I just recently picked up another one of these figures, and realized I started a build and review file a few years ago, but the figure got tucked away during a clean up and busy work period, and disappeared into “the archives” of unfinished things. Fast forward 3 years, and it’s time to finish this off. Better late than never I guess.
This figure was picked up from a collector who had had it signed by Ben Zheung, the then designer for many of the Soldier Story figures, at the expo this figure was made for. It was a nice find. But the box got damaged due to being improperly packed for shipping. So, it got opened, and here we are.
Why the Expo Exclusive figure was made with the more desired OCP/Scorpion/Multicam camo pattern is still an odd choice. I can only think, even back in 2015 when the figure was released, that the figure had been in the works for quite a while before getting announced and made. By the time 2015 arrived, the UCP/ACU pattern Air Warrior gear was well into getting phased out by the U.S. Army for the OCP gear. Soldier Story could have just made OCP figure and made figure modelers happier, and kept the UCP version figure as the Expo Exclusive, which would still sell pretty well as an exclusive. The UCP wasn’t well recieved, and sat on shelves longer than expected, even for a pilot figure, which usually sell quite well.
Oddly, for being a figure from 2015, I couldn’t find a single review of the figure, or the SS087 UCP/ACU version anywhere. The SS087 version is more or less identical with the camo pattern of the figure’s uniform and gear all UCP/ACU, and the colour of the helmets being different. So why not do the review now anyway. It may help someone who gets one of these sets later, like myself.
The figure with the “new” 2 piece flight suit. Newer is probably a better description, as these have been around for about 15+ years now. This one is in OCP instead of UCP of the SS087 version.
The head. One of the best things about the set. The only flaw I can see with it are the eyebrows. The paint application is quite off, and looks like a decal instead of being painted on. That said, for 2015, this head is exceptionally well done. Excellent mold and paint work. The paint looks like it is a freshly shaved head. Some folks have said it has a passing resemblance to Jake Gyllenhaal. I kind of see that, but it’s not perfect as far as a likeness goes. And it doesn’t really matter because it’s a great sculpt. There’s not even a mold line on the head.
The figure uses the S2 body with thigh expanders, and left hand dominant grip hands. It also comes with a pair of bendy/posable hands.
The jacket on the flight suit has a number of details, and I have to assume they were copied directly to the figure uniform, since I haven’t seen a source for the complete 1:1 uniform yet. The uniform is part of the Air Warrior system, which is a 2 piece Nomex fire resistant flight suit, and full set of flight gear.
Full hook and loop closure by the zipper. I assume this is for easy removal. The zipper would be for when you need to open it partially. The hook and loop for when the jacket has to be removed quickly.
Army t-shirt.
Cinch straps at the sides of the jacket, to tighten things up.
Sleeve pockets work.
Back view.
The pants are quite loose, but can be adjusted to fit easily with the straps at the waist, and an additional belt as well (not shown to show strap details, you can see the belt in the accessories below).
Velcro fly… cue ZZ Top music.
All pockets on the pants work, and you can add stuff to them. Ankle adjustment straps work too.
Side view of the Rocky S2V boots. I forgot to take more pictures of them. Very well made boots, with nice tread details.
Zippers on the thigh pockets work.
Air warrior flexible body armor vest, OCP camo.
Outside view.
Gen III Air warrior harness survival vest carrier in OCP. All the pockets, zippers, pouches and straps work as they should. The vest fits a bit loose, but all the straps can snug it right up for a perfect fit. You could use all the uniform and gear parts on other figure bodies, and still be able to adjust to fit easily.
Front view.
Back view.
Inside front.
Front buckles and zipps.
Zippered pockets at the front.
Harness buckle details.
Plate carrier pouches for armour plates. Front and back. The pouches can be opened and plates added if you chose to do so. Plates are not included in this set.
