New from the folks at ResKit is this female driver for the US Navy A/S32A-31A tow tractor, known as the “mule”. The tow tractors are used aboard ships as well as land bases to move aircraft as needed. Having a female driver modernizes your options to current standards where those serving aboard the ships are not all men as they were back during my years of service. The figure is 3D resin printed with incredible detail and has the option of two heads. Any modeler with experience with 3D printed parts should have no issue adding this figure to a 1/48 scale tow tractor.

ResKit does a wonderful job of creating various parts and figures for an array of models. I have never been disappointed with any of the products that I have purchased, and the level of detail is always top-notch. The figure in this kit is printed as a single piece with two heads included to select from. I chose the head with the tinted goggles while the other head would show clear goggles.

ResKit does a great job with their packaging as the figure and heads are sandwiched between two pieces of foam along with a small plastic bag containing decals for the helmet. The cardboard box is also of sturdy construction, and the single-page instructions provided callouts for Gunze Aqueous and Mr. Color paints, while the reverse side shows the figure and heads.

To remove the parts from the supports, I dipped the items in a pan of warm water on the stove and found that they broke easily with finger pressure when removed from the water. This was a clean way of removing the supports and required minimal additional cleaning afterward. I primed the head that I wanted to use along with the body using Stynylrez 3D Black primer, then applied a zenithal highlight using Tamiya LP-35 Insignia White.

As mentioned previously, the instructions call for some Gunze paints, but I used the following instead: Tamiya X-5 Green, Tamiya X-28 Park Green, AMMO by Mig Silver Gray, Vallejo Prussian Blue and Silver, and flesh colors from the Andrea Flesh paint set. I left the head off until both it and the body were initially painted. I attached the head using Bob Smith Industries IC-2000 Tire Glue and was pleased with the results. After the painting and washes were complete, I used AK Ultra Matt to seal the body and applied Future (yes, I still have a bottle from the 1990s) to the helmet and also to the goggles “glass” area.

While the driver is intended for use on a 1/48 scale A/S32A-31A tow tractor, I had an old Verlinden EPU tractor in this scale that I built up to show the figure on a vehicle. As I mentioned, the detail is incredible for this scale and surpasses anything I have seen molded in plastic. This figure would be a great addition to a display on a carrier deck, hangar bay, or air base.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this figure to anyone wanting to represent a more modern driver in their tow tractor. If you have not tried dipping your 3D printed parts in warm water to remove the supports, I would urge you to give it a try. My profuse thanks to ResKit for providing this example to the IPMS/USA for review and I appreciate having had the opportunity to perform this assessment.

Slava Ukraini!