If you are looking to add some “life” to your next 1/200 scale US Navy ship, allow me to direct your attention to Eduard release 53109. This set contains 1/200 scale figures that are pre-painted, and require simple bending in order to create more of a three-dimensional effect. Although labeled as WWII, the U.S. Navy, being all about tradition, kept the denim work uniform in use past my discharge in 1991. The only challenge would be with the dress white uniform as the one depicted in the kit was discontinued sometime after the 1940’s. The figures are easy enough for anyone who is experienced with photo etched parts to use, and will make a nice addition to your next Ship, Submarine, or Boat of this scale.

This set consists of a single sheet of plated photo etched brass that is pre-painted on both the front and back to represent figures wearing the working dungarees as well as dress white uniforms of enlisted sailors. There are 32 figures depicted in dress whites, and 42 that are wearing dungarees. What I personally enjoyed most of all with the dungarees was having back pockets sewn to the front of my pants. Truly, a fashion trend that just never really caught on like the bell-bottoms did for a time. If you believe that one, let me tell you about my beachfront property in Arizona.

When I folded a few of the figures for this review, I did have one that broke at a fold, but this was easy to fix. I am not sure about the value of the self-adhesive backside, and some figures require four folds of the body, so the adhesive is not always present where you want it. The figures that require four folds do look a little odd from the front or back, and the ones requiring a single fold will look odd from the side, but if posed to force the right perspective, they are a great addition. I requested my set for use when I build a cut-away submarine in this scale, and I think they will work very well in that environment.

My hit for this photo-etched set is just making figures available in this scale for the modeler. The fact that they are pre-painted just adds to the ease of construction, allowing anyone with experience bending small photo etch items a great way to add people to their 1/200 scale US Navy vessel. Based on my experience assembling a few of the figures, I have no misses for this particular item.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this Eduard wheel set to modelers who are looking to add some enlisted US Navy figures to their next 1/200 scale production. As mentioned, some experience with photo-etched parts will ease the assembly, but this does not require extraordinary modeling skills to accomplish.

I would like to thank the folks at Eduard for graciously providing these figures to the IPMS-USA for review and to Dave Morrissette for allowing me to receive them. I would also send kudos out to the assistants in the Review Corps for the great job they do in keeping the Corps running strong and as always, my appreciation to anyone who takes the time to read my comments.