Name, unit and rank badges. This is part of the weakest part of the set. The rank badges are mostly enlisted ranks, and no officer ranks for pilots, which tend to be Warrant Officers and Captains. At the time of original promo pic release, this was a complaint of many who saw the pics, and strangely didn’t get fixed for this release, as the SS087 UCP set came out first. Soldier Story had a chance to fix that on this set, but chose not to for some reason. And the size of the unit badges was brought up a few times, as being too small, but I’m not sure about the accuracy of that.
Rank issue aside, the badges are well made, and you can cut and use whatever you like form the sheet, with a few options.
Assorted pouches, and LPU-40 low profile flotation collar in OCP camo. All part of the Air Warrior vest system. x2 Multi Purpose Pouches (MPP), x2 M4 Magazine pouches, x2 Tourniquet Pouches, Radio Pouch, Blower (Gas mask filter?) Pouch.
Front views.
Back Views.
Radio Pouch and Tourniquet Pouch (doubles as pistol mag pouches).
M4 mag pouch, and ANVIS NOD Pouch (far right).
HGU-56/P Flight helmet with Maxillofacial sheild. In the custom red paint with smiley face. Front view. SS087 is the OD Green helmet with skull face sheild. I prefer that helmet over this bright red version.
The helmet is quite thin in it’s manufacture, just like the earlier 160th SOAR helmet, and nothing was updated here. Use caution when fitting and adjusting the helmet. All the detail bits are small and very easily broken. Especially on the maxilofacial shield.
Side view. Clear visor adjustment knob. Latch hook for the maxillofacial shield.
Suspension and padding, and built in headset. Helmet mic details.
I found it easier to work on the helmet when the padding and headset were out of the helmet. Wire detail for the helmet headset.
The helmet has both dark tinted and clear visors. In this picture the clear visor is down, and you can just see the bottoms of the tinted visor.
Top view of the helmet with wire detail for the ANVIS NOD.
The small vents can also be used to help work with the moving of the helmet visors The side knobs on the visors aren’t enough to move them up and down, and the visors move at an angle. If you get a small tool of some sort in the vent notches at the top of the visor cover, you can push the visors down straight.
Helmet padding with hook and loop patches from inside the helmet. I found it easier to put this on the head first, then get it all wiggled into the helmet. And it’s a tight fit whether you choose to do it this way, or leave the padding in the helmet, then wiggle the head into the padding. I found this method easier to adjust all the straps first, than trying to work with the helmet on. Stuff I learned when working on the 160th SOAR figures. Also of note, the head sculpt was a bit smaller on the SOAR figure. This time, the figure has a slightly larger head, which also makes the fitting a bit trickier.
I did it this way to keep from handling the helmet too much, because, as previously mentioned the helmet is easily broken if handled roughly, or too much.
Adjustment straps at back.
Left side helmet mic tucked inside the maxillofacial shield. Close up of the shield latch on the helmet. Yes it all works. Try to resist the urge to mess with it. It breaks easily. If you can see the two loops at the upper and lower sides of the latch, the lower one is cracked. Just from fitting it on the head.
All the effort to get the helmet on, and then the clear visor shifted back up again. Grrrrrr
Helmet on. And that shifted clear visor. I had the visor fit over top of the shield before the helmet was on the head, but it wiggled out of position, and is quite difficult to move when you can’t get a finger or tool back inside the helmet to aid in positioning again. It should and does fit together well enough, and is designed to keep the wind out.
If you want to leave the shield off, you can do that as well. Just carefully pop it off the latch, or carefully open the latch and remove it from the helmet. Pilots usually don’t wear the shields. It’s usually Crew Chiefs, Gunners and Flight Medics that wear the shields. If you chose to model a pilot you can leave the shield off.
ANVIS night optic device (NOD).
M45 Gas Mask on the head. Fits nice and snugly, and is fully adjustable. I didn’t leave it on long as I was worried about paint transfer, and the head sticking to the mask.
Why a gas mask? There are a few reasons. Very dusty environments, smoke from fires, and occasional use of irritant smokes/gas (eg; CS gas/tear gas) can all hamper vision and breathing of aircrew. Voice projection unit and filter on the mask in this picture.
