Videoaviation is a small company out of Italy manufacturing big things; in this case, they provide large scale modelers the items missing from many of our 1/32 models to bring them to life, particularly in a diorama setting if you have room! In this case, a crew of modern day carrier crew members in action poses.

First, kudos to Videoaviation for providing total instructions, including basic painting for the figures. Some still do not have internet capability (gasp) so this is important. I found the instructions helpful.

This set comes in a top opening box containing resin items for one figure in a "pushing walk" Ordinance man, or "Ordie", in pose to be used behind the accompanying Aero 12 Bomb transport cart. He has a skull cap, ear defenders, goggles down, and basic uniforms as seen on recent and current (Desert storm to present) naval aviation operations. The parts all appear to be CAD designed, so accuracy is spot on.

Also included are two Navy Mk 84 BSU-86B High drag bombs with thick ablative fire-resistant coating and no fuses; just the fuse wells on the nose.

Construction: remove the figure from the pour casting, or, like I did, use the pour blocks to hold the figures while painting. The resin is medium soft, so it is easy to cut or saw through.

Ordinance personnel are issued Red floatation and work vests, along with red work shirts, so that’s the color we paint them. The skull cap is also red, with pale cream ear defenders and black goggles.

At this point I tried a Vallejo red wash for the face, but still ended up doing a dark black/gray wash to bring the detail out for photography. The facial features and details as a whole are VERY well done!

Bomb Assembly: front and back; razor saw off the pour stubs, sand flush, and superglue.

The cart and weapons were painted with white primer, and I then painted the bomb nose yellow. Tamiya flexible vinyl "curve" tape was used to mask off the two live bomb yellow bands, and the whole bomb was painted primer gray. Looked good after the mask was removed, thought I… Particularly with that rough ablative coating on it. These are available as a set by themselves, and I recommend them if you need navy high-drags…

I left the cart white and painted the wheels. Not much into bomb carts, but it came out in spite of me. Pictures tell the rest of the story.

Once again I congratulate Maurizio for stepping up and doing this set. It’s a great way to add life to your large scale catapult diorama. The figure sculpting is basic but accurate (not overdone gamer heads here) and will fill the bill for your need. Highly recommended, top marks to Videoaviation for this set.

Also, thanks again to Dave and Dick for making sure I had something to fret about over these weeks…. Finally finished these guys!