing and firing upwards. He is armed with an M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle, wears the M5 assault gas mask on his left leg and the M1926 life belt high on his waist. His helmet has dropped to the ground and he wears the woolen "beanie" or "jeep" cap on his head. The fourth figure is a kneeling rifle grenadier in the process of firing a grenade from his M7 launcher attached to the barrel of his M1 rifle. He wears the M1926 life belt high on his waist and the M5 assault gas mask on his chest.

Overall, the sculpting and design of each figure is quite well done. Molding is fine as well, although clearly not up to the standards of DMLs newest "Gen2" figures. Three of the figures have the diamond-shaped Ranger patch on their shoulders, while the Sergeant has three stripes molded on to his right sleeve. All wear shoes with leggings as well as HBT (herring-bone twill) uniforms under their M1941 jackets. The remainder of their gear is the standard stuff seen on US soldiers such as magazine pouches, canteens, first-aid pouches and various styles of back-pack and entrenching tools.

The weapons and equipment are a mix of the old and the new. The new items are two M1 rifles, a Thompson, a BAR and an M1 carbine. These have separate bolts, extra magazines or stripper clips and hollowed-out muzzles. They are remarkably detailed, but the trigger guards on the M1 rifles are too squat in appearance; this inaccuracy will be hidden on figures firing the weapon, but will be visible on figures carrying them. The BAR has separate carry handles in two styles as well as a three-part bipod. The older weapons include another BAR, a "Tommy-gun" and a pair of M1 rifles, one of which has the rifle grenade and launcher attached to the muzzle. These M1s have a properly-shaped trigger guard. All weapons have separate etched brass slings. The helmets all have separate chin straps while the satchel charges also have separate carry straps. Aside from the original four M1 steel helmets included, there are 12 more, six are cloth covered and six plain. In addition there is a very nicely-done helmet with a fine camouflage net rendered in DS-100 soft styrene.

The bonus in this set is four new heads also rendered using DS-100 soft styrene. Two are "flat-topped" awaiting head gear, while the other two are full, complete with hair. The detail is nice, especially around the ears, but they are a bit too "soft" overall for my liking. One has a rather crudely-rendered helmet chin strap attached that should be "painted away" using liquid styrene cement, which, BTW, can also be used to rid these heads of their very subtle mold seams.

The instructions are contained on one side of a single leaflet, and are in full color. They have paint color call-outs keyed to the Testors and Gunze line. There are two views per figure and there are also two scrap CAD renderings showing where the figures need modification to accept newer items of equipment.

Overall, I think this type of figure set is a good idea, especially since they are an Allied subject. There are enough new items to make them attractive, and although they are not up to the latest standards set by the Gen2 series, they ain't bad either!

Recommended.

- Frank De Sisto