And the belt for the pants.
All the assorted parts of the breathing equipment. It’s interesting to see a few different attachments for the mask as well. M45 voice projection unit, M45 gas mask tube, M45 rubber breathing hose assembly, Gas mask filter cartridge. So you can fit the parts to your chosen aircrew requirements. You wouldn’t us all of them at the same time.
Emergency air system (SEA MK II breathing device) with SEA Bottle Mouthpiece cover OCP Camo, UBD Bottle Pocket OCP Camo. I think this is usually called a Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device (HABD). Usually used during emergency egress from the helicopter in water. They have also been used during high altitude/low oxygen flight, although usually that is supplied by onboard O2 systems. The mold is identical to the one in the 160th SOAR figure, but the paint work is different the the valve set up.
Mouthpiece cover on.
M45 hose and filter.
Filter cover on. This would hook to the front of the vest, or on the side under the arm as fit allows. Star end would fit onto the mask where the filter goes.
SEA Bottle Mouthpiece cover.
M45 filter cover.
LPU-40 low profile flotation collar (OCP camo). I opted not to use this piece. The straps on the bottom fit at the top back side of the AW Harness vest. The lower ends attach to the front of the vest. To be used when flying over water. And used in conjunction with the SEA MKII O2 bottle.
M4 14.5” Carbine with accessories. M4 5.56 magazine x2, MATECH M4 backup iron sight, LA5 PEQ, ACOG TA31 rifle scope, ECOS-RMR, Rifle scope kill flash, UBR (Utility Battle Rifle) Stock with removable stock storage doors x 2.
Left side.
Right side.
RIS handguards come off. This aids in mounting accessories.
Not a big fan of the large round flat spot on the barrel, but it is covered once the handguard is on the rifle.
ACOG and RMR details. Note the rigid sight built into the ACOG and RMR. It makes the flip up rear sight a bit redundant. Which is good because the flip up sight is loose and falls off the top rail anyway.
Flip up sight unfolded, and killflash on ACOG.
LA5 PEQ details.
RMR Details.
Front side of the ACOG and iron sights on the ACOG and RMR mount. Nice details there.
Glock 17 9mm pistol, G17 9mm pistol magazine x2, Glock tactical Light and Laser (GTL 22), with Safariland 6004 Glock 17 Holster left handed.
The Glock is actually an odd choice when this figure was released, as the Big Army didn’t use Glock pistols very often. So it’s an odd choice to be included in this set. Very rare occasions, and deployments would see one used.
Left side. Typical fine molded detail.
Right side details.
With GTL22 attached. The laser is quite loose on the pistol, and falls off easily.
GTL22 details.
My Holster platform has a manufacturing flaw. 2 of the 3 pegs the the holster sits on aren’t fully molded, and the holster barely stays attached. A quick check of my other figure and a loose holster show this was a single flawed platform.
My other issue with the left side holster is the fact that it may cause fouling on the collective stick if used in a pilot application. So this may have to be on the front of the left thigh as opposed to the side. Or just swap holsters.
Bendy hands with GS/FRP-2 sage green Nomex flight gloves.
Sewn gloves can be a bit tricky to put onto hands at the best of times. But these gloves are sewn oddly, and don’t fit onto the thumbs at all. I couldn’t get the thumb of the glove to fit over the thumb at all. The glove just isn’t shaped right to fit. I even tried getting the gloves damp to soften the fabric a bit and help with fitting. But it doesn’t work with these gloves.
You can see how the glove is sewn and the shape of the hand. It just is not going to work. If someone has had better success with this, or maybe some tips, feel free to add them.
Accessories. Streamlight Sidewinder Military Tactical Flashlight, Benchmade 5 Hook/Strap cutter, carabiner, radio, digital watch.
AW personal display module (PDM) /w pen, AW personal display module drop leg panel.
Benchmade 5 Hook/Strap cutter close up.
Digital watch. This watch has one of the best straps I’ve seen in a long time. It fits the wrist without loosening, and is big enough to go around the wrist.
