Not to be confused with RAF Pilots in Tropical Uniforms (1941-45) in 1/32, this all-new figure set depicts five RAF servicemen in tropical rig and will be suitable for dioramas and vignettes in North Africa, the Middle East, Italy and the Far East for that time period.

The standard ICM white box comes with a colour slip cover with boxart of the figures posed in front of a North Africa-based Beaufort. The box contains a single medium grey plastic runner with 31 well-detailed and well-moulded parts. No decals are included, though it might have been nice to have some RAF wings and rank insignia to add where appropriate. A single full-colour painting guide with part numbers and colour callouts for ICM paints is all that is included (or indeed necessary!) in the box.

Belying the kit’s title, only three of the figures are obviously aircrew, while the other two are almost certainly meant to be ground crew. No matter; they are all nicely moulded and their faces are well executed. One looks like Russell Crowe, while another looks like Geoff Boycott! The poses are generally very good, though one figure appears a bit insouciant! There isn’t a lot of interchangeability with the poses, though I did swap heads on two of the pilot figures, and altered the arm position of another.

One of the pilot figures wears what appears to be the late-war Beadon Flying Suit, used mainly in the Far East and made of a light, bluish-grey gabardine. He also sports a Type B flying helmet, which another figure also totes. All the other figures are clad in standard Khaki Drill shirts and shorts, which came in various shades of tan, often with a slight greenish tint. Of course, this would fade and wear rapidly in the conditions and could be seen in a mix-and-match combination of shades on any given individual. The three aircrew figures also wear Mae West lifejackets.

The assembled figures paint up well; I used various shades of Vallejo ModelColor and attached them to transparent bases for display. As I mentioned, these figures will be useful in a variety of situations and will liven up a display cabinet when posed next to appropriate subject aircraft.

Definitely recommended; my grateful thanks to the fine folk at ICM for the review sample.