Plastic Soldier Review - BUM Republican Army

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BUM

Set 5001

Republican Army

All figures are supplied unpainted (Numbers of each pose in brackets)

Stats

Date Released	2005
Contents	36 figures
Poses	12 poses
Material	Plastic (Medium Consistency)
Colours	Tan

Average Height

23 mm (= 1.66 m)

Review

The Spanish Civil War is sometimes seen as a revolt by the army against the government. Yet it has been estimated that well over half the metropolitan army (i.e. excluding the African Army) remained loyal to the Republican government. Both sides contained many armed elements apart from the army, yet clearly these veteran soldiers were a vital part of both.

The Republican government always had supply difficulties, and the variety of weapons and clothing seen in the field was vast. The figures in this set have done better than most. The majority wear overalls (monos), while some have tunics and trousers. Most are lucky enough to wear the Adrian helmet, which was the most common helmet in the Republican ranks, but was still not nearly as common as implied by its numbers here. All wear regulation infantry equipment, including the officer, which is a surprise. He wears a cap and is armed with what appears to be a Mauser broom-handle pistol, which could be the 1912 or 1932 model, or one of the many copies such as the Astra - all were normal for this rank. Given the variety of clothing, it would have been quite difficult to go far wrong with accuracy on these figures, but in fact they are all fine, if not entirely representative of the general appearance of these troops.

The 12 poses are OK, and include several men firing their rifles. One is firing down and another is firing high, which is perfectly appropriate for the sort of fighting these men often had to do. The man using his bayonet reflects the frequent hand-to-hand fighting that took place, but although his pose is nice and realistic the cost is that there is excess plastic behind his rifle. The man with raised knife (or bayonet?) is dramatic but the least useful of the poses, although the man with rifle raised above his head is also not a great choice.

The style of the figures is much like those of Orion (the sculptor is the same), with a slightly rough quality but good proportions and adequate detail. Folds in clothing are correctly done, and there are some very good facial expressions. We have already mentioned the excess plastic, but none of the figures require any other trimming and are ready to go straight out of the box.

The set also includes some scale paper flags and posters that help to capture the feeling of those turbulent times.

This is BUM's second set of original figures, and the quality is much the same as the first (Spanish Foreign Legion). While modelling the war requires many different forms of troops (many of which have already been promised by BUM), this is shaping up to be a very nice range of figures.

Ratings

Historical Accuracy	10
Pose Quality	8
Pose Number	8
Sculpting	8
Mould	9