Unused equipment in my build.
The cord on the left, with the yellow shrink wrap, will probably get used later when I figure out what helicopter the figure will go in, as it’s a headphone jack to the airframe comm system. That part should be attached inside the helmet somehow. I’ll probably end up using a piece of tape.
You can stuff the safety cutter into one of the pockets or pouches, never to be seen again.
The rest is stuff you can use as required depending on the set up for how you want to use the figure, pilot, crewchief, medic, gunner etc…
Posing.
Final thoughts. The build, and sewing of parts is excellent. The helmet looks great. Did I mention it’s fragile? Handle with caution. More caution than usual with 1:6 figure parts. Get the point? It’ll pay off if you do. It’s a lightly geared figure, but you do get a few extra parts, so you have some options on how you want the figure to look. You don’t have to use all the parts, and would probably look cluttered if you do use them all. In the end it makes a great looking figure.
The gloves and bendy hands are a bit of a let down. It’s made worse by the fact that you can’t really use them, and you should have them. The choice of pistol in the set isn’t accurate. And the rank badges are all wrong if you want to build a pilot. All pretty glaring errors. Also, why the OCP (Multicam) version was made as an exclusive instead of the UCP remains a mystery to be solved. The OCP version would have been a bigger seller in the long run. And an exclusive in the less desired camo would still have sold well.
It also seems like it’s missing a few small items. A water bottle or canteen. Some pens. Maybe some molded gloved hands if you don’t like the bendy hand thing. A knife. Maybe a gas mask pouch for the mask. Smaller survival kit bits. Tourniquet or first aid gear. All this stuff can be added after the fact, but it would be nice to see a figure with all the smaller bits on a lightly geared figure.
But the bad stuff, and missing bits don’t take away from the fact that this is a really good set. Could it be even better? Sure, most figures can be better in some way. But this figure was a very solid release. And the same would apply to the SS087 release of the figure. You would just need to choose you favorite camo. Would I recommend this figure? Yes. It’s a really good release of a Pilot/Aircrew figure, and there are few enough released that it’s worth that in itself.
Feel free to add your own thoughts and tips on the set(s).
This figure was picked up from a collector who had had it signed by Ben Zheung, the then designer for many of the Soldier Story figures, at the expo this figure was made for. It was a nice find. But the box got damaged due to being improperly packed for shipping. So, it got opened, and here we are.
Why the Expo Exclusive figure was made with the more desired OCP/Scorpion/Multicam camo pattern is still an odd choice. I can only think, even back in 2015 when the figure was released, that the figure had been in the works for quite a while before getting announced and made. By the time 2015 arrived, the UCP/ACU pattern Air Warrior gear was well into getting phased out by the U.S. Army for the OCP gear. Soldier Story could have just made OCP figure and made figure modelers happier, and kept the UCP version figure as the Expo Exclusive, which would still sell pretty well as an exclusive. The UCP wasn’t well recieved, and sat on shelves longer than expected, even for a pilot figure, which usually sell quite well.
Oddly, for being a figure from 2015, I couldn’t find a single review of the figure, or the SS087 UCP/ACU version anywhere. The SS087 version is more or less identical with the camo pattern of the figure’s uniform and gear all UCP/ACU, and the colour of the helmets being different. So why not do the review now anyway. It may help someone who gets one of these sets later, like myself.
The figure with the “new” 2 piece flight suit. Newer is probably a better description, as these have been around for about 15+ years now. This one is in OCP instead of UCP of the SS087 version.
The head. One of the best things about the set. The only flaw I can see with it are the eyebrows. The paint application is quite off, and looks like a decal instead of being painted on. That said, for 2015, this head is exceptionally well done. Excellent mold and paint work. The paint looks like it is a freshly shaved head. Some folks have said it has a passing resemblance to Jake Gyllenhaal. I kind of see that, but it’s not perfect as far as a likeness goes. And it doesn’t really matter because it’s a great sculpt. There’s not even a mold line on the head.
The figure uses the S2 body with thigh expanders, and left hand dominant grip hands. It also comes with a pair of bendy/posable hands.
The jacket on the flight suit has a number of details, and I have to assume they were copied directly to the figure uniform, since I haven’t seen a source for the complete 1:1 uniform yet. The uniform is part of the Air Warrior system, which is a 2 piece Nomex fire resistant flight suit, and full set of flight gear.
Full hook and loop closure by the zipper. I assume this is for easy removal. The zipper would be for when you need to open it partially. The hook and loop for when the jacket has to be removed quickly.
Army t-shirt.
Cinch straps at the sides of the jacket, to tighten things up.
Sleeve pockets work.
Back view.
The pants are quite loose, but can be adjusted to fit easily with the straps at the waist, and an additional belt as well (not shown to show strap details, you can see the belt in the accessories below).
Velcro fly… cue ZZ Top music.
All pockets on the pants work, and you can add stuff to them. Ankle adjustment straps work too.
Side view of the Rocky S2V boots. I forgot to take more pictures of them. Very well made boots, with nice tread details.
Zippers on the thigh pockets work.
Air warrior flexible body armor vest, OCP camo.
Outside view.
Gen III Air warrior harness survival vest carrier in OCP. All the pockets, zippers, pouches and straps work as they should. The vest fits a bit loose, but all the straps can snug it right up for a perfect fit. You could use all the uniform and gear parts on other figure bodies, and still be able to adjust to fit easily.
Front view.
Back view.
Inside front.
Front buckles and zipps.
Zippered pockets at the front.
Harness buckle details.
Plate carrier pouches for armour plates. Front and back. The pouches can be opened and plates added if you chose to do so. Plates are not included in this set.
Name, unit and rank badges. This is part of the weakest part of the set. The rank badges are mostly enlisted ranks, and no officer ranks for pilots, which tend to be Warrant Officers and Captains. At the time of original promo pic release, this was a complaint of many who saw the pics, and strangely didn’t get fixed for this release, as the SS087 UCP set came out first. Soldier Story had a chance to fix that on this set, but chose not to for some reason. And the size of the unit badges was brought up a few times, as being too small, but I’m not sure about the accuracy of that.
Rank issue aside, the badges are well made, and you can cut and use whatever you like form the sheet, with a few options.
Assorted pouches, and LPU-40 low profile flotation collar in OCP camo. All part of the Air Warrior vest system. x2 Multi Purpose Pouches (MPP), x2 M4 Magazine pouches, x2 Tourniquet Pouches, Radio Pouch, Blower (Gas mask filter?) Pouch.
Front views.
Back Views.
Radio Pouch and Tourniquet Pouch (doubles as pistol mag pouches).
M4 mag pouch, and ANVIS NOD Pouch (far right).
HGU-56/P Flight helmet with Maxillofacial sheild. In the custom red paint with smiley face. Front view. SS087 is the OD Green helmet with skull face sheild. I prefer that helmet over this bright red version.
The helmet is quite thin in it’s manufacture, just like the earlier 160th SOAR helmet, and nothing was updated here. Use caution when fitting and adjusting the helmet. All the detail bits are small and very easily broken. Especially on the maxilofacial shield.
Side view. Clear visor adjustment knob. Latch hook for the maxillofacial shield.
Suspension and padding, and built in headset. Helmet mic details.
I found it easier to work on the helmet when the padding and headset were out of the helmet. Wire detail for the helmet headset.
The helmet has both dark tinted and clear visors. In this picture the clear visor is down, and you can just see the bottoms of the tinted visor.
Top view of the helmet with wire detail for the ANVIS NOD.
The small vents can also be used to help work with the moving of the helmet visors The side knobs on the visors aren’t enough to move them up and down, and the visors move at an angle. If you get a small tool of some sort in the vent notches at the top of the visor cover, you can push the visors down straight.
Helmet padding with hook and loop patches from inside the helmet. I found it easier to put this on the head first, then get it all wiggled into the helmet. And it’s a tight fit whether you choose to do it this way, or leave the padding in the helmet, then wiggle the head into the padding. I found this method easier to adjust all the straps first, than trying to work with the helmet on. Stuff I learned when working on the 160th SOAR figures. Also of note, the head sculpt was a bit smaller on the SOAR figure. This time, the figure has a slightly larger head, which also makes the fitting a bit trickier.
I did it this way to keep from handling the helmet too much, because, as previously mentioned the helmet is easily broken if handled roughly, or too much.
Adjustment straps at back.
Left side helmet mic tucked inside the maxillofacial shield. Close up of the shield latch on the helmet. Yes it all works. Try to resist the urge to mess with it. It breaks easily. If you can see the two loops at the upper and lower sides of the latch, the lower one is cracked. Just from fitting it on the head.
All the effort to get the helmet on, and then the clear visor shifted back up again. Grrrrrr
Helmet on. And that shifted clear visor. I had the visor fit over top of the shield before the helmet was on the head, but it wiggled out of position, and is quite difficult to move when you can’t get a finger or tool back inside the helmet to aid in positioning again. It should and does fit together well enough, and is designed to keep the wind out.
If you want to leave the shield off, you can do that as well. Just carefully pop it off the latch, or carefully open the latch and remove it from the helmet. Pilots usually don’t wear the shields. It’s usually Crew Chiefs, Gunners and Flight Medics that wear the shields. If you chose to model a pilot you can leave the shield off.
ANVIS night optic device (NOD).
M45 Gas Mask on the head. Fits nice and snugly, and is fully adjustable. I didn’t leave it on long as I was worried about paint transfer, and the head sticking to the mask.
Why a gas mask? There are a few reasons. Very dusty environments, smoke from fires, and occasional use of irritant smokes/gas (eg; CS gas/tear gas) can all hamper vision and breathing of aircrew. Voice projection unit and filter on the mask in this picture.
And the belt for the pants.
All the assorted parts of the breathing equipment. It’s interesting to see a few different attachments for the mask as well. M45 voice projection unit, M45 gas mask tube, M45 rubber breathing hose assembly, Gas mask filter cartridge. So you can fit the parts to your chosen aircrew requirements. You wouldn’t us all of them at the same time.
Emergency air system (SEA MK II breathing device) with SEA Bottle Mouthpiece cover OCP Camo, UBD Bottle Pocket OCP Camo. I think this is usually called a Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device (HABD). Usually used during emergency egress from the helicopter in water. They have also been used during high altitude/low oxygen flight, although usually that is supplied by onboard O2 systems. The mold is identical to the one in the 160th SOAR figure, but the paint work is different the the valve set up.
Mouthpiece cover on.
M45 hose and filter.
Filter cover on. This would hook to the front of the vest, or on the side under the arm as fit allows. Star end would fit onto the mask where the filter goes.
SEA Bottle Mouthpiece cover.
M45 filter cover.
LPU-40 low profile flotation collar (OCP camo). I opted not to use this piece. The straps on the bottom fit at the top back side of the AW Harness vest. The lower ends attach to the front of the vest. To be used when flying over water. And used in conjunction with the SEA MKII O2 bottle.
M4 14.5” Carbine with accessories. M4 5.56 magazine x2, MATECH M4 backup iron sight, LA5 PEQ, ACOG TA31 rifle scope, ECOS-RMR, Rifle scope kill flash, UBR (Utility Battle Rifle) Stock with removable stock storage doors x 2.
Left side.
Right side.
RIS handguards come off. This aids in mounting accessories.
Not a big fan of the large round flat spot on the barrel, but it is covered once the handguard is on the rifle.
ACOG and RMR details. Note the rigid sight built into the ACOG and RMR. It makes the flip up rear sight a bit redundant. Which is good because the flip up sight is loose and falls off the top rail anyway.
Flip up sight unfolded, and killflash on ACOG.
LA5 PEQ details.
RMR Details.
Front side of the ACOG and iron sights on the ACOG and RMR mount. Nice details there.
Glock 17 9mm pistol, G17 9mm pistol magazine x2, Glock tactical Light and Laser (GTL 22), with Safariland 6004 Glock 17 Holster left handed.
The Glock is actually an odd choice when this figure was released, as the Big Army didn’t use Glock pistols very often. So it’s an odd choice to be included in this set. Very rare occasions, and deployments would see one used.
Left side. Typical fine molded detail.
Right side details.
With GTL22 attached. The laser is quite loose on the pistol, and falls off easily.
GTL22 details.
My Holster platform has a manufacturing flaw. 2 of the 3 pegs the the holster sits on aren’t fully molded, and the holster barely stays attached. A quick check of my other figure and a loose holster show this was a single flawed platform.
My other issue with the left side holster is the fact that it may cause fouling on the collective stick if used in a pilot application. So this may have to be on the front of the left thigh as opposed to the side. Or just swap holsters.
Bendy hands with GS/FRP-2 sage green Nomex flight gloves.
Sewn gloves can be a bit tricky to put onto hands at the best of times. But these gloves are sewn oddly, and don’t fit onto the thumbs at all. I couldn’t get the thumb of the glove to fit over the thumb at all. The glove just isn’t shaped right to fit. I even tried getting the gloves damp to soften the fabric a bit and help with fitting. But it doesn’t work with these gloves.
You can see how the glove is sewn and the shape of the hand. It just is not going to work. If someone has had better success with this, or maybe some tips, feel free to add them.
Accessories. Streamlight Sidewinder Military Tactical Flashlight, Benchmade 5 Hook/Strap cutter, carabiner, radio, digital watch.
AW personal display module (PDM) /w pen, AW personal display module drop leg panel.
Benchmade 5 Hook/Strap cutter close up.
Digital watch. This watch has one of the best straps I’ve seen in a long time. It fits the wrist without loosening, and is big enough to go around the wrist.
Unused equipment in my build.
The cord on the left, with the yellow shrink wrap, will probably get used later when I figure out what helicopter the figure will go in, as it’s a headphone jack to the airframe comm system. That part should be attached inside the helmet somehow. I’ll probably end up using a piece of tape.
You can stuff the safety cutter into one of the pockets or pouches, never to be seen again.
The rest is stuff you can use as required depending on the set up for how you want to use the figure, pilot, crewchief, medic, gunner etc…
Posing.
Final thoughts. The build, and sewing of parts is excellent. The helmet looks great. Did I mention it’s fragile? Handle with caution. More caution than usual with 1:6 figure parts. Get the point? It’ll pay off if you do. It’s a lightly geared figure, but you do get a few extra parts, so you have some options on how you want the figure to look. You don’t have to use all the parts, and would probably look cluttered if you do use them all. In the end it makes a great looking figure.
The gloves and bendy hands are a bit of a let down. It’s made worse by the fact that you can’t really use them, and you should have them. The choice of pistol in the set isn’t accurate. And the rank badges are all wrong if you want to build a pilot. All pretty glaring errors. Also, why the OCP (Multicam) version was made as an exclusive instead of the UCP remains a mystery to be solved. The OCP version would have been a bigger seller in the long run. And an exclusive in the less desired camo would still have sold well.
It also seems like it’s missing a few small items. A water bottle or canteen. Some pens. Maybe some molded gloved hands if you don’t like the bendy hand thing. A knife. Maybe a gas mask pouch for the mask. Smaller survival kit bits. Tourniquet or first aid gear. All this stuff can be added after the fact, but it would be nice to see a figure with all the smaller bits on a lightly geared figure.
But the bad stuff, and missing bits don’t take away from the fact that this is a really good set. Could it be even better? Sure, most figures can be better in some way. But this figure was a very solid release. And the same would apply to the SS087 release of the figure. You would just need to choose you favorite camo. Would I recommend this figure? Yes. It’s a really good release of a Pilot/Aircrew figure, and there are few enough released that it’s worth that in itself.
Feel free to add your own thoughts and tips on the set(s).
